Virginia Department of Historic Resources Virginia Department of Historic Resources
For additional information, read the Nomination Form PDF
VLR Listing Date 04/15/1975
NRHP Listing Date 05/02/1974
DHR's Virginia Board of Historic Resources easement
NRHP Reference Number 75002116
Thomas Wallace, a merchant and lawyer, had this Italianate mansion erected in 1855 on Market Street, then the principal artery of a fashionable quarter in the city of Petersburg (now the South Market Street Historic District). The finely built structure followed the pattern of Virginia antebellum urban houses by having a two-level portico on the rear. The house was further embellished by a deep bracketed cornice, pressed brick veneer, and cast-iron window cornices. During the Civil War the house served briefly as the headquarters of Gen. Ulysses S. Grant. On April 3, 1865, Grant met with President Abraham Lincoln in Wallace’s library to discuss the final strategy of the Civil War. It was Lincoln’s last meeting with his commanding general. The house, though shabby from years of vacancy, is among Market Street’s few remaining grand dwellings. The classical veranda with its curved projection is a later embellishment.
Many properties listed in the registers are private dwellings and are not open to the public, however many are visible from the public right-of-way. Please be respectful of owner privacy.
Abbreviations:
VLR: Virginia Landmarks Register
NPS: National Park Service
NRHP: National Register of Historic Places
NHL: National Historic Landmark
Updated: July 1, 2021
