Optimism Grows During Search for Jefferson’s Circular Road
Poplar Forest Newsletter, Fall 2002

Archaeological evidence uncovered this summer is fueling optimism that Poplar Forest will be able to accurately identify the location of Jefferson’s 540-yard circular road around his house.

“We are excited,” says Barbara Heath, director of archaeology and landscapes. “We’ve been looking for this road for 10 years. The prospect of discovering it means we will not only have the road location but also begin to understand key relationships of other important features such as connecting roads and fences in the core area of the plantation.”

Ian Firth, chairman of Poplar Forest’s landscape advisory panel, concurs. “The circular avenue was the most important element in the ideal geometry that we think Jefferson used to unite architecture and landscape. If the evidence confirms the historic presence of the circular avenue, we can consider ways of making it visible again,” he says.

In a memorandum to overseer Jeremiah Goodman written in 1812, Jefferson records the circumference of this road and directs Goodman to plant paper mulberry trees on each side at 20-foot intervals. The road enclosed approximately five acres of ornamental grounds surrounding the house, and intersected with other roads on the north and south that led out to public thoroughfares.

Based on Jefferson’s memorandum, archaeologists focused on an area northeast of the main house. The excavation site both overlaps and is adjacent to the modern road, which leads to post-Jefferson buildings.

Archaeologists began by excavating a 50-foot long area about 250 feet northeast of the house. They found three planting holes that provided the first clues in resolving the question of exactly where the road went. Two appeared to be associated with the outer ring of planting, while the third marked the inner edge of the road. The placement of the third tree hole suggests that the road ran between trees spaced 16 feet apart. Roads in Jefferson’s time typically were 12 to 16 feet wide.

Further investigation has confirmed the arrangement of the outer ring of trees. To date, four consecutive planting holes on the outer edge of the road have been excavated, each falling within six inches of Jefferson’s prescribed 20-foot interval. Evidence of additional holes for both the inner and outer circle has been found, but not yet confirmed through excavation. By following these clues, archaeologists expect to be able to project the path of the rest of the Jefferson road.

They will also continue to search for evidence of the road itself. Although Jefferson praised the use of macadam – an early type of paving made of uniformly-sized stones laid down in layers – there is no evidence of it here. The circular road apparently was a dirt one, and as such may have been crowned in the center to aid in drainage. Archaeologists may be able to see how the road was constructed by digging a profile across it.