The following information was contained in a report that I wrote for a college class on “Information Graphics,” or about how a business uses a defined space to display its wares and its atmosphere. The report was written in January 2003, so I’m sure that some of the exhibits have changed since that time.
APPOMATTOX DEPOT, located in Appomattox, Virginia
The state-certified Town of Appomattox Visitor Information Center is located in a restored railroad depot on Main Street. The center showcases a variety of the community’s current and developing tourist attractions, and it also provides a wide variety of state-wide attractions and information through brochures, maps, and flyers.
Maps printed in 1863 show that this railroad depot was initially named “Appomattox Station,” as when the railroad arrived in this area in 1854 this depot was the closest rail service to Appomattox Court House, located approximately three miles to the northeast. The same maps and records from the U.S. Postal service show that the community where the depot was located was named Nebraska, Virginia. Samuel D. McDearmon was Nebraska’s first postmaster and he was responsible for naming the community on 23 February 1855. He was also the first Virginia House of Delegates member from this area and he later served in the Virginia Senate. At the time of General Lee’s surrender, then Lt. Col. McDearmon was on former governor Henry Wise’s staff in West Virginia.
The Battle of Appomattox Station took place on 8 April 1865. During this battle, Gen. George A. Custer, under the command of Gen. “Phil” Sheridan, led cavalry units that captured three locomotives and 112 cars loaded with food and munition supplies that the Confederate army sorely needed. The capture of these supplies was the “final straw” for Gen. Lee and he decided to surrender at Appomattox on the best terms possible. This event made the Battle of Appomattox a very significant event, as it signaled the end of the Civil War.
The station was rebuilt in 1924. The inside of the building is divided, and about three-fourths of the interior is used as a visitor’s center, and one-fourth is used as an office for the Appomattox Chamber of Commerce. The entrance to the museum is located along a one-way street. If you miss the entrance, you must circle the block and re-enter the one-way street to gain access to the parking lot on the right. If a visitor does miss the parking lot, however, parking seems fairly easy to find in Appomattox, and the depot is within walking distance from any area within the small downtown area.
The entrance to the museum side is located on the south side of the depot. There is a wheelchair ramp that leads to the main entrance from the left along the west side of the building. Concrete stairs and a wrought iron railing encloses the outer entrance. The entrance doors are huge - hardly something that a person in a wheelchair could handle alone; however, the doors do swing inward and their size allows for more than one person to enter and exit at a time. An overhang created by the roof construction protects visitors from any rain, as the roof extends out over the walkway below.
The sign above the entrance door appears to be rendered in a simple Ariel typeface that spells out the town name, “Appomattox.” Most of the signs within the building are hand lettered, simple, and easy to read.
Once inside, the visitor faces a long hall that is about twenty feet in length. The floors, in keeping with historical relevance, are nailed wood with a rustic barn-like flair, although they are waxed to a keen shine. The floors creak when walked upon, which adds to the historic “old building” atmosphere. Restrooms are located at the beginning of this hallway. The women’s restroom is roomy and it contains two booths. One booth is wheelchair accessible. The handle on the restroom door is ADA compliant.
As the visitor exits the hallway and enters into the main visitor’s center, she is confronted with a vast exhibit space. The single room is approximately 40-45 feet long and about 20 feet wide. The exibits are stationary, as this depot has experienced security problems in the past. The windows are fairly easy to break into and the town hasn’t found the time or the money to place bars over the windows. Therefore, no valuables on are display, only photographs of the objects that they would like to display.
The photos are exhibited in stands that are about 15 feet tall and about 5 feet wide, built with wood, painted white, and with glass covering the photos. The lighting is limited overhead track lighting, but even with the small windows the natural light is more than sufficient to view the exhibits.
At this time, standing exhibits were placed on tables. These were somewhat amateurish replicas of the area surrounding the depot, including the old town of Appomattox and adjacent Clover Hill. Since the time of this original report, these exhibits have been moved to standing exhibits as described in the previous paragraphs. There is ample room for a wheelchair to pass through these exhibits spaces.
A counter with a register was located to the right as the visitor entered the room from the hallway. This counter was an old store counter and it is roomy on the top and constructed from very heavy dark oak. The height of the counter is about 3.5 feet. Posters, postcards, and maps are displayed along the counter, but these displays do not crowd the counter. There is more than enough room for the patron to conduct a transaction on purchases made within the center. Books about the region that focus on genealogy, history, and the Civil war are for sale to the right of this counter.
The floor inside the exhibit space is constructed from the same wood as found in the hallway. Walls are constructed from wood paneling and the window frames are also wood. Walls and windowpanes are painted white to match the exhibit stands. The ceiling was constructed from the same wood found in the floor, and the height of the ceiling is about twenty feet.
A wall constructed of white painted wood and glass is located at the north end of the room. A visitor who is in the center can view the somewhat messy and seemingly disorganized Appomattox Chamber of Commerce office. The office is tiny and jammed full of papers. Other than this distraction, the center provides a charming stop in Appomattox. The volunteer who worked the counter during our visit was a sixth-generation Appomattox native who knew quite a bit about local history and genealogy. Her presence definitely added a charm to our experience.
Posted by river queen in Businesses
