Site Type: Museum or Cultural Center

Historical Significance:

Poplar Forest, Thomas Jefferson's plantation retreat and architectural masterpiece, offers insight into the private side of an American founder as well as to the community of enslaved workers that took shape on the property during his 54 years of ownership. Many of these African Americans labored to sustain the plantation, while others worked alongside free artisans to create Jefferson's octagonal house and designed landscape. Jefferson called Poplar Forest his most valuable possession not only because of his house, but also because he derived much of his income from the sale of plantation crops of tobacco and wheat. A work force of as many as 94 enslaved men, women, and children resided on the property. Archaeology and documentary research provide a glimpse of who these people were and how they lived. Exhibits tell visitors what is known about members of the enslaved community, fostering a greater understanding of their contributions and their private lives.

Physical Description:

The 500-acre Poplar Forest site contains Jefferson's octagonal brick house and remnants of his designed grounds set in a landscape of fields and woodlands. The home is undergoing restoration, with exterior work complete. The rebuilding of a wing of service rooms that contained working and living quarters is currently underway. A ghost building on the site of former quarters gives visitors an ides of the size and sitting of slave cabins. Archaeological investigations of the plantation landscape and community are ongoing. Exhibits are located in the archaeology laboratory and restoration workshop as well as in the basement of the house.