News Release

Petersburg National Battlefield Seeks Public Comments on Bluff Stabilization Project

Rock covered shoreline with trees on the left and water on the right.
City Point waterfront

NPS

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News Release Date: May 16, 2025

Contact: Eric Schreiner, 804-602-7491

Hopewell, Va. — Petersburg National Battlefield invites the public to share comments on the draft Programmatic Agreement (PA) for the second phase of the bluff stabilization project at the Grant’s Headquarters at City Point unit. This project is in the early planning stages and construction is expected to take place in 2027, pending available funds.

This project intends to protect significant historic resources and preserve the cultural landscape and views of the bluff area. Appomattox Manor, part of the City Point National Register District, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. This site contains extensive evidence of thousands of years of human activity. In addition to important Civil War features, the site includes historic buildings, roads, path and plantings associated with Native Americans, the Eppes family and Africans enslaved by them.

Your input is crucial for the success of this project. National Park Service staff will consider all feedback as we finalize the PA. Comments can be submitted through the Planning, Environment, and Public Comment (PEPC) system at - Bluff Stabalization Draft Programmatic Agreement for Review 

Public comments will be accepted from May 19th – June 18th, 2025. Please note that PEPC will not include any comments sent to the park via either email or by letters.

The bluff and shoreline at City Point risks losing valuable archaeological, architectural, cultural and natural resources due to ongoing erosion from the Appomattox and James Rivers. Hurricanes, tornadoes and heavy storms have worsened the erosion, damaging the historic bluff and beach. This project would involve repairing, rebuilding and constructing seawalls, retaining walls, walkways, access roads and other structures to protect the shoreline.

The PA would guide the stabilization project to protect its archaeological resources and the cultural landscape. National Park Service staff developed the PA after consulting with the Virginia State Historic Preservation Office and Tribes that originally inhabited this land. NPS intends to avoid or minimize any negative impacts on historic buildings, landscapes and archaeological sites during this work.

About Grant’s Headquarters at City Point

The City Point Unit of Petersburg National Battlefield, also known as Appomattox Plantation and Grant's Headquarters, is located in Hopewell, Va., where the Appomattox River meets the James River. At the top of the bluff stands Appomattox Manor, an 18th-century plantation house and outbuildings owned by the Eppes family from 1635 until 1979, marking one of the longest periods of single-family ownership in the United States. During the Civil War, while Petersburg was under siege from June 1864 to April 1865, U.S. Army General Ulysses S. Grant established his field headquarters in the manor and a nearby cabin built for that purpose



Last updated: May 16, 2025

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Mailing Address:

Petersburg National Battlefield Administration Office
1539 Hickory Hill Road

Petersburg, VA 23803

Phone:

804 732-3531

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