 The town is located three miles west of the restored historic village of Appomattox Court House, the site of Confederate General Robert E. Lee's surrender to Union General Ulysses S. Grant on April 9, 1865, essentially ending the American Civil War.The area is preserved as Appomattox Court House National Historical Park and is administered by the National Park Service.At the time of the Civil War, the present community of Appomattox was the site of a railroad depot on the line between Petersburg and Lynchburg, a stop on the Southside Railroad.