Appomattox Court House National Historical Park
Why it's listed
Appomattox Court House is a restored rural Virginia village and 1,325-acre landscape of fields and woodland in the piedmont, three miles northeast of the town of Appomattox. It marks the place where Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered the Army of Northern Virginia to Union Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant on April 9, 1865. Thirteen restored and fourteen reconstructed buildings cluster around the courthouse, including the Clover Hill Tavern, built in 1819, and the Mariah Wright House, built in 1823. The buildings range from small log cabins to the homes of prosperous judges and court officials. Surrounding roads, fences, hedgerows and farm fields recall the village as it appeared in 1865-1870. Sites tied to the surrender, such as the Surrender Triangle, the headquarters sites of both generals and the site of the last battle, are also included, along with a 1905 North Carolina monument. The park is recognized for both its military history and its preserved community landscape.
Significance in brief: The park commemorates the April 9, 1865 surrender of General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia to Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant. It also preserves a wide range of late eighteenth and nineteenth century buildings, structures and sites, together with roads, fences and fields that form a cultural landscape for interpreting the 1865 events.
Machine-generated summary. This summary was generated by a language model from the official nomination document and has not been reviewed line by line by an editor. It may contain errors. Check the source document before relying on any detail. Source: nomination document (PDF) · National Archives catalog entry. NRHP reference 66000827, listed October 15, 1966. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | 3 mi. NE of Appomattox on VA 24, Appomattox |
|---|---|
| County | Appomattox County |
| Listed | October 15, 1966 |
| Reference number | 66000827 |
| Resource type | District |
| Architect / builder | Clover Hill Tavern built by Alexander Patterson (1819); Mariah Wright House built by Pryor Wright (1823) |
| Architectural style | Vernacular rural Virginia buildings, including log cabins, with Greek Revival and Georgian-influenced details |
| Areas of significance | Conservation, Military, Architecture |
| Level of significance | National |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Maintained as a restored village and park; several buildings operate as museums open to the public, while the Mariah Wright House is not open to the public. |
| Acreage | 1325.1 |
| Coordinates | 37.38309, -78.78624 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
This is a historic district. Buildings within its boundary are either contributing (they add to the district's significance) or non-contributing. Owners of contributing income-producing buildings can claim the 20% federal rehabilitation tax credit; homeowners should look at state credits. National Register districts impose no design review by themselves; a local historic district ordinance, if one exists, does (the difference explained).
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.
Sources and further reading
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places database (snapshot May 2026), reference 66000827.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q4744652
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.