Poplar Forest continues to grow
By Marcia Apperson
The News & Advance

FOREST - Trying to balance the need for development with historical preservation, Lynchburg City Council recently sold the Corporation for Jefferson's Poplar Forest a parcel of land on the edge of the city where a unique barn had been located.

The corporation, which is preserving and restoring Thomas Jefferson's retreat home, purchased the tract of land in September because the plantation's Prize barn was located there. A "prize" is a lever with weights used to pack tobacco into barrels. The 33 acres cost about $213,000.

Slaves working at Jefferson's plantation would press the tobacco into barrels. Once it was packed, it was probably stored in the barn until it was taken to Lynchburg and shipped down the James River to Richmond, Director of Archaeology Barbara Heath said.

Tobacco and wheat were Jefferson's main cash crops.

Slaves would pick the tobacco, dry it, load it on wagons and bring it to the Prize barn for packing.

There were other barns on the plantation used for livestock and drying tobacco, but there was only one Prize barn.

"The whole tobacco crop came to that place," Heath said.

As the staff at Poplar Forest began surveying and excavating farther away from the main house, the Prize barn was one location they particularly wanted to find because of its importance on the plantation during Jefferson's time.

About four years ago, archeologists discovered the site of the barn, which is about a mile and half from the main house.

"We had finally gotten to the point where we were able to do research beyond the immediate area of the house," Executive Director Lynn A. Beebe said.

The corporation owns about 550 acres surrounding Jefferson's retreat home. During Jefferson's time, the plantation spread across about 4,000 acres.

The staff used historic documents, compared historic and modern maps, and worked with a consultant from Charlottesville to get a sense of the full plantation and where various barns, workshops and shelters were located.

As the staff tried to piece it all together, the Prize barn's location was discovered.

"It was really exciting," Beebe said. "That was one of the locations on the plantation that we really wanted to find. It was clearly going to be a substantial feature as well as an important feature functionally."

There was just one problem. The site was adjacent to the corporation's property but was actually on the city's land.

At the same time of the finding, the city announced plans for an industrial park and housing development on the land.

"It clearly was not the best timing," Beebe said. "But, having discovered it, we all put our heads together."

In August, City Council decided to sell the land to Poplar Forest.

"I think it was a good deal for the city and a good deal for Poplar Forest," City Councilman Bert Dodson said.

The city used the money from the sale for downtown development and kept two other parcels of land near Poplar Forest for development.

"It's tremendously exciting to know that we have it and it will be preserved," Beebe said. "It's such a wonderful opportunity for educational activity and education interpretation of the whole agricultural enterprise Jefferson had here."

The barn sat just below the crest of hill near a branch of Tomahawk Creek. Jefferson had an access road he used when traveling toward Lynchburg that passed near the barn.

The site, which was likely surrounded by tobacco when Jefferson owned it, is now overgrown with tall grass and saplings, leaving behind no obvious trace to an untrained eye that is was once a major hub on the plantation.

Now that archeologists have found the site, they still have more questions to answer, Heath said.

When they are able to excavate the area, the archaeologists hope to find out more about the barn's appearance, what it was made of and its size. If they are able to unearth enough information, the staff wants to reconstruct the barn.

"It's pretty exciting because it's one more piece of the Jefferson story," said Scott Grammer, field supervisor for survey and planning.

But because several projects are already in progress at the retreat home, work on the barn site will probably not start for a couple years, he said.

Once workers can begin excavating the barn site, Beebe said they want visitors to be able to get out to the location.

"Ideally, what we would envision doing is opening up one of Jefferson's own routes so people can travel out there to see the barn site," Beebe said.

Heath said the new site will give the staff an opportunity to teach visitors more about the plantation and its crops.

The retreat home is the center of the historic attraction, but visitors can't get a full appreciation of the diverse buildings that were scattered around the large plantation, Beebe said.

The staff wants to find where other structures were located such as a blacksmith shop, building where barrels were made, distillery where brandy was made, spinning and weaving house, and barns used for threshing wheat.

"It'll be a different place, I think, once those other sites are out there," Heath said.