This building began as a thriving tavern during the 1840's, then became a railroad grand hotel during the 1860's before being transformed into the Gordonsville Receiving Hospital during the Civil War. Seventy thousand Confederate and Union soldiers were treated in the building and on its grounds. By the end of the Civil War, Virginia had fifty-three Receiving Hospitals, and all were burned to the ground by the Union except this one, which remained standing. It later came under Union occupation and operated as a Freedmen's Bureau, where newly freed slaves were given justice, education, and health care. At the turn of the century, the building returned to service as a grand hotel and continued in that role until the Great Depression. In 1972, local volunteers saved it from destruction and restored it, and Historic Gordonsville Inc. was formed. In 1989, it opened to the public as a museum.