Rep. Bart Gordon announced the U.S. House of Representatives approved legislation that includes $500,000 for driving tour improvements at Stones River National Battlefield.

“Stones River is our top tourist attraction in Rutherford County, with more than a quarter million visitors every year,” Gordon (D, Murfreesboro) said. “With all the additional interest in Civil War history surrounding the war’s sesquicentennial, we should expect to see extra visitors and extra business.” 

Work has already begun on the first phase of a plan to improve access to the park. Construction has begun to reconfigure and pave the visitor center parking lot, repave a portion of the park tour road and build accessible trails in the visitor center area. Phase two of this project will create a new entrance to the battlefield on Thompson Lane.

The new funding included in the House bill would allow the Park Service to connect the existing tour road directly to the new Thompson Lane entrance. Trail and road projects will build on recent improvements in interpretive trails and signage. The funding was included in the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development Appropriations Act, which now awaits consideration by the Senate.

Superintendent Stuart Johnson noted that Gordon was instrumental in securing funding for each project, and applauded the inclusion of new funding in the bill.

“As the park embarks on preparations for the sesquicentennial, it’s especially appropriate that we will be making these improvements,” Johnson said. “Extending the tour road to Thompson Lane will make it easier for visitors to get to and get around the battlefield.”

With Gordon’s help, the battlefield’s protected area has doubled in size since 1988.

“The battlefield is a national treasure right here in Murfreesboro,” Gordon said. “These improvements will make it more accessible to local residents as well as to visitors from outside of the area.”

The Stones River National Battlefield sits on approximately 600 acres of land next to the Stones River near Murfreesboro. Between December 31, 1862, and January 2, 1863, more than 82,000 Union and Confederate soldiers fought on the battlefield, leaving 23,000 dead and wounded.