About

The historic Southside homestead of Black Walnut is noted for its unusually complete collection of plantation structures. Placed about the rambling frame residence are a brick kitchen, a wash house, a dairy, two smokehouses, two sheds, a cool-storage building, a privy, a stable, a barn, and a slave cabin. A late 18th-century schoolhouse and a family cemetery complete the group. Together these buildings remind us of the complexity and self-sufficiency of Southern plantations. Using slaves before the Civil War and hired labor afterwards, these agricultural complexes required organization and manpower. Black Walnut's dwelling was begun between 1774 and 1790 for Matthew Sims. It was expanded in the early 1800s and again in 1848. Halifax County's only Civil War engagement—the battle of Staunton River Bridge—was fought on Black Walnut property. The Black Walnut farm, originally one of the county's largest, remained owned by John Sims's descendants at the time of listing in the registers.