The Appomattox Court House National Historical Park is a preserved 19th-century village in
Appomattox County, Virginia
Appomattox County is a United States county located in the Piedmont region and near the center of the Commonwealth of Virginia. The county is part of the Lynchburg, VA Metropolitan Statistical Area, and its county seat is the town of Appo ...
. The village is famous for the site of the
Battle of Appomattox Court House
The Battle of Appomattox Court House, fought in Appomattox County, Virginia, on the morning of April 9, 1865, was one of the last battles of the American Civil War (1861–1865). It was the final engagement of Confederate General in Chief, Rober ...
, and contains the house of
Wilmer McLean, where the surrender of the
Army of Northern Virginia under
Robert E. Lee
Robert Edward Lee (January 19, 1807 – October 12, 1870) was a Confederate general during the American Civil War, towards the end of which he was appointed the overall commander of the Confederate States Army. He led the Army of Nor ...
to
Union commander
Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant ; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was an American military officer and politician who served as the 18th president of the United States from 1869 to 1877. As Commanding General, he led the Union A ...
took place on April 9, 1865, effectively ending the
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and t ...
. The
McLean House was the site of the surrender conference, but the village itself was named for the presence nearby of what is now preserved as the
Old Appomattox Court House.
The park was established in 1935. The village was made a
national monument
A national monument is a monument constructed in order to commemorate something of importance to national heritage, such as a country's founding, independence, war, or the life and death of a historical figure.
The term may also refer to a spe ...
in 1940 and a
national historical park
National Historic Site (NHS) is a designation for an officially recognized area of national historic significance in the United States. An NHS usually contains a single historical feature directly associated with its subject. The National Historic ...
in 1954. It is located about east of
Appomattox, Virginia, the location of the
Appomattox Station and the "new"
Appomattox Court House Appomattox Court House could refer to:
* The village of Appomattox Court House, now the Appomattox Court House National Historical Park, in central Virginia (U.S.), where Confederate army commander Robert E. Lee surrendered to Union commander Ulyss ...
. It is in the center of the state about east of
Lynchburg, Virginia
Lynchburg is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. First settled in 1757 by ferry owner John Lynch, the city's population was 79,009 at the 2020 census. Located in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mounta ...
. The park has a couple of dozen restored buildings, a few ruins, and some cemeteries.
Antebellum history
The
antebellum
Antebellum, Latin for "before war", may refer to:
United States history
* Antebellum South, the pre-American Civil War period in the Southern United States
** Antebellum Georgia
** Antebellum South Carolina
** Antebellum Virginia
* Antebellum ar ...
village started out as "Clover Hill" named after its oldest existing structure, the
Clover Hill Tavern (c. 1819). The village was a
stagecoach
A stagecoach is a four-wheeled public transport coach used to carry paying passengers and light packages on journeys long enough to need a change of horses. It is strongly sprung and generally drawn by four horses although some versions are dra ...
stop along the Richmond-Lynchburg stage road. The activity in Clover Hill centered around Clover Hill Tavern. The tavern provided lodging to travelers. Fresh horses for the stage line were also provided at the stop, which had been done since the tavern was built.
It was also the site of organizational meetings, so when Appomattox County was established by an Act on February 8, 1845, Clover Hill village became the
county seat
A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US ...
. Appomattox County was formed from parts of
Buckingham,
Prince Edward,
Charlotte
Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...
, and
Campbell counties. The jurisdiction took its name from the headwaters that emanate there, the
Appomattox River. Early Virginians believed the name Appomattox came from an Indian tribe called Apumetec.
[Marvel, pp 1-6]
From about 1842, Hugh Raine owned most of the Clover Hill area. He obtained it from his brother John Raine who defaulted on his loans. Later, he sold the property to Colonel
Samuel D. McDearmon. Since his acquisition, it became the county seat and he surveyed of the
hamlet
''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...
. He designated to be used by the new county to build a courthouse and other government buildings. The courthouse was to be built across the Stage Road from the Clover Hill Tavern. The jail was to be built behind the courthouse. McDearmon divided the remaining land surrounding the courthouse into lots. He felt that with Clover Hill's new status as a county seat he would find professional people ready and willing to purchase the lots. His hopes were later dashed in 1854 as the train depot stopped three miles (5 km) west in
Appomattox, Virginia. The American Civil War put the final nails in the coffin. The district once known as Clover Hill and later renamed to Appomattox Court House continued to decline as businesses moved to the area of the
Appomattox Station.
The village contained of the original Patteson's Clover Hill Tavern property of some .
Raine provided the Clover Hill Tavern for meeting space for the organization of the new county in May 1845 and naming the
township
A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries.
Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, ...
"Clover Hill."
The county records show:
: "And be it further enacted, that not exceeding thirthy acres of land, now occupied by Captain John Raine, in the now county of Prince Edward, lying on the stage road leading from or through said county to the town of Lynchburg, at the place called and known as Clover Hill, the proposed seat of justice for the said new county, so soon as the same shall be laid off into lots, with convenient streets and alleys, with back and cross streets if necessary, shall be and the same is hereby established a town by the name of Clover Hill."
Appomattox Court House village
The
Battle of Appomattox Court House
The Battle of Appomattox Court House, fought in Appomattox County, Virginia, on the morning of April 9, 1865, was one of the last battles of the American Civil War (1861–1865). It was the final engagement of Confederate General in Chief, Rober ...
fought on the morning of April 9, 1865, was the final engagement of
Confederate General in Chief
General in Chief has been a military rank or title in various armed forces around the world.
France
In France, general-in-chief (french: général en chef) was first an informal title for the lieutenant-general commanding over others lieutenant- ...
,
Robert E. Lee
Robert Edward Lee (January 19, 1807 – October 12, 1870) was a Confederate general during the American Civil War, towards the end of which he was appointed the overall commander of the Confederate States Army. He led the Army of Nor ...
, and his
Army of Northern Virginia before it surrendered to the Union
Army of the Potomac
The Army of the Potomac was the principal Union Army in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War. It was created in July 1861 shortly after the First Battle of Bull Run and was disbanded in June 1865 following the surrender of the Confede ...
under the
Commanding General of the United States,
Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant ; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was an American military officer and politician who served as the 18th president of the United States from 1869 to 1877. As Commanding General, he led the Union A ...
.
General
George Armstrong Custer of
Little Bighorn fame received a flag of truce at the village of Appomattox Court House that brought about the discontinuance of hostilities of the Confederate and the Union armies leading to the surrender meeting between General Lee and General Grant at the McLean House.
[Winik, 181–184.]
According to a
Union writer at the time of the American Civil War the village consisted of about "five houses, a tavern, and a courthouse — all on one street that was boarded up at one end to keep the cows out." There were actually more dwellings in this obscure hamlet, some of which were off the main village street. There were a large number of cabins and out-buildings. The hamlet had two stores, law offices, a saddler, wheelwright, three blacksmiths, and other businesses. A tavern had been built by John Raine in 1848 that became the celebrated McLean house. Many rural counties in the
Southern States had county seats whose names were formed by adding ''court house'' (two words) to the name of the county, hence the village name became Appomattox Court House.
Park development history
The program for the development of the park calls for a partial restoration of Clover Hill and the hamlet of Appomattox Court House to its appearance in April 1865.
[Marvel, ''A place called Appomattox'', has an extensive bibliography (pp. 369-383) which lists manuscript collections, private papers and letters that were consulted, as well as, newspapers, government documents, and other published monographs that were used in his research of Appomattox.] This will constitute for the people of the United States a memorial to the termination of the American Civil War. World War II stopped temporarily the development of the park, however it was resumed in 1947. Some structures in the village that were built after 1865 were taken down that did not represent a true picture of the end of the Civil War. In 1954,
Virginia State Route 24
State Route 24 (SR 24) is a primary state highway in the U.S. state of Virginia. The state highway runs from U.S. Route 221 (US 221) and SR 116 in Roanoke east to US 60 in Mt. Rush. SR 24 connects Roanoke with several small communities in s ...
was relocated south of the Appomattox Court House Historical Park so the National Park Service could restore the Richmond-Lynchburg stage road to its 1865 appearance. Also this would allow the National Park Service to do archeological exploration at the original Appomattox Court House building.
The park was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...
on October 15, 1966.
The historical park was described in 1989 as having an area of .
[ and author=NPS;date=June 27, 1985]
The park presently has a couple of dozen restored buildings. Some of the notable buildings are the
Peers House, McLean House,
New County Jail,
Jones Law Office, Clover Hill Tavern,
Woodson Law Office,
Bocock-Isbell House,
Mariah Wright House,
Plunkett-Meeks Store,
Sweeney-Conner Cabin,
Charles Sweeney Cabin,
Sweeney Prizery and the
Old Appomattox Court House. There are also various
ruins
Ruins () are the remains of a civilization's architecture. The term refers to formerly intact structures that have fallen into a state of partial or total disrepair over time due to a variety of factors, such as lack of maintenance, deliberate ...
and
cemeteries
A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite or graveyard is a place where the remains of dead people are buried or otherwise interred. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek , "sleeping place") implies that the land is specifically designated as a bu ...
within the village. At the time of the Act of Congress that authorized the Appomattox Court House National Historical Park in 1935,
[Burnham, p. 331] the existing buildings were the Clover Hill Tavern, the Tavern guest house and kitchen, the Woodson Law office structure, the Plunkett-Meeks Store, the Bocock-Isbell House, and several residences outside the village limits.
There are several markers throughout the field of the village that show points of interest within the park. Some of these are the sites of General Lee's and General Grant's headquarters; the site of the apple tree where General Lee waited for General Grant's reply on the morning of April 9, 1865; and the position of the last cannon fired by the Confederate artillery on the morning of April 9, 1865. There is also a monument and two tablets that were erected by the state of North Carolina describing the last engagement of the armies this same morning.
File:Appomattox park white sign.jpg, Appomattox Park main welcome entrance sign
File:Confederate cemetery tombstone flags.jpg, Confederate Cemetery at the historical park
File:Old Appomattox Court House reconstructed.jpg, Old Appomattox Court House, 1846 (restored)
File:Clover Hill Tavern.jpg, Clover Hill Tavern, 1819 (restored), Appomattox
File:Lee's last Attack marker.jpg, Historical marker of Lee's last attack April 9, 1865
File:Appomattox Court House National Historical Park (5493dd6b-6873-40d2-a3fc-2dc4f71d598e).jpg, Place of last cannon fired by Confederate artillery
See also
*
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and t ...
*
Origins of the American Civil War
*
Conclusion of the American Civil War
The conclusion of the American Civil War commenced with the articles of surrender agreement of the Army of Northern Virginia on April 9, at Appomattox Court House, by General Robert E. Lee and concluded with the surrender of the '' Shenando ...
Notes
References
* Burnham, Bill, ''The Virginia Handbook'', Hunter Publishing, Inc, 2005,
* Marvel, William, ''A Place Called Appomattox'', UNC Press, 2000,
*Winik, Jay, ''April 1865 / The Month That Saved America'', Harper Collins, 2006,
Further reading
* Davis, Burke, ''To Appomattox - Nine April Days, 1865'', Eastern Acorn Press, 1992,
* Gutek, Patricia, ''Plantations and Outdoor Museums in America's Historic South'', University of South Carolina Press, 1996,
* Kaiser, Harvey H., ''The National Park Architecture Sourcebook'', Princeton Architectural Press, 2008,
* National Park Service, ''Appomattox Court House: Appomattox Court House National Historical Park, Virginia'', U.S. Dept. of the Interior, 2002,
External links
National Park Service, Appomattox Court House- official site
Surrender at Appomattox ''C-SPAN'', January 28, 2015
{{authority control
Military facilities on the National Register of Historic Places in Virginia
Parks in Appomattox County, Virginia
Battlefields of the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War
Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Virginia
National Register of Historic Places in Appomattox County, Virginia
Historic American Buildings Survey in Virginia
1935 establishments in Virginia
American Civil War on the National Register of Historic Places
Open-air museums in Virginia
National Historical Parks of the United States