This morning you’ll be touring the home on Millionaires Row, once considered “the grandest house in Danville.” Sutherlin Mansion was built by William Sutherlin in 1856 as a city home that allowed him to oversee the second largest tobacco factory in Virginia. That structure still stands at the corner of Lynn and Loyal Streets.

After resigning as Mayor of Danville, Sutherlin served as Confederate Quartermaster for Danville and worked diligently to ensure that supplies reached the front lines on a regular basis. He was such a close friend of CSA President Jefferson Davis that the Mansion served as the “Last Capital of the Confederacy” when Davis made his way from Richmond to points farther south. The government remained in Danville until receiving news of Lee’s surrender at Appomattox in April 10, at which time the last cabinet meeting occurred. Davis, however, did not hold the last war council until May 2, 1865 in Upstate South Carolina. Now home to the Danville Museum of Fine Arts and History, the house has been restored to appear as it did when Jefferson Davis and his family were in residence. Along with tours of the historic house, the Danville Museum of Fine Arts and History offers a wide variety of exhibitions, classes, workshops, camps and educational programs.

The nearby Lady Astor House was the birthplace of Viscountess Nancy Astor, born Nancy Langhorne in Danville in 1879. She became the first woman to sit in the British House of Commons. Her sister Irene married artist Charles Dana Gibson who immortalized his wife as the famous “Gibson Girl” and set a new international fashion ideal at the turn of the century.

The Civil War Driving Tour of Danville begins at the Sutherlin Mansion. There are no less than four cemeteries with Civil War history in Danville; Grove Street Cemetery, United States National Cemetery, Freedman’s Cemetery and Green Hill Cemetery. Three of the cemeteries were established on acreage once a part of the farm owned by Dr. Nathaniel Green farm, one of Danville’s early physicians. His 18th century farmhouse was moved from there to Jefferson Street.

Other structures with interesting Civil War history include 703 Wilson Street, the last executive offices of the Confederacy, 300 Lynn Street, also called Civil War Prison No. 6 (originally one of William Sutherlin’s tobacco factories) and Monument Hill, once occupied as one of more than 20 buildings that served as a Confederate Hospital in the region.
When you’ve finished exploring the historic district, meander down to the waterfront where the City of Danville has taken an old railroad warehouse and a historic train station and created an entertainment complex called The Crossing. The Danville Science Center is housed in the 1899 Passenger Rail Station and an additional renovated Southern Railroad building. The Community Market is housed in the Southern Railroad Warehouse. Riverwalk, a pedestrian trail, begins with a converted 1856 iron railroad bridge that serves as the gateway to the 3.5 mile trail along the Dan River.

From Danville, it’s on to the Virginia Museum of Natural History which exhibits a vast variety of artifacts from the museum’s 22 million item collection on display in the new $33 million world class facility. At the forefront of scientific discovery of the natural world, the eight scientists of the museum actively engage in research on subjects ranging from dinosaurs to millipedes. The museum shares its new discoveries with exhibits, programs, publications, field trips, and teacher education. Two of the new exhibits: “Feathered Dinosaurs of China” and “Chinasaurs: The Great Dinosaurs of China” were undertaken in cooperation with the National Geological Museum of China. The exhibits feature the largest collection of Chinese fossils to tour North America including specimens that rarely leave China. The only way to appreciate 65 million year old dinosaur eggs and a 30 foot Yangchuanosaurus is in person!

If you’re game this evening, the Martinsville Speedway, is now celebrating its 60th year of operation. Founded the year before NASCAR was formed, the speedway is one of the oldest tracks in America that’s still a part of the Nextel Cup series. It is the only original NASCAR-sanctioned track still running Nextel Cup events. Richard Petty, now a car owner, holds the track’s winning record with 15 victories. Although it is the shortest track on the NASCAR circuit, the 800 foot straights coupled with turns banked at only 12 degrees performs like “two drag strips with a turnaround on each end.” Even if you’ve never been to a race before, enjoy the action!

If a different type of racing is more your style, Birch Creek Motorsports is a 1 3/4 mile outdoor motorcross track nestled in the picturesque mountains of Pittsylvania County. The fast and challenging track includes plenty of off chamber turns, table tops, a long downhill and an inverted whoop section referred to as the “snake pit.”

Whatever your choice, your accommodations are only minutes away in Danville this evening.

Choice of Accommodations for night two: See night one.