Rockfish Gap Meeting

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.