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Appomattox Court House National Historical Park

courtesy of the National Park Service

Contact Information:
Appomattox Court House National Historical Park
Hwy. 24, P.O. Box 218
Appomattox, VA 24522

434-352-8987 x 26
http://www.nps.gov/apco/

Size: 1,772 acres

Visitation: 156,548 (2003)

Location: The Appomattox Court House National Historical Park is located in south-central Virginia, 92 miles west of Richmond and 18 miles east of Lynchburg. It is on VA 24, 3 miles northeast of the town of Appomattox, which sits astride US 460. 

Description: Here on April 9, 1865, General Robert E. Lee surrendered the Confederacy's largest field army to Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant. The site includes the McLean home (surrender site), the village of Appomattox Court House, and the home and burial place of Joel Sweeney - the popularizer of the modern five string banjo. There are twenty seven original 19th-century structures on the site. 

Appomattox Court House National Historical Park
courtesy of the National Park Service

Activities: Appomattox Court House National Historical Park offers self-guided walking tours (pamphlet available at the Visitor Center) six mile History Trail, audio visual programs, interpretive displays, museum exhibits, a bookstore, and living history and Ranger talks in the summer. Allow at least 2 hours to visit the historical village.

Operating Hours: The Visitor Center is open daily from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. It is closed on Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years. The heaviest visitation months are June, July, August, and October. Lightest visitation months are January and February.

History
: Authorized as Appomattox Battlefield Site on June 18, 1930; designated a national historical park on April 15, 1954. 

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