Poplar Forest

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.