Black Walnut (Clover, Virginia)

Black Walnut is a historic plantation house and farm near Clover in Halifax County, Virginia, its main house built in at least three sections beginning about 1774 to 1790, with substantial two-story frame additions in the 1840s and 1850s that gave it an H-shaped plan combining Greek Revival and Georgian detailing. The plantation reached its peak of prosperity under John Sims, who managed it from 1803 to 1852, and its grounds were the site of the Battle of Staunton River Bridge in the summer of 1864, the only Civil War battle fought in Halifax County. The 8 acre property was added to the National Register of Historic Places on October 29, 1991, and in 1939 the actress Mary Pickford visited as Queen of the National Tobacco Festival.