Lodore is a rural

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

in northern Amelia County just south of the

Appomattox River The Appomattox River is a tributary of the James River, approximately long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed April 1, 2011 in central and eastern Virginia, named for the ...

in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

. It is located along SR 616 (S. Genito Road) at its intersection with the northern terminus of SR 636 (N. Lodore Road).

History

Post office

The community was listed as a post village called Houston before the name was changed to Lodore about 1845. On Civil War–era maps, however, "Lodore" was used only as a reference to the home of one of the landowners along Genito Road; an intersection just under a mile away was noted as Giles Crossroads or Giles Chapel, after William Branch Giles, U.S. senator and governor of Virginia, whose former home is a short distance northeast. The Lodore post office remained in operation until at least the turn of the 20th century, but was among the thousands of small "fourth class" facilities that were closed in the early 1900s after the advent of

rural free delivery Rural Free Delivery (RFD), since 1906 officially rural delivery, is a program of the United States Post Office Department to deliver mail directly to rural destinations. The program began in the late 19th century. Before that, people living in ru ...

. The Lodore area is now served by the

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letter (message), letters and parcel (package), parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post o ...

several miles south at the

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

, Amelia Court House, ZIP code 23002.

Civil War

The immediate vicinity of Lodore appears to have been spared significant action during most of the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

, although several skirmishes and bloody engagements were fought only a few miles to the south and west during the final days of the war in early April 1865, as

General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

Robert E. Lee Robert Edward Lee (January 19, 1807 – October 12, 1870) was a general officers in the Confederate States Army, Confederate general during the American Civil War, who was appointed the General in Chief of the Armies of the Confederate ...

and his army continued their westward retreat and Federal troops pursued. A

Confederate A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a political union of sovereign states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical issu ...

wagon train carrying desperately needed supplies from

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a city in the United States * Richmond, London, a town in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town ...

, forced to bypass the Lodore area because wet weather had rendered the Genito bridge over the Appomattox River uncrossable, was destroyed by Union troops near Paineville, southwest of Lodore, on April 5.

Tornadoes

Amelia County is located in a small Central Virginia

tornado A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with the surface of Earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. It is often referred to as a twister, whirlwind or cyclone, although the ...

alley and has had numerous tornado touchdowns. No tornado fatalities have been reported at Lodore, but an EF1 destroyed a carport and damaged an outbuilding northeast of the community on January 12, 2018.

Historic structures

Several structures near Lodore are listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

, including: * The

Wigwam A wigwam, wikiup, wetu (Wampanoag), or wiigiwaam (Ojibwe, in syllabics: ) is a semi-permanent domed dwelling formerly used by certain Native American tribes and First Nations people and still used for ceremonial events. The term ''wikiup'' ...

, historic residence of

William Branch Giles William Branch Giles (August 12, 1762December 4, 1830) was an American statesman, long-term United States Senate, Senator from Virginia, and the List of governors of Virginia, 24th Governor of Virginia. He served in the United States House of R ...

, 24th governor of Virginia, approximately four miles northeast. * Haw Branch plantation house, approximately two miles south by straight-line distance. * Grub Hill Church, approximately four miles southeast. * Egglestetton plantation house, approximately four miles southeast. Other historic churches at Lodore include Flower Hill Baptist, an African American congregation whose building stands on S. Genito Road, just east of N. Lodore Road.

Notable residents

* William S. Archer (1789 – 1855),

United States senator The United States Senate consists of 100 members, two from each of the 50 U.S. state, states. This list includes all senators serving in the 119th United States Congress. Party affiliation Independent Senators Angus King of Maine and Berni ...

from Virginia, born and buried at "The Lodge" (or "Red Lodge") off present-day SR 609 (Royalton Road) northeast of Lodore *

(1762 – 1830), U.S. senator and governor of Virginia

Businesses

Oakmulgee Dairy Farm, four miles northeast of Lodore atop a hill on SR 637 (Giles Road) above the remnants of the former community of Giles Mill, is the oldest of several working dairy farms in Amelia County, having been in operation since 1898.

References

{{authority control Unincorporated communities in Virginia Unincorporated communities in Amelia County, Virginia