Appomattox Manor (c. 1930s)
Appomattox Manor (c. 2016)
Site Name: Appomattox Manor/Plantation
Date of Construction: 1763
Site History:
In 1635, Francis Eppes was given 1,700 acres of land including Eppes Island, part of Bermuda Hundred, and part of City Point (where the manor is located). This land stayed in the Eppes family until 1979. The manor was the second house built on the property and the inscribed brick on the house says 1763, suggesting that it was finished in that year. Afterwards, two additions were added to the house. This manor was present in both the Revolutionary and Civil Wars. During the Revolutionary War, British forces landed near the house in pursuit of Lafayette who was in Petersburg but they were forced to retreat downstream.
The most historically significant event involving this plantation was the Civil War. On June 15, 1854, Ulysses S. Grant transferred his headquarters to City Point. Grant’s cabin is right beside the manor. Interestingly enough, Abraham Lincoln himself visited the plantation and emt with Grant in his cabin. It is also thought that Lincoln had his portentous dream of the murder of a president off the shores of City Point.
Area History:
During May of 1607, Christopher Newport first arrived on the shore of City Point, and after staying with the Appomattuck natives for five days, he decided that it would be the site of the first settlement. However, when Newport returned to meet the other settlers, they had already moved upstream and began settling in Jamestown; when he tried to report his findings, he was ignored. Then, after the Starving Times, Sir Thomas Dale realized he made a mistake and began searching for other places to settle. He officially founded City Point by the name “Bermuda Cittie” in 1613 and placed a farming settlement there.
At the beginning of World War I, City Point had approximately 200 residents, then a local dynamite factory was morphed into a gun cotton production facility by DuPont. With the creation of this, the population soared to over 30,000 people. In 2013, the city of Hopewell (which includes City Point) had 22,163 people. This population explosion led to a great increase in crime and on December 9, 1915, there was a fire that demolished approximately ¾ of modern day Hopewell. At the end of World War I, the gun cotton factory was closed and the population dropped until there were less than 2,000 people left in the area because the majority of them were brought here for the factory. The area was then annexed by the City of Hopewell in 1923. After being annexed by Hopewell, most of the area was protected and preserved by the city of Hopewell and the National Park Service.
Names of the Area:
Bermuda Cittie → Charles City → Charles City Point → City Point → Hopewell
What about the site has changed?
The area used to be a buzzing shipping area and a plantation. Today it is still on a hill that overlooks the James and Appomattox River; however, there isn’t a dock, just a pier from which people fish. The area is nicely kept by the National Park Service; it was originally opened to the public on April 1, 1962 at the price of $1 per adult and $0.50 for children, though, today it is free for all. The plantation has been kept mostly the same, which some recreations. Right down the street is a huge factory-like organization with a lot of pollution as well as many railroads. Currently, the area is part of the City Point unit of the Petersburg National Battlefield. Much of the surrounding area is also being preserved due to its historical significance, all of the surrounding areas are open to the public except for the only other manor on that hill. After being annexed by Hopewell, it mainly stayed the same, however, some residential areas popped up around the site, the main dock was destroyed, and the railroad is used rarely. The area around the manor is used to recreation, mainly fishing. The rest of Hopewell has since split, there is the downtown area, known as City Point, typically associated with a lot of crime, and then there is the Hopewell area, which has enclaves of crime scattered throughout the city.
Reflection:
I’ve been curious about the history of Hopewell for a very long time, reading all of the historical markers that I can find, and often going on rides with my dad where he tells me all the things that he knows. I also have been going to Appomattox Manor for dog walks along the river, hanging out with friends, and more recently, skipping rocks on the shore and have always wanted to learn more. However, as a Maggie Walker student, I never had/made time to do any research. This project encouraged me to discover many good resources and absorb a lot of amazing information. Perhaps my favorite thing that I learned was that Christopher Newport wanted this to be the first settlement; or that Lincoln supposedly had his dream in the waters that I see everyday.
Author: Cayce Walker feat. Corrine Huddleston
Sources:
“Appomattox Manor.” National Park Service. Accessed March 13, 2016.
Architectural Review Board. "The City Point Historic District and the Design
Process."Hopewell City Government. Accessed March 13, 2016.
http://www.hopewellva.gov/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/2-Chapter-2-Hopewell-history-
process.pdf
Bullis, Ronald K. Images of America: Hopewell and City Point. Charleston, SC:
Arcadia, 2011.
Butowski, Harry, Dr., and National Park Service. Appomattox Manor - City Point A
History. 1978.
National Park Service. "A Slave, A Plantation, A War." National Park Service.
New York Times (New York City, NY). "Virginia Manor." March 18, 1962, The Field
of Travel.
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