The Widow Tapp House

The Tapp Farm exemplifies the lifestyle of most Wilderness residents. Catharine Tapp, age 55 in 1860, leased her land from the Lacy family who owned nearby Ellwood. The Widow Tapp shared her modest 1-1/2 story log home with five relatives and a laborer. She owned no slaves.<br><br>The Tapps operated a subsistence farm, planting corn and keeping a few pigs and milk cows. A crib, stable, and small orchard were the property’s other improvements.<br><br>Although it survived the Battle of the Wilderness, the Tapp House fell into disrepair and eventually disappeared. Archeologists located the house site in 1989. Like so many other anonymous places, the Civil War transformed this isolated homestead from local obscurity into national recognition.