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The Virginia Department of Historic Resources (DHR) recently announced that seven new historical markers will be coming to roadsides in Virginia, including one highlighting Mahone’s Tavern in Southampton County.

A Jan. 9 DHR news release noted that the markers are designed to educate or inform the public about a person, place or event of regional, state or national importance. 

The Virginia Board of Historic Resources approved the seven new markers on Dec. 12 during its quarterly meeting in Richmond hosted by DHR, the release stated.

Warren Simmons, who is president of Mahone’s Tavern & Museum Inc., said, “We’re certainly glad it was approved. We’ve been working for a while to get approved. They only pick five or six (marker candidates) a couple times a year, and there’s a lot of people applying for it, so we were glad to get picked for that.

“We’ve been working with them to get the wording just the way we wanted it to be, and it takes a lot of editing and thoughts to try to give a lot in a little space,” he added.

Following is the full text of the marker, as included in the DHR release:

Mahone’s Tavern

“Mahone’s Tavern, built ca. 1796 across from the Southampton Co. courthouse, was a center of political and social activity for more than a century. Known as Kello’s Tavern early in the 1800s, it served as a refuge for citizens and as an encampment for soldiers at the time of Nat Turner’s insurrection in 1831. Fielding J. Mahone operated the tavern from 1841 to 1855. His son, William Mahone, a railroad magnate, Confederate major general, leader of the biracial Readjuster Party, and U.S. senator, lived here as a youth. John J. Kindred, a five-term congressman from NY, lived here as a child in the 1860s. Also known as Howard’s Hotel, the building is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.”

The DHR release noted that Mahone’s Tavern & Museum Inc. is the sponsor for the marker and will be covering the required $3,000 manufacturing expenses for the new sign. The museum organization received funding help from The Camp Foundation and the Ruth Camp Campbell Foundation.

Simmons said that leaders of Mahone’s Tavern & Museum Inc. believe the tavern deserves the historical marker.

“It’s been a focal point of the county, a place where people over the years have, when it was a tavern, met and talked about local business and farming and all the local news that was going on, whether it was a major thing like the insurrection or just every day, run-of-the-mill kind of happenings in and around the area,” he said.

The DHR news release listed a proposed location of the marker as 22341 Main St. in Courtland, which is the address of the tavern. Simmons confirmed the marker will likely be located quite near the tavern itself.

The release also noted that following the Board of Historic Resources’ approval of the markers, it can take upwards of eight months or more before a new marker is ready for installation.

Simmons said an unveiling ceremony will likely take place at the time of the sign’s installation.