Rockfish Gap Meeting

Rockfish Gap Meeting is a Virginia historical marker in Nelson County, dedicated 1993.

I-64 (eastbound), at first scenic overlook on Afton Mountain

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The commission appointed to select a site for the University of Virginia met 1-4 August 1818 in the tavern that stood nearby. Among the 21 members present were former presidents Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, as well as judges Spencer Roane, Archibald Stuart, and Creed Taylor. The commissioners chose Charlottesville over Lexington and Staunton for the site of the university. The tavern at which they met was owned by Samuel Leake (1790-1858) and Walter Leake (1792-1859). Enlarged later, as part of the Mountain Top Hotel and Springs, the popular tavern burned in 1909.

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

Slide toward Today to fade the historical sheet and see the modern map underneath.

David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries

Historical maps covering this location

1755 · Virginie, Maryland. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1794 · Virginia, Maryland and Delaware. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1796 · State of Virginia. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1807 · Map Of Virginia (lower center sheet) (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1822 · Maryland (Carey, 1822) (Barry Lawrence Ruderman Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)

Virginia, Maryland and Delaware, 1794, covering the location of Rockfish Gap Meeting, with a pin at the marker's coordinates — Virginia, Maryland and Delaware, 1794, covering this location. David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries. The pin is ours, placed from the marker's coordinates.

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For example, one family's tree showed the Articles of Confederation marker in Pennsylvania standing under a mile from where William Gabby lived in the 1760s.

What that marker records spans 1777 to 1789, overlapping William Gabby's years there.

From one family's 77-marker roster

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The marker isn't at this spotOur pin may be off. If you know where it stands, tell us.I couldn't find the markerWe record what the source recorded. We have not been to look.The sign reads differentlyThat would be an error, and we can pass it to the program.The historical map looks wrongThe period map behind the pin, not the marker itself.Something else

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Marker program managed by the Virginia Department of Historic Resources.

More markers nearby

Flight of Richard C. duPontsame spot
Blue Ridge Parkwaysame spot
Greenwood-Afton Rural Historic Districtsame spot
Augusta County/Nelson Countyunder 1 mi