Editing Matoaca, Virginia (section)

==History==
[[Olive Hill (Matoaca, Virginia)|Olive Hill]] was listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]] in 1975.<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|version=2010a}}</ref>

The Appomattox River is a nearly 160-mile-long water source once used as a pathway for early colonists.  Its name is derived from the Indian tribe that once inhabited its banks.  Because the Appomattox runs into the James River, it was a crucial port in Virginia during the Civil War as it allowed for larger ships to dock when necessary. In the spring of 1865, after the town of Petersburg had been taken over and destroyed during the Appomattox Campaign, the Confederates attempted to slow the persecution by the Union Army by burning the high bridge that ran across the Appomattox River. Failing to do so, the Confederate Army was later forced to surrender at Appomattox Court House.