RIDGE FIELD ARCHAEOLOGY FINISHED: FINDS & THE FUTURE
Poplar Forest Newsletter, Spring 2003

Archaeologists have finished testing the Ridge Field section of Jefferson's plantation, a key step in the long-range plan to develop a state-of the art learning center that will also serve as the hub of guest services.

Landscape architects aiding in Poplar Forest’s master site planning had thought the Ridge Field might be a good location for the learning center because it is out of sight from important parts of the plantation retreat. The question, though, was whether there might be archaeological sites in that area which would require the Corporation to look elsewhere for a preservation-sensitive location for the Learning Center.

The answer is no. While some of the sites found during the rigorous two-year survey can be used in the future to contribute to the story of life at Poplar Forest before and after Jefferson’s time, their location in the Ridge Field is compatible with locating the learning center in the area.

The survey encompassed 39 acres and 1,877 test units - 24-inch squares dug every 25 feet. Archaeologists even used a soil auger in places to dig deeper than a shovel could reach, and at times dug as far as four feet down before reaching the bottom of a hole.

Archaeologists found evidence from three eras during the survey: prehistoric, Jefferson, and mid-19th century. The crew uncovered nine sites with prehistoric components--heavily disturbed by plowing over the years--indicating that bands of Native Americans had set up camps of short duration in the area. These sites dated as far back as the Early Archaic period (8000-6000 B.C.) and as late as the Late Woodland (900 A.D. -1600 A.D.) The earliest sites contained artifacts predominantly of quartz and quartzite flakes-debris from toolmaking-as well as some stone tools. The later sites included pottery pieces, stone tools, and debris from toolmaking. The locations of these sites will add important new information to the growing body of knowledge about prehistoric settlement in this area. Archaeologists also located six sites with post-Jefferson components, including a mid-19th century cabin with a portion of the chimney stack still visible above ground and two probable outbuildings lying adjacent to two historic road traces, including one from the Jefferson era.

Visible portions of the Jefferson road follow the route of the “path to Wingos” that appears in a circa 1781 map of Poplar Forest. This route connected the Wingo’s farm quarter-about two miles away-with a section of the property called the “Old Plantation.” The path was most likely opened up in the early 1770s to connect these two important centers of the plantation, and later became a major internal road.

In the early 19th century, Jefferson used this road as a connector from the core of the plantation to the “Lynchburg Road,” now Route 661.

By the middle of the 19th century, this road had shifted to the south. Archaeologists found evidence of this second historic trace, which connected the property to the nearby train station located in Forest. Poplar Forest’s modern entrance road lies about a half-mile north of these two historic road traces.

Completing the final record of the archaeologists’ findings is all that now remains to wrap up the Ridge Field survey.

“This was a major project important to good stewardship of Jefferson’s property,” said Executive Director Lynn A. Beebe. “With this far better understanding of the Ridge Field, we can responsibly take the next steps to plan for both future growth in visitors and restoration at the core of Jefferson’s retreat.

“Right now we are serving visitor needs and providing educational exhibits and programming in the existing buildings adjacent to Jefferson’s house. In order to fully restore this core area of the retreat, we will have to remove all modern buildings and functions from around Jefferson’s house. Poplar Forest will then need a learning center that is out of sight and appropriately designed to accommodate visitor needs and educational service to the public.”