On this day in history in 1928, some opinion was voiced on page four in the Danville, Virginia paper, The Bee, about the possibility of resurrecting Appomattox for tourism purposes. The opinion seemed to be slanted toward “less is more” as the writer admonished Lynchburg’s plan for the resurrection of Appomattox Courthouse proper.
The renowned sites connected with the surrender of the army of northern Virginia ought to be preserved but they should not be buried under modern memorials. When the two armies met by chance in their last encounter at Appomattox, it was a small, sleepy village of a few simple homes. There was a courthouse, a hotel, a jail, a postofflce and store and not more than three or four residences. The courthouse and the jail have disappeared. The McLean house was torn down to be removed to the Chicago Exposition, but its materials were never carried off and now moulder [sic] where they were piled thirty-five years ago. The hotel has lost its porch and one or perhaps two of the residences have been demolished. Otherwise, the countryside is much as it was In April, 1865, and so it should remain.
My question to the above commentary is this: If there were only three or four houses in Appomattox Courthouse at the time of surrender and – count them – two houses demolished, the McLean house torn down, the courthouse gone (burned in 1892) and the jail with it…then how could this little burg look like it did during the time of surrender?
My curiosity is piqued, and I’m saddened that a name wasn’t attached to this piece. I would like to know how old this person was – was he (unlikely a she) old enough to remember Appomattox during 1864? It’s likely – he would have been about age ten in 1864 to remember the area clearly, so that would have made him about seventy-five years of age at the time of this article’s publication.
I’d prefer to think that the person who wrote this small snippet and the continuation below must have had it up to the eyeballs with the “monument mania” that occurred in America during the first two decades of the twentieth century. Glance through old newspapers from that era and every other day you’ll find a blurb about a statue being erected or a ton of marble being shipped for this or that monument to a person or event from the Civil War. This craze was not area-specific, as monuments were erected from Maine to California.
It was as if people could not get enough of honoring the Civil War veterans. This was a nice gesture, as many veterans from that war remained among the living during 1928. However, a pension rather than cold marble might have been preferred by many a Civil War survivor. Little did these folks know at this time that the Great Depression was just around the corner.
To add to his musings, the writer spelled out specifically what was needed:
The McLean house would certainly be rebuilt, and perhaps it would add to the illusion if an apple-orchard were replanted, where General Lee waited lor the answer from Grant. Otherwise, every effort should be made to preserve the calm, the near-desolation of the place. No new houses should ever be built at the old courthouse.
As a last note, the writer stated that “signs and filling-stations would be…”…and the type is wobbly at this point. Was the word (which definitely started with a ‘p’) problematic? Profane? Does it matter?
It does not matter, as the writer received most of his wishes.
