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Patrick Henry's Red Hill LbNA #24883

Owner:Adoptable
Plant date:Aug 23, 2006
Location:
City:Brookneal
County:Charlotte
State:Virginia
Boxes:1
Planted by:charlottecounty
Found by: Tenderfoot LBNA
Last found:Oct 7, 2011
Status:FFFFFFF
Last edited:Aug 23, 2006
Degree of difficulty: Easy
this is a "hybrid" and I am placing clues on the geocaching site as well.

The search for the Red Hill letterbox begins with a search for Red Hill shrine! Patrick Henry called Charlotte County “one of the garden spots of the world.” It’s still a garden spot—which means it’s rural, and not on a major highway.
On a Virginia map, trace 460 east to west (or west to east). In Appomattox, “where our nation reunited,” take Virginia Route 727 south into Charlotte County, and the crossroads at the small community of Red House. Take 615 west for 1 mile to Providence Church and then 600 south for 9.5 miles. You will need to turn east on Route 40 for 0.5 miles and then take the dogleg of 600 south again (1.8 miles). When you reach 619, turn left (east) . Red Hill entrance is 0.8 miles east, on the right. [Once you take 727 to Red House, there are “Red Hill” signs to guide you.]
[From the southeast, Route 15 & 360 north to Keysville and then Route 40 west through Charlotte County will bring you to Route 600 south. Turn left and follow the Red Hill signs.]
The entrance to Red Hill Shrine passes through the campus of the Patrick Henry Girls and Boys Home. Keep going to the end of the paved road. Red Hill is the final home, and gravesite, of Patrick Henry, the “Voice of the Revolution.” Patrick Henry was the first governor of Virginia elected by the people, not appointed by the king of England. Take time to visit his law office, the plantation grounds, the reconstructed buildings, and the museum. However, there is an entrance fee.
Is there a fee to visit the stable? We just drove past the Visitors’ Center rather than turning to the right and the parking lot. The stable is the first building along the maintenance road. Climb the hill and enter the stable loft. The carriage horses would have lived downstairs. You may need a flashlight in the loft, or you can open the wooden shutter on the end of the building. You are looking for honeybee homes. Lift the straw bee skeps and you will find the letterbox under one of them. Please search under the bee skeps while no other visitors are about, to preserve the secret location.

Enjoy Red Hill! From there, you may want to visit Charlotte Court House, where Henry made his last public speech, as a candidate for the Virginia House of Delegates. (He won, but did not live to take office.) Henry’s handwritten will is in the county clerk’s office. The courthouse is the only courthouse still existing, and still in use, that was built from plans drawn by Thomas Jefferson.