The town is named for the Appomattox River, which was named after the Appomattoc Native American tribe, one of the Algonquian-speaking Powhatan Confederacy, historically based in the coastal area and encountered by the English before the tribes of the Piedmont.

The Appamatuck historically lived somewhat to the east of the present town, around the area of present-day Petersburg.

At the time of European encounter, the area of Appomattox County above the Fall Line was part of the territory of the Manahoac tribe, who spoke a Siouan language.

At the time of the Civil War, the present community of Appomattox was the site of a railroad depot, called Appomattox Station on the line between Petersburg and Lynchburg, a stop on the Southside Railroad.

[6] The station is three miles west of the restored historic village of Appomattox Court House, the site of Confederate General Robert E. Lee's surrender to Union General Ulysses S. Grant on April 9, 1865, which essentially ended the American Civil War.

[7] Near the end of the Civil War, Robert E. Lee made a last attempt to reach the depot, hoping to transport the Army of Northern Virginia south by railroad to meet Joseph E. Johnston's larger Army of Tennessee, then located in Greensboro, North Carolina.

The inconvenience of the railroad's location to the original Appomattox Court House in the village of Clover Hill led to the decline of the courthouse community.

[9] According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 2.2 square miles (5.6 km2).

The climate in this area is characterized by hot, humid summers and generally mild to cool winters.