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The Pamplin Historical Park Complex is a privately-owned Park and
Museum located on a portion of the Confederate lines constructed
around Petersburg during the 1864-1865 siege . It is easily accessible
via Interstate 85 or U.S. 1 south of Petersburg. Directions to the
park are well-marked.
The Park has recently been upgraded. The focal point is the multi-million dollar Museum of the Civil War Soldier. In addition to the exhibits, book store, and a coffee shop, the Museum provides a virtual tour of the life of a civil war soldier. When you take the tour, you select one of nine soldiers that you will track. You are then given a CD player which plays over ten different selections, taken from the soldier's writings, addressing each display as you view it. The displays illustrate infantry, cavalry, and navy weapons, relics, and uniforms. Tents, huts, supplies, a Church, and soldiers drilling are also there to view. It is a fabulous way to get a feeling for what it was like back then. At the conclusion of the virtual tour you enter an area with a simulated battle occuring. You hear the cannon and rifle fire and the soldiers yelling. I could actually feel the bullets whiz by (Really bursts of air) and the floor shook as the cannon fired. Outside the Museum various demonstrations of rifle and cannon fire are presented. From the Museum, you follow a trail to a portion of the Confederate lines around Petersburg. This is the original Pamplin Park before its upgrade. In addition to the Civil War camps, you'll notice the saw-toothed Battle Center (previously the Visitor's Center). The Park's documents say the building is in the shape of the Confederate Lines near there. I'll take their word for it. Outside the center, an expanded trail takes you around the Confederate earthworks. I was impressed at the height of these earthworks . They appear to have weathered very
little (compared, say, to the Cold Harbor works which are worn down to small
mounds). Highlights on the trail include several passes through the earthworks
that the Union used on April 2, 1865 when they overran the Confederate
fortifications. You also get
to see Confederate picket sites and note
how far from the main line they were located.
Between the Visitor's center and the Battle Center is the recently renovated Tudor Hall Plantation which existed during the seige and was used as brigade headquarters for Confederate General Samuel McGowan.
Finally, and really interesting, are the re-constructed soldier huts, of the kind used by the Confederates in the 1864-65 winter. They actually have Park Guides in period Confederate uniforms. On one oppressively hot June day, on a visit to the park, I was impressed that the Park Guides still wore those hot wool uniforms. The photographs below show four of the many Park Personnel I have encountered during my visits.  David Reed* Troy Marshall* Steve Perez Mike Hudson 
Museum of the Civil War Soldier Rear View - During Construction. As you can tell, I was impressed with Pamplin Historical Park. Would that all of the Civil War Sites be treated with such care and respect.
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Pamplin Park Photos
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