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: AN OPEN LETTER TO THE PRESERVATION COMMUNITY : Help Save Camp Security!!!!!!!!!! : Your professional istance is desperately needed to preserve and protect America’s last, intact Revolutionary War period British POW Camp. Camp Security, located just east of York, Pennsylvania, was the place of incarceration for several thousand British POW’s between 1781 and 1783. The so-called Convention Prisoners, captured at Saratoga, NY in 1777, were first incarcerated in Boston, then Montecello, Va., Frederick, MD, and finally at Camp Security. During the end of their stay here, a disease swept the camp, and hundreds were buried in a m grave somewhere on the property. The site remained virtually untouched for more than 200 years, being used only for agricultural purposes. : In 1979, a Phase I archeological investigation revealed buried Rev. War features on the site, as well as thousands of artifacts in the plow zone. A second Phase I, conducted in 2000, revealed additional features, as well as artificial terraced architectural features which were apparently where the housing was built. The second Phase I was required by the Corps of Engineers prior to issuing a wetland permit for residential construction on the site. Due to the high historical value (the SHPO determined it was eligible for Landmark status), the Corps denied the permit, only to have the developer redesign to avoid federal involvement and Section 106 compliance. He is now trying to get local approval to destroy the site and build houses on it. It was listed as Pennsylvania’s most endangered archeological site, and more information can be found at http://www.preservationpa.org/Risk00.htm. Letters expressing your support for local preservation efforts to save the site from destruction to any or all of the addresses below are urgently needed. : Kenneth Baumgardt, Historian (kendigger@aol.com), York, PA. : : Friends of Camp Security : C/o Historic York, Inc. : 224 N. George Street : York PA 17401 : Preservation Pennsylvania : 257 North Street : Harrisburg, PA 17101 : : Advisory Council on Historic Preservation : 1100 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Suite 809 : Washington, DC 20004 : Governor Tom Ridge : 225 Main Capitol : Harrisburg, PA 17120 : : Sprigettsbury Board of Supervisor