Hanafin is director of historic preservation for Prince William County (visitpwc.com).
What is the Civil War Heritage Trail?
Prince William County is taking part in the 150th commemoration of the Civil War, and the [Civil War Heritage Trail] is our first effort aimed at marking and linking all of the Civil War sites in the county.
How was the Civil War Heritage Trail funded?
The historic preservation division has an in-house designer, and we used the last of the federal “preserve America” grant we had from 2006 and took the last $10,000 we had there and used it to print the first 50,000 brochures [for the trail].
What was your role in developing the trail?
I’m the committee chair for the 150th commemoration. I was part of getting all of the groups together and fleshing out what we were going to put in this brochure.
Are you particularly interested in the Civil War?
I am. I went to school in Washington and was a history major and started coming into Virginia to look at Civil War sites. The first one I went to was Manassas [Battlefield] in Prince William County, and it had a big impact on me.
What got you into preservation?
I had a love for history, and for summer jobs I worked in Massachusetts state [historic] parks, then moved that work to Virginia and just stayed on the preservation end of things, both natural and historic preservation
What does preservation entail?
Prince William County was the front line of the war from 1861 to 1863, and just so much happened here from the line of the Potomac to the Thoroughfare Gap. There’s so much to preserve, and part of preserving it is highlighting it. Then people know they can visit and tourists come and they help the local economy, and it in turn just snowballs and helps preservation more.
– Violeta Ikonomova
