McLean House (Appomattox, Virginia)
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McLean House
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McLean house in April 1865
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| Location | Appomattox County, Virginia |
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| Nearest city | Appomattox, Virginia |
| Coordinates | 37°22′37.6″N 78°47′50″W / 37.377111°N 78.79722°WCoordinates: 37°22′37.6″N 78°47′50″W / 37.377111°N 78.79722°W |
| Area | 1,800 acres (728 ha) |
| Built | 1848 |
| Architect | Charles Raine |
| Visitation | 185,443 (2009) |
| Part of | Appomattox Court House National Historical Park (#66000827) |
| Added to NRHP | October 15, 1966 |
The McLean House in Appomattox, Virginia is within the Appomattox Court House National Historical Park. Then owned by Wilmer McLean and his wife Virginia, the house near the end of the American Civil War served as the location of the surrender of the Confederate army of Robert E. Lee on April 9, 1865, after a nearby battle. The reconstructed house was registered in the National Park Service's database of Official Structures on June 26, 1989.
The McLean House was originally built by Charles Raine in 1848. Eliza D. Raine's estate sold the house to Wilmer McLean in 1863. It had formerly been a tavern (not to be confused with the nearby Clover Hill Tavern, which Raine had previously owned). One of the first battles of the American Civil War took place on the farm of Wilmer McLean at Bull Run, Virginia, the First Battle of Bull Run (First Battle of Manassas). Soon after that battle the McLeans, seeking to avoid the war, moved to the village of Clover Hill, Virginia (the name of which was changed to "Appomattox Court House," having just become the county seat). Because of the name of the village, many mistakenly think the surrender was signed in the courthouse building. (In years past, the county seats of many rural counties, especially in Virginia, had names that were simply the name of the county plus "Court House"; some of these remain today. The courthouse is about 3 miles (5 km)) from the Appomattox Station where the trains came into Appomattox, Virginia.
Because the First Battle of Bull Run, fought on July 21, 1861, took place on Wilmer McLean's farm about 120 miles (190 km) to the north in Virginia, it can be said that the Civil War started in McLean's backyard in 1861 and ended in his parlor in 1865. (Neither event, however, marked the true beginning or ending of hostilities.) McLean was a retired major in the Virginia militia. He was too old to enlist at the outbreak of the Civil War and decided to move to get away from the Civil War. After the war, he would say of himself that he moved because he loved peace, but he made a small fortune running sugar through the Union blockade. He was also a slave owner, and there are slave quarters next to McLean's house. Nonetheless, in the morning of Palm Sunday April 9, 1865, the war came back to McLean when General Robert E. Lee surrendered to Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant at his home. His house was also used on April 10 for the Surrender Commissioners' meeting, and over the next few days as the headquarters of Major General John Gibbon of the United States Army.
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