Brian Wilson, Daily News Journal, April 23, 2015
MURFREESBORO – The Stones River National Battlefield brought more than 272,000 visitors to the Civil War site in Murfreesboro and nearly $15.3 million to the regional economy, Gib Backlund, the battlefield’s chief of operations, said Thursday.
Jim Lewis, right, a park ranger at Stones River National Battlefield, Dec. 19 talks with Michael Kusmak, a visitor to the park from New Mexico, about where Hell’s Half Acre is located at the battlefield.
About 12,000 more people came to the Murfreesboro park in 2014 than the year before, though the park was closed for 16 days in 2013 because of a federal government shutdown.
Backlund said the construction of a new entrance on Thompson Lane in 2011 has proven to be a major factor attracting more tourists.
“The high visibility of our entrance has really improved our attendance,” Backlund said.
The park used traffic counters to calculate its overall visitor total from year to year.
Years of increased attendance, he said, could also be tied to an increased economic recovery and greater awareness of area parks.
“Hopefully, it’s in part because people are aware of the value that national parks provide,” Backlund said.
The release of the battlefield’s data came as the National Parks Service published a report about their parks’ economic benefits nationwide.
Stones River National Battlefield had 228,000 non-local visitors that spent $14.6 million within 60 miles of the park during their stay, the report stated
The out-of-town visitors also helped create an estimated 235 jobs in the community that pay $7.1 million in direct labor income, the report stated.
“The national parks of Tennessee attract visitors from across the country and around the world,” said NPS regional director Stan Austin in a release. “Whether visitors come to explore the great wild areas of Tennessee like Big South Fork National River and Recreational Area and Great Smoky Mountain National Park with their miles of hiking trails or the number of historic parks which focus on the Civil War’s impact telling the story of America’s struggles, visitors come to have a great experience, and end up having an economic benefit to the communities they visit.”
For every dollar spent investing in national parks, local communities get $10 in return, Austin said in the release.
Contact Brian Wilson at 615-278-5165. Follow him on Twitter @brianwilson17.