Appomattox County

The population density for Appomattox County is forty-one people per square mile. In comparison, New York City has 23,700 and Washington, DC has 9,900 people per square mile. In Virginia, Richmond comes in at 3,293, Lynchburg has 1,322, and Bedford County averages about eighty people per square mile. The City of Lynchburg has a moderate population density for a Virginia city—topography has something to do with this—and Appomattox County offers the sparsest density in the area. In all, 13,705 inhabitants call this county home—the equivalent of one-half square mile of New York City.

In rural places with low population density, the definition of basic services and cultural amenities changes. For example, public transportation in Appomattox is non-existent. There is less development of public utilities. Restaurants, shopping centers, and hotels are few and far between. Land is what Appomattox County has. And people who live in this community prize land over other amenities. Land is the equivalent of a five-star restaurant or the Museum of Natural History.

Appomattox County has changed our nation in two significant ways:

• Native son Joel Sweeney developed the five-string banjo and American music has never been the same. Appomattox is famous for celebrating its musical roots, inviting artists such as Roy Clark, Ralph Stanley, Doc Watson, J.D. Crowe & The New South, and Rhonda Vincent & The Rage to perform at seasonal bluegrass festivals and annual concert series. These legends come here to play and pay homage to the creativity of Joel.

• In a remote area on US 24, just outside the Town of Appomattox, is the 1,744-acre Appomattox Courthouse National Historical Park. Here on April 9, 1865, General Robert E. Lee surrendered to General Ulysses S. Grant, ending the American Civil War.