Rice, Virginia

The Battle of Rice's Station was a minor engagement in Appomattox Campaign of the American Civil War that was fought at the same time as the Battle of Sailor's Creek on April 6, 1865. In the early morning of April 6, Confederate Lieutenant General James Longstreet's command reached Rice's Station, Virginia (now Rice, Virginia) on the South Side Railroad. As Longstreet's corps was the first to reach Rice's Station after Lee moved his army west from Amelia Springs, Virginia, they awaited the remainder of the army, most of which ended up being delayed at the Battle of Sailor's Creek.The XXIV Corps commanded by Major General John Gibbon of Major General Edward Ord's Army of the James had occupied Burkeville Junction, Virginia, a junction of the South Side Railroad and Richmond and Danville Railroad to the southeast of Rice's Station, on the night of April 5. When Longstreet arrived at Rice's Station, he learned that Ord's troops were at Burkeville Junction. Longstreet ordered his men to dig in along the tracks and routes from Burkeville in case the XXIV Corps advanced toward them.During the morning of April 6, after being warned that Lee's Army was on the march, Ord and Gibbon had moved cautiously up the railroad and found Longstreet's force digging in near Rice's Station. Gibbon's skirmishers slowly formed for an attack and had a minor confrontation with the entrenched Confederates. As darkness approached and being unsure of the size of the Confederate force, Ord decided to wait for Sheridan and Meade to come up from behind.The Union force suffered 66 casualties before going into bivouac as darkness approached. Exact Confederate casualties are unknown.With the Union Army nearby after the disastrous Confederate defeat at Sailor's Creek, under General Lee's order, Longstreet withdrew during the night towards Farmville, Virginia where rations were waiting.

Sandy River Reservoir is a 740-acre (3.0 km2) water supply impoundment located slightly east of the town of Farmville (and South of Rice) in Prince Edward County. The Sandy River Reservoir is one of the newest lakes in Virginia with construction completed in 1994 and fishing opened in 1996. The reservoir was built and is owned by the county of Prince Edward with fisheries management responsibilities belonging to the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries.

Sandy River is a 12.9-mile-long (20.8 km) tributary of the Bush River in the U.S. state of Virginia. Via the Bush River and the Appomattox River, it is part of the James River watershed. It rises in Prince Edward County northeast of the village of Green Bay and flow north through Prince Edward State Forest and farmland, joining the Bush River less than one mile south of that river's confluence with the Appomattox near the town of Farmville.

High Bridge Trail State Park is a rail trail in Southside Virginia converted from a rail line last belonging to Norfolk Southern. The first section of the High Bridge Trail opened in 2008 and the final section was completed in 2012. With a length of more than thirty miles, the trail is shared by bicyclists, pedestrians and equestrians — and includes a restored crossing at the Appomattox River over the historic High Bridge – from which the park derives its name. The lineal park traverses Appomattox, Nottoway, Cumberland, and Prince Edward counties as well as Pamplin City, Prospect, Farmville, Rice and Burkeville. Where the trail traverses Farmville, it directly adjoins Longwood University at the campus' satellite housing and athletic site.

High Bridge is a historic former railroad bridge across the Appomattox River valley about 6 miles (9.7 km) east, or downstream, of the town of Farmville in Prince Edward County, Virginia. The remains of the bridge and its adjacent rail line are now a rail trail park, High Bridge Trail State Park. Originally constructed in the 1850s, the bridge was integral to the Southside Railroad between Petersburg and Lynchburg. As the site of the Battle of High Bridge in April 1865, the bridge played a pivotal role in Lee's retreat in the final days of the American Civil War – and ultimately the war's outcome. Rebuilt after the Civil War to its former dimensions, the 21-span structure was 2,400 feet (730 m) long at a maximum height of 125 feet (38 m) above the Appomattox River Valley. The bridge was completely rebuilt in 1914, leaving many of the original masonry piers adjacent to the new structure. By 2005 its then-owner, Norfolk Southern, abandoned the corridor, subsequently giving 33 miles of the line to the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR). High Bridge opened to the public on April 6, 2012, the 147th anniversary of the Battle of High Bridge. The bridge is part of the completed trail, open to hiking, biking and horse back riding for 16 miles on either side of the bridge.

The Battle of High Bridge refers to two engagements fought on April 6, 1865, and April 7, 1865, near the end of the Appomattox Campaign of the American Civil War about 4 miles (6.4 km) northeast of Farmville, Virginia. The first battle is often the one identified as the Battle of High Bridge. On April 6, 1865, Confederate cavalry under Major General Thomas L. Rosser fought stubbornly to secure the South Side Railroad's High Bridge and lower wagon bridge over the Appomattox River near Farmville, Virginia. A large Union Army raiding party intended to destroy the bridges to prevent the Confederate Army from crossing back to the north side of the river. Both sides had several officers killed and wounded. The Union force suffered 42 killed and wounded. The entire surviving Union force of about 800 men was captured. The Confederates suffered about 100 casualties. Union Colonel (Brevet Brigadier General) Theodore Read and Confederate Colonel Reuben B. Boston were killed. Union Colonel Francis Washburn and Confederate Colonel James Dearing (often identified as a brigadier general but his appointment was never confirmed) were mortally wounded in the engagement. On April 7, 1865, Confederate Lieutenant General James Longstreet's rear guard attempted to burn the bridges that the Confederates had saved the day before in order to prevent Union forces from following them across. Troops of the Union II Corps fought the Confederates assigned to burn the bridges in an effort to drive off the Confederates and save the bridges. Part of the railroad bridge burned and was rendered unusable but Union forces were able to save the wagon bridge over which the II Corps crossed in pursuit of General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. Failure to destroy this bridge enabled Union forces to catch up with the Confederates north of the Appomattox River at Cumberland Church 3 miles (4.8 km) north of Farmville.

Longwood House is a historic home located at Farmville, Prince Edward County, Virginia, and functions as the home of the president of Longwood University. It is a 2+1⁄2-story, three-bay, frame dwelling with a gable roof. It features Greek Revival style woodwork and Doric order porch. Longwood House has a central passage, double-pile plan. It has a two-story wing added about 1839, and a second wing added in the 1920s, when the property was purchased by Longwood University. The house is located next to the university golf course, and since 2006, athletic fields used by the Longwood Lancers.

Fuqua School is a private primary and secondary school located in Farmville, Virginia. Founded in 1959 as Prince Edward Academy, a whites-only segregation academy, the school was renamed after businessman J. B. Fuqua made a large contribution to the school in 1993.

First Baptist Church is a historic African-American Baptist church located at Farmville, Prince Edward County, Virginia. It was built between about 1855 an 1895, and is a one-story, rectangular brick Late Gothic Revival style church building on a full basement. The building features a square tower centered on the primary façade, pointed arch windows with stained- and milk-glass panes, a primary entry with double leaf doors topped by a pointed arch transom and, on the interior, original wood pews and beaded board wainscoting. The church was the site of a number of meetings related to the desegregation of Prince Edward County schools during the 1950s and 1960s.It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2013. It is located in the Farmville Historic District.

Needham is a historic home located near Farmville, in Cumberland County, Virginia. It was constructed in 1802, and is a two-story, three-bay, single-pile, central hall plan frame dwelling. It has a two-story rear ell, with one-story addition built in 1929, although most of the former outbuildings have now disappeared. It was the home of educator, jurist, and politician Creed Taylor(1766-1836). as well as his son Creed Taylor Jr. (1791-1873). The elder Taylor established a proprietary law school in Richmond and moved it in the 1820s to this estate (it was Virginia's second law school and the nation's fourth), where it trained about 300 lawyers including U.S. President John Tyler's son, Ohio Supreme Court justice William Y. Gholson and future U.S. Congressmen John Minor Botts, Joseph William Chinn and John Hall Fulton as well as future Missouri governor and Confederate general Sterling Price. Although the law school had closed by 1840 (and perhaps a decade earlier, following the establishment of the University of Virginia Law School in 1829). In 1831 Anne Jane Gholson, the mother of novelist Ellen Glasgow was born at Needham. Needham has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1988. Virginia erected a historic marker concerning the proprietary law school in 2000.

Longwood University is a public university in Farmville, Virginia. Founded in 1839, it is the third-oldest public university in Virginia and one of the hundred oldest institutions of higher education in the United States. Previously a college, Longwood became a university on July 1, 2002. Three undergraduate academic colleges—the Cook-Cole College of Arts and Sciences, the College of Business and Economics, and the College of Education and Human Services—supported by the Cormier Honors College and coupled with the College of Graduate and Professional Studies serve an enrollment of 5,096. In early April 1865 both Gens. Robert E. Lee and Ulysses S. Grant marched past the north end of campus on Lee's retreat to Appomattox just days before the end of the American Civil War; at the south end of campus lies the former Robert Russa Moton High School, site of the historic 1951 student strike that became one of the five court cases culminating in the historic Brown v. Board of Education decision; and Israel Hill, a community of free Black people formed around the turn of the 19th century, stands two miles from campus.

Willett Hall (originally Lancer Hall) is an academic facility and previously served as a 1,807-seat multi-purpose arena in Farmville, Virginia. It was built in 1980 and was home to the Longwood University Lancers men's and women's basketball teams until 2023. On December 3, 2016, the basketball court was named after former Longwood basketball player Jerome Kersey, officially making the hardwood Jerome Kersey Court.On October 4, 2016, Longwood was the host for the 2016 United States vice presidential debate. Willett Hall was the venue for the debate. Prior to the debate, the building underwent a modest renovation to the front entrance and lobby in preparation.On April 10, 2019, Longwood announced a $15 million donation to begin construction of a new convocation and events center to replace Willett Hall as the venue for Lancer basketball. The arena will be named the Joan Perry Brock Center after its benefactor, cost $35-40 million, would seat 3,000, and is scheduled to open in 2023. Willett Hall will remain in use as an academic facility, and provide support to the basketball teams as a practice and training venue.