Barnett-Gibbs-Herndon House history
Farmhouse was built in 1824

The story of the Barnett-Gibbs-Herndon estate and farmhouse, location of Richmond Battlefield Park and museum, begin early in the 19th century.

The land for the farm, originally 578 acres located six miles south of Richmond on what is now U.S. 421, was purchased by Madison County Court magistrate Joseph Barnett (1763-1831) in 1801.  In circa 1824, Barnett built a two-story, red brick, Federal facade farmhouse laid in Flemish bond. 

The estate was called "Pleasant View," apparently because Pleasant Inn creek runs through the land and affords a magnificent view of Joe's Lick Knob south of the property.

The house originally consisted of two first-floor and two second-floor rooms with pine flooring.  Outside walls of the original portion of the farmhouse are four bricks thick and three bricks thick on the interior. Plaster is directly over the brick.

Initially, there was a separate brick kitchen, but additions were made to the home on several occasions, and the kitchen is now connected to the house. Remodeling after the Civil War included the addition of a hallway and elongation of  the windows. This gives the house a side-passage plan and Italianate detail.  A wrap-around porch supported by Tuscan columns adds overhead shelter at the entrance.

A drive to the left (south) leads to what was probably the original front entrance to Pleasant View. There were at least three brick slave cabins adjacent to the house, connected by brick walks. Only one of the cabins remains. A stone and wood icehouse, garage, smokehouse, several barns, a wetlands area, and two ponds still occupy the property. Additionally, there is a small cemetery consisting primarily of the Barnett family.  For nearly 200 years, Pleasant View has been a self-sufficient farm community with tobacco and cattle being the major sources of income.

On Aug, 30, 1862, the property was in the middle of Phase I of the Battle of Richmond.  According to legend, an indentation on the exterior brick wall on the south side of the house was the result of a cannon ball.  The farmhouse, which served as a hospital for wounded soldiers, has stains on the second-floor front bedroom, which, according to legend, are from the blood of wounded men.  For a brief time after the war, the Kingston Masonic Lodge met at the house.

The Barnett-Gibbs-Herndon estate has had a succession of owners.  Initially, Joseph Barnett purchased 570 acres for six shillings and, for $66, another eight acres around the Hayes Fork branch of Silver Creek.  Tax records for 1825 list Barnett as possessing 20 slaves.

After several owners, Kavanaugh Armstrong purchased Pleasant View in 1856 and his wife sold the property in 1875 to George Washington Herd. The house and 62-acre farm was acquired from Herd's daughter by Joel Walker Gibbs Nov. 15, 1886.  And, periodically, more acreage was added to the farm.

Gibbs's son, Alex Robert, inherited the farm on Jan. 22, 1903. After passing through several Gibbs heirs, Alex Robert's daughters, Lucile Gibbs and Virginia Gibbs Herndon, became joint owners on July 10, 1951. Lucile Gibbs died in 1985 and Virginia Herndon died in 1987. Virginia's sons, Alex Gibbs and Jake W. Herndon III, then became equal heirs of the estate.

On Nov. 13, 1987, the property was divided with Alex receiving the house and 62 acres and Jake receiving the remainder of the estate. The Madison County Historical Society, in conjunction with "heroes" from the Battle of Richmond, acquired the house and 62-acre farm for $564,764 at absolute auction on Nov. 3, 2001, from Jeanne F. Herndon, Alex's widow.  Subsequently, Pleasant View was donated to Madison County for the establishment of a public park to preserve and interpret the property's  Civil War history.