Hanover Tavern

I’m looking forward to visiting the Hanover Tavern located in Hanover County, VA and the surrounding area on tomorrow for the Civil War Battle Bus Tour . In the late 1980s, while living in Richmond, VA, I visited the tavern on several occasions to attend their dinner theater. Little did I know that many years later, my genealogy research would lead me back to the tavern and to the Hanover Courthouse District where it is located.

About Hanover Tavern




I do not have any ancestors that I know of who lived in Hanover County, but it is my research of James A. Fields (1844-1903) and his family that has led me back to Hanover County. The Fields family escaped from slavery in the Hanover Courthouse/Tavern area to Fort Monroe in Hampton, VA during the Civil War.

Mr. Fields and members of his family went on to become educated through Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute, now Hanover Courthouse District , and excelled professionally in careers in law and education. There is a historic house in my community where Mr. Fields lived. ( Click here for more about the James A. Fields House)

My afternoon visit to the tavern for the " Civil War Battle Bus Tour " will include a scrumptious buffet lunch, civil war exhibit, lecture by Michael Hardy, author “Battle of Hanover Courthouse: Turning Point of the Peninsula Campaign, May 27, 1862,” and a guided bus tour.

The Fields family was living in the Hanover Courthouse/Tavern area during time of the battle and George Washington Fields (1854-1932), a younger brother of James A. Fields, wrote in his unpublished autobiography “Come On Children” about their lives during slavery and various battles and skirmishes which occurred in the courthouse/tavern area. My main objective in attending this tour is to gain knowledge about the geography of the courthouse/tavern area as well as its activities during the Civil War.