What to See in Appomattox - Top Sights and Attractions

County park in Appomattox County, Virginia. The Appomattox Court House National Historical Park is a preserved 19th-century village in Appomattox County, Virginia. The village is famous for the site of the Battle of Appomattox Court House, and contains the house of Wilmer McLean, where the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia under Robert E. Lee to Union commander Ulysses S. Grant took place on April 9, 1865, effectively ending the American Civil War. The McLean House was the site of the surrender conference, but the village itself is 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 in 1940 and a national historical park in 1954. It is located about 3 miles (4.8 km) east of Appomattox, Virginia, the location of the Appomattox Station and the "new" Appomattox Court House. It is in the center of the state about 25 miles (40 km) east of Lynchburg, Virginia. The park has a couple of dozen restored buildings, a few ruins, and some cemeteries.^[1]

State park in Appomattox County, Virginia. Holliday Lake State Park is a state park located within the confines of Appomattox-Buckingham State Forest in Virginia. The land was cleared as farmland in the 1880s before being returned to its forested state in the mid-20th century. Today, the park is known for its fishing opportunities.

The park was one of four recreational areas developed by the Virginia Division of Forestry (now the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation) working in conjunction with the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) during the Depression. The central water feature at Holliday Lake is the 150-acre man-made lake. Contributing resources include Picnic Shelter #1, Wellhouse (c. 1939), the Dam/Spillway/Bridge/Lake, Drainage Culvert, Retaining Wall, and the Park Circulation System. Adjacent to the park is the separately listed Holiday Lake 4-H Educational Center.

It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2012.^[2]

State park. The Appomattox Courthouse is the current courthouse in Appomattox, Virginia built in 1892. It is located in the middle of the state about three miles southwest of the Appomattox Court House National Historical Park, once known as Clover Hill—home of the original Old Appomattox Court House. The "new" Appomattox Courthouse is near the Appomattox Station and where the regional county government is located.

Before the Civil War, the railroad bypassed Clover Hill, now known as the Appomattox Court House National Historical Park. As a result the population of Clover Hill, where the Old Appomattox Courthouse once stood, never grew much over 150 while Appomattox town grew to the thousands. When the courthouse at the village of Clover Hill burned for the second time in 1892, it was not rebuilt and a new courthouse was built in West Appomattox. That sealed the fate of the village of Clover Hill. The county seat was formally moved to the town of West Appomattox in 1894 and the word "West" was dropped in time making the name of the town just Appomattox, Virginia.

There is a marker at the site of the "new" Appomattox Court House explaining the difference between the "new" and "old" court houses.

This building, erected in 1892 when the county seat was moved to this location, should not be mistaken for the original, built in 1846 and destroyed by fire in 1892. Three miles northeast is old Appomattox Court House and the McLean House where Lee surrendered to Grant on April 9, 1865, thus ending the War between the States. The village of Old Appomattox Court House is now preserved as a national shrine by the Federal Government.

Two members of the United States House of Representatives, Henry D. Flood and his half-brother Joel West Flood, are entombed in a mausoleum on the courthouse green.^[3]

The Appomattox Historic District national historic district located at Appomattox, Appomattox County, Virginia. It contains 297 contributing buildings, 6 contributing structures, and 3 contributing objects in Appomattox. It includes Courthouse Square, the commercial district surrounding the railroad tracks, the Appomattox depot, and surrounding residential areas dating back to the 19th century. Notable buildings include the Appomattox Courthouse, Appomattox County Jail, County Office Building, Knickerbocker Hotel, Bank of Appomattox, Appomattox Middle School, Appomattox Pentecostal Holiness Church, and "The Nebraska House".

The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2002. It is two miles southwest of the Appomattox Court House National Historical Park. Even though the park and the district share many of the same building names, for example, the court house and the jail, they are different buildings in different locations.^[4]