{"nrhp_refnum":"75002027","name":"Burke's Tavern","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"1.5 mi. W of Burkeville at jct. of VA 621 and VA 607","address_restricted":false,"city":"Burkeville","county":"Nottoway County","state":"VA","lat":37.19538721500004,"lon":-78.23798759499994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1975-07-17","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Military","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state","local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A one-story frame tavern building on a ground-level basement at a rural crossroads 1.5 miles west of Burkeville, Nottoway County, Virginia, built in the 1820s and probably by Samuel D. Burke.","why_significant":"It is the principal building of a small settlement and recalls a prosperous period in the area's history, when a tavern had stood on the site since the mid-eighteenth century. It was a venue for Whig meetings in the 1830s and 1840s. During the Civil War it served as headquarters for Union generals Wilson and Kautz and was where Brigadier General Thomas A. Smythe died in 1865.","narrative":"Burke's Tavern is a one-story frame building on a ground-level basement at a rural crossroads in Nottoway County, Virginia. Built in the 1820s, probably by Samuel D. Burke, it replaced earlier taverns on the same site, where a license was first issued in 1750 to Richard Burke. The building has brick end chimneys laid in American bond, weatherboard siding, a Greek Revival frontispiece, and late Federal mantels inside. Burke, a militia colonel and Whig politician, hosted party meetings here in the 1830s and 1840s, and a school's boarders lived at the tavern around 1840. The business declined when railroads drew trade to the newer Burkeville. In 1864 Union generals Wilson and Kautz used the building as headquarters during a raid. In April 1865 Brigadier General Thomas A. Smythe, wounded at High Bridge, died here, the last Union general killed in the war. The building is now a private residence.","period_of_significance":"19th Century","architect_builder":"Probably built by Samuel D. Burke","architectural_style":"Vernacular Federal, with a Greek Revival frontispiece","criteria":[],"status_note":"Described as in good condition, occupied, and used as a private residence.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:56.880801-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/29/6823/41682329/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/75002027.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/75002027/4ea423d590-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/75002027/4ea423d590-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Nyttend","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Burke%27s_Tavern_from_southeast.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Nyttend</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Burke%27s_Tavern_from_southeast.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41682329","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burke%27s_Tavern","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q15205969"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/nottoway-county/burkes-tavern-75002027/"}