There are several laws that make up the Enabling Legislation of Fort Necessity National Battlefield. Below is a transcribed version of the laws and other actions of the Federal Government for Fort Necessity:
46 Stat. 1522 - An Act To provide for the commemoration of the Battle of Fort Necessity, Pennsylvania
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That for the purpose of commemorating the Battle of Fort Necessity, in the State of Pennsylvania, on the 3d[sic] day of July, 1757*, the Secretary of War is authorized to accept title to not less than one acre of land, which will include the site of said fort, free of cost to the United States, and to erect a monument thereon.
SEC. 2. There is hereby authorized to be appropriated the sum of $25,000, or so much thereof as may be necessary, to carry out the provisions of section 1 of this Act.
SEC. 3. The land acquired under section 1 of this Act shall be under the jurisdiction and control of the Secretary of War, and there is authorized to be appropriated for the maintenance of such monument and its site a sum not to exceed $250 per annum.
Approved, March 4, 1931.
* Note: the law uses the wrong date of the Battle and was never fixed.
This law protected the original site of the Battlefield and placed it under the Department of War.
Executive Order No. 6228:
ORGANIZATION OF EXECUTIVE AGENCIES
WHEREAS executive order No. 6166 dated June 10, 1933, issued pursuant to the authority of Section 16 of the Act of March 3, 1933 Public No. 428—47 Stat. 1517) provides in Section 2 as follows:
All functions of administration of public buildings, reservations, National parks, national monuments, and national cemeteries are consolidated in an office of National Parks, Buildings, and Reservations in the Department of the Interior, at the head of which shall be Director of National Parks, Buildings, and Reservations; except that where deemed desirable there may be excluded from this provision any public building or reservation which is chiefly employed as a facility in the work of a particular agency. This transfer and consolidation of functions shall include, among others, those of the National Park Service of the Department of the Interior and the National Cemeteries and Parks of the War Department which are located within the continental limits of the United States. National Cemeteries located in foreign countries shall be transferred to the Department of State, and those located in insular possessions under the jurisdiction of the War Department shall be administered by the Bureau of Insular Affairs of the War Department."and;
WHEREAS to facilitate and expedite the transfer and consolidation of certain units and agencies contemplated thereby, it is desirable to make more explicit said Section 2 of the aforesaid executive order of June 10, 1933, insofar as the same relates to the transfer of agencies now administered by the War Department:
NOW, THEREFORE, said executive order No. 6166, dated June 10, 1933, is hereby interpreted as follows:
1. The cemeteries and parks of the War Department transferred to the Interior Department are as follows:
NATIONAL MILITARY PARKS
Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park, Georgia and Tennessee.
Fort Donelson National Military Park, Tennessee.
Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania County Battle Fields Memorial, Virginia.
Gettysburg National Military Park, Pennsylvania.
Guilford Courthouse National Military Park, North Carolina.
Kings Mountain National Military Park, South Carolina.
Moores Creek National Military Park, North Carolina.
Petersburg National Military Park, Virginia.
Shiloh National Military Park, Tennessee.
Stones River National Military Park, Tennessee.
Vicksburg National Military Park, Mississippi.
NATIONAL PARKS
Abraham Lincoln National Park, Kentucky.
Fort McHenry National Park, Maryland.
BATTLEFIELD SITES
Antietam Battlefield, Maryland.
Appomattox, Virginia.
Brices Cross Roads, Mississippi.
Chalmette Monument and Grounds, Louisiana.
Cowpens, South Carolina.
Fort Necessity, Wharton County, Pennsylvania.
Kenesaw Mountain, Georgia.
Monocacy, Maryland.
Tupelo, Mississippi.
White Plains, New York.
NATIONAL MONUMENTS
Big Hole Battlefield, Beaverhead County, Montana.
Cabrillo Monument, Ft. Rosecrans, California.
Castle Pinckney, Charleston, South Carolina.
Father Millet Cross, Fort Niagara, New York.
Fort Marion, St. Augustine, Florida.
Fort Matanzas, Florida.
Fort Pulaski, Georgia.
Meriwether Lewis, Hardin County, Tennessee.
Mound City Group, Chillicothe, Ohio.
Statue of Liberty, Fort Wood, New York.
MISCELLANEOUS MEMORIALS
Camp Blount Tablets, Lincoln County, Tennessee.
Kill Devil Hill Monument, Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.
New Echota Marker, Georgia.
Lee Mansion, Arlington National Cemetery, Virginia.
Battleground, District of Columbia.
Antietam, (Sharpsburg) Maryland.
Vicksburg, Mississippi.
Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.
Chattanooga, Tennessee.
Fort Donelson, (Dover) Tennessee.
Shiloh, (Pittsburg Landing) Tennessee.
Stones River, (Murfreesboro) Tennessee.
Fredericksburg, Virginia.
Poplar Grove, (Petersburg) Virginia.
Yorktown, Virginia.
2. Pursuant to Section 22 of said executive order it is hereby ordered that the transfer from the War Department of national cemeteries other than those named above be, and the same is hereby postponed until further order.
3. Also pursuant to Section 22 of said executive order it is hereby ordered that the transfer of national cemeteries located in foreign countries from the War Department to the Department of State and the transfer of those located in insular possessions under the jurisdiction of the War Department to the Bureau of Insular Affairs of said Department be, and the same are hereby postponed until further order.
FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT.
THE WHITE HOUSE,
July 28, 1933
5 U.S.C. 124-132.
Fort Necessity National Battlefield Site was transferred to the National Park Service in 1933 under this Executive Order. This was a major shift in responsibilities to the National Park Service.
75 Stat. 336 - An Act To provide additional lands at, and change the name of, the Fort Necessity National Battlefield site, Pennsylvania, and for other purposes
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of American in Congress assembled, That, in furtherance of the purposes of the Act of March 4, 1931 (46 Stat. 1522), the Secretary of the Interior is authorized to acquire by purchase, exchange, donation, with donated funds or otherwise by such means as he may deem to be in the public interest, lands and interests in lands adjoining or near the Fort Necessity National Battlefield site which in his discretion are necessary to preserve the historic battleground, together with not to exceed 25 acres at the detached Braddock Monument: Provided, That the total area acquired pursuant to this Act shall not exceed 500 acres, except that in order to avoid the undesirable severance of parcels in private ownership such parcels may be purchased in the entirety. (16 USC § 430pp.)
SEC. 2. The Secretary of the Interior, in order to implement the purposes of section 1 of this Act, is authorized to exchange lands which may be acquired pursuant to this Act for other lands or interests therein of approximately equal value lying within the original George Washington land patent at Fort Necessity. (16 USC § 430qq.)
SEC. 3. The Fort Necessity National Battlefield site is hereby redesignated as the Fort Necessity National Battlefield and any remaining balance of funds appropriated for the purposes of the site shall be available for the purposes of the Fort Necessity National Battlefield (16 USC § 430rr.)
SEC. 4. The administration, protection, and development of the Fort Necessity National Battlefield shall be exercised by the Secretary of the Interior in accordance with provisions of the Act of August 25, 1916 (39 Stat. 535), entitled “An Act to establish a National Park Service, and for other purposes”, as amended and supplemented. (16 USC § 430ss.)
SEC. 5. There are hereby authorized to be appropriated such sums, but not more than $115,000, as are necessary to carry out the provisions of this Act. (16 USC § 430tt.)
Approved, August 10, 1961.
This law allowed for the purchase of the Braddock’s Grave section, but also changed the name and designation to the current "Fort Necessity National Battlefield".
88 Stat. 1445, Public Law 93-477 – An Act to provide for increases in appropriation ceilings and boundary changes in certain units of the National Park System, to authorized appropriations for additional costs of land acquisitions for the National Park System, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
TITLE I – ACQUISITION CEILING INCREASES
SEC. 101. The limitations on appropriations for the acquisition of lands and interests therein within units of the National Park System contained in the following Acts are amended as follows:
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(4) Fort Necessity National Battlefield, Pennsylvania: Section 5 of the Act of August 10, 1961, (75 Stat 336), is amended by changing “$115,000” to “$722,000”.
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TITLE III – BOUNDARY CHANGES
SEC. 301. The Secretary of the Interior shall revise the boundaries of the following units of the National Park System:
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(3) Fort Necessity National Battlefield, Pennsylvania: To add approximately 411 acres;
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Approved, October 26, 1974.
This enabled for the purchase of the Jumonville Glen section, which was added in 1977 through 1979.
