A.P. Hill Boyhood Home C.1770
Confederate Lieutenant General Ambrose Powell Hill (1825-1865), son of a prominent Culpeper planter and merchant, lived in the original portion of this house from age 4 until he entered the U.S. Military Academy at age 16. Named for an uncle and small in stature, Ambrose was known by the citizens of Culpeper as “Little Powell” Hill. The 1847 West Point graduate served in the Mexican War and the Seminole uprisings in Florida, and was killed on April 2, 1865 as Petersburg fell. Subsequent owners enlarged the plain Federal town house into the present Italianate-style building, expanding its depth and adding the third story, heavy bracketed cornice, and cupola. Later altered for commercial use, the building, situated on one of the town’s main intersections, remains a dominant architectural element in downtown Culpeper. An exhibit highlighting the history of the building can be found at the Museum of Culpeper History.