March 12, 2022

Since 1996, community-minded citizens interested in history have taken part in American Battlefield Trust Park Day events. On April 9 the Lone Jack Historical Society again will join more than 150 historical battlefield sites across the nation in offering volunteers an opportunity to honor veterans on this annual Park Day.

History enthusiasts be they individuals, families, Boy and Girl Scouts, ROTC units, reenactment units, active military and more meet to help keep our nation’s heritage not only preserved, but pristine.

In Lone Jack each person is offered an opportunity to honor our veterans by sprucing up our Civil War battlefield, cemetery and, with enough volunteers, the museum and Cave Hotel for our 2022 visitors. Although a small site, we host visitors from across the country and around the world.

The historical society hopes to have a more normal tourist season this year. To be ready to greet our visitors we will rake leaves and flowerbeds, and clear limbs and brush. All work will be in the park and cemetery. If enough volunteer recruits report for duty, we will include the museum and possibly cross the street to spruce up the Cave Hotel and its grounds.

Union soldiers and local Confederate recruits battled one another in the center of town on August 16, 1862. After the battle, soldiers on both sides who gave their last full measure were laid to rest beneath Lone Jack’s hallowed battlefield ground. Lone Jack is one of a handful of Civil War battlefields in the nation with this honor.

Though this is a Civil War battlefield the historical society honors all American veterans before and after. Also on park grounds is a monument to area WWII veterans. A Veterans Wall honoring past and present local veterans shared by family and friends stands inside the museum.

Join our volunteer brigade April 9 as we honor all these brave men and women. Help us defeat the ravages of winter by cleaning up debris and restore the battlefield, soldiers’ cemetery, museum and Cave Hotel grounds.

Park Day can also be used to fulfill the service requirements associated with scout groups, student organizations, training corps programs, many school systems and more.

Registration begins at 08:30, clean up begins at 09:00 and should end about 13:00 at the Lone Jack Civil War Battlefield Museum, ½ mile south of Hwy. 50. Rain date is April 16. Please bring your own tools and label them. Remember to dress for the weather and bring gloves. Trash bags will be provided. We will offer lunch. Volunteers receive an official ABT Park Day water bottle on a first come, first served basis.

The Lone Jack Historical Society manages the daily maintenance for this Jackson County Park & Recreation museum and cemetery. It is a rewarding job. If you are retired, empty nesters, a family with budding historians or anyone interested in our country’s history, please consider volunteering at the museum.

To volunteer, please call Alinda at 816.805.1815 or email her at [email protected].