Clover Hill Tavern 1.69

The Clover Hill Tavern with its guest house and slave quarters are structures within the Appomattox Court House National Historical Park. They were registered in the National Park Service's database of Official Structures on June 26, 1989.HistoryThe tavern originally opened in 1819 on the Richmond-Lynchburg Road for travelers and is the oldest original structure in the village of Appomattox Court House, with the exception of the Sweeney Prizery outside of the local of the village but within the Park. It became a popular stopping point for the stagecoach. The Clover Hill Tavern inn grew and farmhouses grew up around it soon after it opened. It was built by Alexander Patteson and his brother Lilburne Patteson as a stagecoach stop for the line between Cumberland County and Lynchburg. The Patteson brothers formed a partnership in 1809 to develop a stagecoach line between Richmond, Virginia, and Lynchburg. They purchased the farm acreage of Clover Hill in 1814, which was about half way between these towns. The land came with an existing small frame dwelling which they used as the headquarters for their stagecoach business.There was much optimism after the War of 1812. The brothers made considerable money since there was a good economic boom starting in 1815. Clover Hill developed into a thriving commercial village with many people passing through into the "frontier states", such as Kentucky, Tennessee, and Indiana. Lilburne had died in 1816. In 1819 Alexander built a -story, four-bay structure as his main residence for his large family. This also served as a tavern. Patteson also built a three-story tavern guest house to go with the tavern. The residence became the Clover Hill Tavern with the guest house converted into an additional dining room and additional guest rooms.