Mount Vernon offers Civil War tours

A new Civil War themed walking tour, a restored 18th-century garden and a new bike/boat tour option are among fresh offerings at Mount Vernon, George Washington's Virginia home.• Article

Debate over black powder limits, safety

Civil War re-enactor Bill Safford says a typical weekend battle can require up to 100 pounds of black powder. But in Washington state, the legal limit for storing and transporting black powder is five pounds. Rep. Barbara Bailey has introduced a bill that would significantly increase the limit for storing and transporting black powder to match federal regulations. • Article

Recalling Lincoln's journey to Washington

This month marks the 150th Anniversary of the trip by then President-elect Abraham Lincoln from Springfield, Illinois to Washington, D.C. The National Park Service will commemorate the journey by sponsoring programs from February 11 to February 23 in sixteen cities and towns where Lincoln made stops and remarks during the trip. • Article

Flap over textbook, black Confederate soldiers

A textbook distributed to Virginia fourth-graders says that thousands of African- Americans fought for the South -- a claim rejected by most historians but often made by groups seeking to play down slavery's role as a cause of the conflict. • Article

Abraham Lincoln's forgotten fort

Fort Stevens — located in a working-class neighborhood near President Lincoln’s summer cottage at the Soldiers’ Home in Washington — had been neglected in recent decades. Some stimulus money came its way, and the National Park Service cleaned it up in hopes of making it more visitor-friendly. The Civil War Preservation Trust fears that a five-story building planned by the Emory United Methodist Church next door will make it harder for visitors to visualize history. The pastor has defended the expansion. • Column