History of the Banks House
The Banks House
This upper middle-class dwelling is one of the earliest surviving structures in Dinwiddie County. Unfortunately, the name of original builder has been lost to time. The architectural evidence suggests that the house evolved in four phases between 1750 and 1815 reflecting increases in family size and fortune.
Robert Lanier, who had purchased the house and 331 acres of land by 1815, is the earliest identified owner. Lanier raised tobacco on this property with the aid of ten slaves. Thomas Banks, a Scottish immigrant, acquired the property in 1839. Banks called his farm “Wakefield” after the popular novel The Vicar of Wakefield. Unlike Lanier, Banks focused on market farming to meet the growing demand for fresh produce in Petersburg. Subsequent owners grew such crops here through the 1940s. Pamplin Historical Park has restored the exterior of the house to its 1865 appearance and adaptively reused most of the interior as an employee residence. The large first-floor parlor has been furnished to represent Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant’s headquarters on April 2, 1865.
Marker can be reached from Hofheimer Way, on the left when traveling south.
Courtesy hmdb.org
