I’d been telling everyone I was going to see the Appomattox Court House. The southern surrender to end the Civil War was signed in the court house of Appomattox, VA right? Wrong! Appomattox Court House is the name of the town that served as the county seat of Appomattox County.
A Quiet Sunday in Appomattox Court House
Few people were around the day the surrender was signed. I’m sure many fled because of the war, but it was also Palm Sunday. The actual court house wouldn’t have been open anyway. Local businessman, Wilmer McLean, offered his parlor to Grant and Lee. Their signatures in this room was the beginning of the end to one of America’s darkest chapters.
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| McLean’s Parlor |
McLean was originally from Manassas, VA and was there when the first battle of the Civil War raged around him nearly four years earlier. Trying to escape the war, he moved is family south to Appomattox Court House. I’m sure he never imagined that the threat of another backyard battle would become so real – or that it would all be over inside his house!
The only condition of the surrender was that the Confederates would not take up arms against the United States again. Men who owned their guns and horses were allowed to keep them. Each Confederate soldier was given a parole slip to prove he was not a traitor to the southern cause and he hadn’t deserted. These parole slips were printed in a makeshift print shop erected inside the Clover Hill Tavern. This building still remains today.
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| Parole Slip Printing Press |
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| Clover Hill Tavern |
Rebuilding History
In the late 1800s the McLean house was disassembled with the goal of moving it to Washington, DC to create a Civil War museum. The money ran out before the transport began and this historic home lay in piles on the lawn. Fifty years passed before the National Park Service took over. After an interruption for World War II the McLean House was rebuilt and reopened on April 9, 1949 – 84 years, to the day, after the surrender.
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| McLean House as it stands today |
Appomattox Court House court house
In the end, I did see the Appomattox court house. It is a reconstructed building that now serves as the park’s visitor center. But it was the town of Appomattox Court House that had real historical value. That’s part of the fun of my National Park Challenge – I’m learning so much! And even learning how wrong I am about the random facts I thought I knew.
Have you had any similar experiences? What did you think you knew until a travel experience proved you wrong?
Visit Appomattox Court House
Learn more about Appomattox Court House here: http://www.nps.gov/apco/index.htm
