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A national park is taking shape in Wilberforce.
Its focal point, Youngsholm, is the home of Col. Charles Young, a career U.S. Army officer born into slavery in 1864.
The 60-acre property, at 1120 U.S. 42, became the 401st National Park Services site, the Charles Young Buffalo Soldiers National Monument, in March 2013.
The park is being developed to honor Young and the Buffalo Soldiers he commanded.
Currently the park is only open to the public by appointment, but Joy Kinard, the park’s superintendent, envisions it eventually being an a fully operational national park with educational programs and community events.
In 1907 Young bought the home, once an Underground Railroad stop, after being sent to Wilberforce University to create a military science program, the first African-American military service program.
The avid musician also helped establish the Wilberforce University marching band.
While he was often called away from Wilberforce, Youngsholm remained his family’s home, even after his 1922 death from a kidney infection while on a reconnaissance mission in Nigeria. Young was buried, during a full military funeral, at Arlington National Cemetery.
Youngsholm is the ideal location for the park because Young is the best known of the Buffalo Soldiers, said Kinard.
“The Buffalo Soldiers were created in 1866, after the Civil War, to help black soldiers stay an active part of military service,” she said.
Young commanded two all-black regiments, nicknamed Buffalo Soldiers by the Indians during the Indian Wars. They oversaw Sequoia and General Grant (now Kings Canyon) National Parks.
“They managed federal lands and made sure that all of the people going out West, due to the homestead act, were treating the natural landscape and resources well and that they were not becoming timber thieves and poachers,” she said.
Young, a civil engineer, is recognized for his management of the initial road construction within Sequoia National Park, roads still in use.
Shortly after his birth, Young’s parents escaped slavery and moved to Ripley, Ohio, where he graduated with academic honors from the integrated high school.
He became the third African-American graduate of West Point, the first black U.S. national park superintendent, the first African American military attache and the highest ranking black officer in the United States Army until his death.
Racism plagued his life, especially at West Point and during his military year career. The army forced him into retirement, claiming he had health issues, rather than promote him to colonel.
“He was so frustrated and irritated at what he faced in the U. S. Army that he chose to protest his forced retirement and rode a horse from here in Wilberforce to Washington, D.C., which took 15 days,” Kinard said, noting that as a result of the ride, made to prove his physical fitness, he was promoted to colonel.
Kinard expects funding to renovate the house and property will be available by 2020, followed by three or four years of renovations. Millions of dollars have already gone into stabilizing the house, such as dealing with mold and termite issues.
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