Appomattox Court House > Village of Appomattox Court House
The Clover Hill Tavern is an original structure that dates to 1819, the oldest in the village of Appomattox Court House. At the time the tavern was built the courthouse had not yet been established and the village was known as Clover Hill. It was the presence of the tavern and its food and overnight lodgings that helped bring the court house here, which was built in front of the tavern.
From the marker on the picket fence outside the building:
Built in 1819, this was the first building in what would become the village of Appomattox Court House. The Clover Hill Tavern served travelers along the Richmond-Lynchburg Stage Road. For several decades, it offered the village’s only restaurant, only overnight lodging, and only bar. Its presence helped prompt the Virginia legislature to locate the Appomattox County seat here. In 1846, the courthouse was built across the street.
By 1865, th tavern had come on hard times – a bare and cheerless place,” according to one Union General. It was one of only two buildings in town used by the Federal army during the surrender process. Here, on the evening of April 10, 1865, Union soldiers set up printing presses and started producing paroles for the surrendered Confederates. The Federals printed more than 30,000 parole documents here.
The tavern is open to the public – not as the “cold and cheerless” bar and restaurant that was struggling at the end of the war, but in its role as the Union army’s print shop for creating the tens of thousands of parole passes necessary for the surrender.
