In 1886, local resident David Schenck initiated plans to gain control of land to commemorate the Guilford Courthouse battleground as a park. The following year, he chartered the non-profit Guilford Battle Ground Company (GBGC) to advance such efforts. From an early date, he planned on the group's donating the property it purchased to the federal government. When the US Congress finally established Guilford Courthouse as a national military park in 1917, the GBGC turned over its at no charge. Without David Schenck's generosity, it is entirely possible that the park would not exist today.