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TODAY IN PARK HISTORY

 

The McLean House
courtesy of the National Park Service

APRIL 15

1954
Appomattox is designated as a national historical park. It was here on April 9, 1865 that Robert E. Lee, Commanding General of the Army of Northern Virginia, surrendered his men to Ulysses Grant, General-in-Chief of all United States forces at the McLean home in the village of Appomattox Court House, Virginia, signaling the end of the Civil War. 

Today, the national historical park includes 27 original 19th-century structures on the site, including the McLean home and the village of Appomattox Court House, Virginia, the former county seat for Appomattox County. The site also has the home and burial place of Joel Sweeney - the popularizer of the modern five string banjo. 

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