From Clover Hill to Appomattox Court House

An 1800s photograph of the village as you enter the village with the McClean House on the right side with two people walking towards the village

Appomattox Court House NHP acquisition number APCO 11549 museum photograph.

The village that we call Appomattox Court House today was originally called Clover Hill Village. This village was along the Richmond‐Lynchburg Stagecoach Road. The first building in the village was the Clover Hill Tavern which was built in 1819. This tavern was used to feed and board guests especially stagecoach travelers. The stage came to Clover Hill twice per week on weekdays and once per day on weekends. The first owner of the tavern was Alexander Patteson. Twenty years later (1839) he sold half of it to Captain John Raine. The next year Captain Raine bought the other half and just two years later he sold it to his brother Hugh. (The tall obelisk on the road, as visitors today come from Route 460, marks the center of the Raine Family Cemetery).

As the years passed more people moved into the village and as the population grew the need for legal services also increased. To resolve legal matters residents had to travel all the way to Farmville about 30 miles away. This would take at least one day to get there, one day in court and one day to return. So, in 1825, the residents petitioned the state legislature to make a new county around Clover Hill. Finally, in1845, the state legislature created Appomattox County. The county was created from parts of PrinceEdward, Buckingham, Charlotte, and Campbell Counties. The county was named after the Appomattox River which runs through the county. The river was named after the Appamatuck tribe of Chief Powhatan’s Confederacy.

Clover Hill was changed to Appomattox Court House when the county was created. During the early part of the 1800s, county seats were named with the name of the county followed by Court House, thus Appomattox Court House.