Poplar Forest

Poplar Forest is a Virginia historical marker in Bedford (County) County, dedicated 2017.

Rte. 221, 125 feet west of Newcomb Boulevard intersection

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Poplar Forest, Thomas Jefferson's Bedford County retreat house and plantation, is 1.5 miles south of here. Jefferson’s wife, Martha Wayles Skelton, inherited the property in 1773, and Jefferson called it “the most valuable of my possessions.” He wrote much of his book Notes on the State of Virginia here in 1781. More than 200 enslaved African Americans labored on the plantation during his ownership, raising tobacco and wheat. In 1806 free and enslaved craftsmen began constructing an octagonal house and ornamental landscape designed by Jefferson. He visited the house several times a year from 1809 to 1823 and owned the property until his death in 1826.

Maps this old were drawn largely by eye, so places on them can sit miles from where they really are. The pin is ours and marks the marker's location today.

TodayHistorical map

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Digital Commonwealth, Boston Public Library

Historical maps covering this location

1755 · Virginie, Maryland. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1776 · Carte nouvelle de l'Amérique Angloise contenant tout ce que les Anglois possédent sur… (Digital Commonwealth, Boston Public Library)
1794 · Virginia, Maryland and Delaware. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1807 · Map Of Virginia (lower center sheet) (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1892 · Lynchburg, Virginia (USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection)

Virginie, Maryland, 1755, covering the location of Poplar Forest, with a pin at the marker's coordinates — Virginie, Maryland, 1755, covering this location. David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries. The pin is ours, placed from the marker's coordinates.

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Poplar Forest

Historical maps covering this location

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