Road trip! Appomattox Courthouse, Virginia: Part 2
National Park Service image of Lee and Grant inside of the McLean parlor at Appomattox Courthouse, Virginia, on April 9, 1865.
Here are some more photos from my recent visit to Appomattox.
Clover Hill Tavern at Appomattox (Scott Mingus photo)The National Park Service has restored or reconstructed more than half of the houses and shops that would have existed in April 1865 as Lee and Grant entered the town from opposite directions.The restored three-story high brick county jail. Window have several layers of iron bars, so cutting through one layer left the would-be escapee with a lot more work yet to go before he could try to leap from the window or shinny down on tied-together bed sheets.Many of the buildings at Appomattox have period or reproduction furnishings.The restored village is about 25 miles from Lynchburg and three miles east of modern Appomattox, VA. The park was established on August 3, 1935. Author Douglas Southall Freeman was a featured speaker at the dedication of the restored McLean house.John H. Plunkett first built a store on this location in 1852. Albert Francis Meeks, the village storekeeper, postmaster, and druggist, bought it during the Civil War years. The restored building is now known as the Plunkett-Meeks Store.Looking toward the rebuilt red-brick McLean house and its summer kitchen (white building to the left).
Stay tuned for Part 3, the McLean house and its outbuildings, including the slave quarters.
