Special events on April 9, 2015, at Appomattox Court House National Historical Park and Independence National Historical Park will be part of a nationwide observance of the 150th Anniversary of General Robert E. Lee’s surrender at Appomattox, Virginia. That surrender marked the symbolic but not the final end of the Civil War.

For the past four years, the National Park Service, state governments, private organizations and individuals have been commemorating the 150th Anniversary of the Civil War. On April 9, 1865, Union Gen. Ulysses S. Grant met Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee to set the terms of surrender of Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia. While Lee’s surrender did not end the Civil War, the act is seen by most Americans as the symbolic end of four years of bitter fighting.

Major events involving bells will mark the anniversary at Appomattox Court House National Historical Park and Independence National Historical Park.

On April 9, 2015, the bells will ring first at Appomattox at 3:00 p.m. The ringing will reflect the ending moments of the historic meeting between Grant and Lee in the McLean House at Appomattox Court House. Independence National Historical Park will be part of this commemoration with a program starting at 2:45 p.m. At 3:15 pm, the Centennial Bell, which currently hangs in Independence Hall tower, will ring for 4 minutes.

The Centennial Bell was cast in 1876 from a mixture of Atlantic mine ore, copper and tin with the addition of one hundred pounds from each of four cannon: British and American from the Revolutionary battle of Saratoga and Union and Confederate from the Civil War battle of Gettysburg.

According to a park spokesperson at Independence NHP, "While that historic bell chimes, the Liberty Bell will ring in its own way, as guests from our city and region come together to symbolically tap the Liberty Bell." The event at the Liberty Bell is free and open to the public, though space is limited.

The announcement for the event notes, "The end of the Civil War has different meanings to different people. The National Park Service invites churches, temples, schools, city halls, public buildings, historic sites, and others to ring bells across the nation as a gesture to mark the end of the bloody conflict in which more than 750,000 Americans perished." It's asked that bells be rung, beginning at precisely at 3:15 pm, for four minutes (each minute symbolic of a year of war).

"Some communities may ring their bells in celebration of freedom or a restored Union, others as an expression of mourning ...for the fallen. Sites may ring bells to mark the beginning of reconciliation and reconstruction."

Locations that participate are invited to share how they observed the event at Bells Across the Land 2015. Stories "will be compiled in one place to see how each one helps build our national story."