Tweet
Spring in Petersburg is bewitchingly beautiful.
So it was on April 2, 1865, the day before Richmond fell. Balminess wooed people outside, Stephen R. Mallory, the Confederacy’s navy secretary, later recalled. “A pleasant air swept the foliage and flowers of the Capitol grounds. . . . The old city had never, during the war, worn an aspect more serene and quiet.” But in Petersburg itself, little was serene. On the 292nd day of a siege by Ulysses S. Grant’s forces, Robert E. Lee’s defenses had finally broken.
Within three days, the Southern army withdrew, the Confederate government fled, Richmond burned, slavery (by and large) ended, and President Abraham Lincoln walked through the capital’s smoking ruins, 25 miles to the north. To appreciate those earth-shattering events, Petersburg is one giant learning laboratory—with a world-class Civil War museum, well-preserved forts and battlefields, haunting cemeteries and evocative antebellum buildings. Its Old Towne, where “Lincoln,” “Turn,” “Mercy Street” and other dramas recently have been filmed, is fun, quirky and easily walkable. Good restaurants abound, two new brewpubs beckon and a vigorous arts scene adds zing.
That last is evident in the airy gallery of the Petersburg Area Arts League, steps from the Farmer’s Market and South Side Depot where director Steven Spielberg shot “Lincoln.”
Spielberg celebrated his 65th birthday in the PAAL building, and had his office there. For film fans, a state “movie trail” and website are devoted to the epic. Shops and eateries bear the 16th president’s bearded visage and signs declaring “Lincoln Was Here” to alert visitors they’re seeing locations where the movie’s cast and crew enjoyed themselves during filming. The unique interior of the Farmer’s Market, now home to a fine-dining restaurant, instantly evokes a “Lincoln” scene of Grant’s headquarters at City Point in Hopewell. Other historic buildings will appear in the final season of “Turn,” the Revolutionary War TV drama. (As a Colonial river port, Petersburg can lay claim to George Washington’s era, too.)
The filmmaking seems fitting for the hometown of actor Joseph Cotten, Orson Welles’ co-star in “Citizen Kane.” But the Civil War is the big draw, nearly a quarter of the conflict having occurred here. (A free, GPS-enabled smartphone app for Petersburg from the Civil War Trust can help guide you over the battlefields.) Blandford Cemetery, where 30,000 Confederates are buried, speaks to the war’s terrible toll, as does the much smaller Poplar Grove National Cemetery, which was just restored.
The beauty within Blandford’s Protestant chapel testifies to Southern sacrifice. “It’s the only place in the world where you’ll find 15 stained-glass windows by Louis Comfort Tiffany devoted to the Confederacy,” said Emmanuel Dabney, curator at Petersburg National Battlefield. The battlefield park, which a recent act of Congress could someday make America’s largest, has monuments, three visitor centers with exhibits and films, ranger-led walks, miles of trails for people and horses, a riverfront antebellum mansion and Grant’s headquarters cabin. It is well worth devoting an entire day, or more, to seeing.
Ditto for the adjoining, private Pamplin Historical Park, which has four museums, four antebellum houses and superb exhibits about the common soldier and how the war came to a close. (But in a day, you can sample highlights at the national park and in town.) On Pamplin’s grounds, Union soldiers broke through Lee’s lines on April 2, 1865, ending the Petersburg Campaign, breaking the Confederates’ supply line and forcing Richmond’s evacuation. “I advise that all preparation be made for leaving Richmond tonight,” Lee wired President Jefferson Davis that day.
Petersburg’s places also speak to the cost of secession and slavery, and the courage shown by thousands of U.S. Colored Troops who fought here. Black soldiers figured prominently in 1864’s Battle of the Crater, scars of which are still etched on the field (Park Tour Stop 3). When people visit one of the park’s units, there’s no place that isn’t touched by the significance of slavery, its aftermath and Jim Crow,” Dabney said. “You can see that trajectory here. It’s not always an uplifting story, but it is powerful history.”
Dabney noted that in town at Ammo Brewing, beers’ names pay homage to the 1864–65 battles: Crater Hop Bomb and The Underminer, for example. Owner Terry Ammons converted his architectural studio into the brewery; he designed the Sailor’s Creek Battlefield Park visitor center and exhibits at Robert Russa Moton Museum near FarmVille. Across the street from Ammo, the historic, oddly shaped Trapezium House inspired the name of another brewery five blocks away.
Entrepreneurs’ hopes are evident in Old Towne’s renovated buildings, loft apartments, new restaurants, and antique shops that run the gamut from kitschy to set-designer stylish. For good eats, locals like Wabi Sabi, Brickhouse Run, Andrade’s, Maria’s Old Town 21, DJ’s Rajun Cajun, Croaker Spot, Saucy’s Bar.B.Q., Buttermilk Bake Shop, the Dixie and Longstreet’s. Some of Petersburg’s museums were shuttered last fall because the city treasury is in the red. Yet volunteers have stepped forward, forming the Preservation Task Force to keep two beautiful historic sites open on weekends: the Farmer’s Bank, which orients visitors near Cockade Alley; and Centre Hill Mansion, a hilltop house that welcomed President Lincoln and figured in PBS’ “Mercy Street.”
“Our government is ailing,” said Martha Atkinson, who has guided newcomers for years. “But people here have gotten together and we’re trying very hard to help.”
That spirit, and residents’ widespread friendliness, should make any visitor feel welcome. Petersburg rewards repeat visits.
So it was on April 2, 1865, the day before Richmond fell. Balminess wooed people outside, Stephen R. Mallory, the Confederacy’s navy secretary, later recalled. “A pleasant air swept the foliage and flowers of the Capitol grounds. . . . The old city had never, during the war, worn an aspect more serene and quiet.” But in Petersburg itself, little was serene. On the 292nd day of a siege by Ulysses S. Grant’s forces, Robert E. Lee’s defenses had finally broken.
Within three days, the Southern army withdrew, the Confederate government fled, Richmond burned, slavery (by and large) ended, and President Abraham Lincoln walked through the capital’s smoking ruins, 25 miles to the north. To appreciate those earth-shattering events, Petersburg is one giant learning laboratory—with a world-class Civil War museum, well-preserved forts and battlefields, haunting cemeteries and evocative antebellum buildings. Its Old Towne, where “Lincoln,” “Turn,” “Mercy Street” and other dramas recently have been filmed, is fun, quirky and easily walkable. Good restaurants abound, two new brewpubs beckon and a vigorous arts scene adds zing.
That last is evident in the airy gallery of the Petersburg Area Arts League, steps from the Farmer’s Market and South Side Depot where director Steven Spielberg shot “Lincoln.”
Spielberg celebrated his 65th birthday in the PAAL building, and had his office there. For film fans, a state “movie trail” and website are devoted to the epic. Shops and eateries bear the 16th president’s bearded visage and signs declaring “Lincoln Was Here” to alert visitors they’re seeing locations where the movie’s cast and crew enjoyed themselves during filming. The unique interior of the Farmer’s Market, now home to a fine-dining restaurant, instantly evokes a “Lincoln” scene of Grant’s headquarters at City Point in Hopewell. Other historic buildings will appear in the final season of “Turn,” the Revolutionary War TV drama. (As a Colonial river port, Petersburg can lay claim to George Washington’s era, too.)
The filmmaking seems fitting for the hometown of actor Joseph Cotten, Orson Welles’ co-star in “Citizen Kane.” But the Civil War is the big draw, nearly a quarter of the conflict having occurred here. (A free, GPS-enabled smartphone app for Petersburg from the Civil War Trust can help guide you over the battlefields.) Blandford Cemetery, where 30,000 Confederates are buried, speaks to the war’s terrible toll, as does the much smaller Poplar Grove National Cemetery, which was just restored.
The beauty within Blandford’s Protestant chapel testifies to Southern sacrifice. “It’s the only place in the world where you’ll find 15 stained-glass windows by Louis Comfort Tiffany devoted to the Confederacy,” said Emmanuel Dabney, curator at Petersburg National Battlefield. The battlefield park, which a recent act of Congress could someday make America’s largest, has monuments, three visitor centers with exhibits and films, ranger-led walks, miles of trails for people and horses, a riverfront antebellum mansion and Grant’s headquarters cabin. It is well worth devoting an entire day, or more, to seeing.
Ditto for the adjoining, private Pamplin Historical Park, which has four museums, four antebellum houses and superb exhibits about the common soldier and how the war came to a close. (But in a day, you can sample highlights at the national park and in town.) On Pamplin’s grounds, Union soldiers broke through Lee’s lines on April 2, 1865, ending the Petersburg Campaign, breaking the Confederates’ supply line and forcing Richmond’s evacuation. “I advise that all preparation be made for leaving Richmond tonight,” Lee wired President Jefferson Davis that day.
Petersburg’s places also speak to the cost of secession and slavery, and the courage shown by thousands of U.S. Colored Troops who fought here. Black soldiers figured prominently in 1864’s Battle of the Crater, scars of which are still etched on the field (Park Tour Stop 3). When people visit one of the park’s units, there’s no place that isn’t touched by the significance of slavery, its aftermath and Jim Crow,” Dabney said. “You can see that trajectory here. It’s not always an uplifting story, but it is powerful history.”
Dabney noted that in town at Ammo Brewing, beers’ names pay homage to the 1864–65 battles: Crater Hop Bomb and The Underminer, for example. Owner Terry Ammons converted his architectural studio into the brewery; he designed the Sailor’s Creek Battlefield Park visitor center and exhibits at Robert Russa Moton Museum near FarmVille. Across the street from Ammo, the historic, oddly shaped Trapezium House inspired the name of another brewery five blocks away.
“Our government is ailing,” said Martha Atkinson, who has guided newcomers for years. “But people here have gotten together and we’re trying very hard to help.”
That spirit, and residents’ widespread friendliness, should make any visitor feel welcome. Petersburg rewards repeat visits.
