Historical Highway Markers

The Virginia Department of Historic Resources sanctions historical highway markers in the Commonwealth.

Albemarle County

Marker Name	Marker Text	Marker Location	Route Name
Advance Mills	Villages such as Advance Mills were once common features of rural Virginia, serving as economic and social centers. Advance Mills grew around a single mill that John Fray constructed in 1833 on the north fork of the Rivanna River. By the twentieth century, Advance Mills had expanded to include facilities to process corn, flour, wool, sumac, and lumber for local farmers. A general store also sold goods to nearby residents. Industrialization, electricity, and the increasing efficiency of automobiles led to the disappearance of Advance Mills, as well as other similar communities around Virginia, in the latter half of the twentieth century.	Route 743, just west of bridge over the Rivanna River	Advance Mills Rd.
Barclay House and Scottsville Museum	Here stands the Barclay House, built about 1830, later the home of Dr. James Turner Barclay, inventor for the U.S. Mint and missionary to Jerusalem. He founded the adjacent Disciples Church in 1846 and served as its first preacher. It is now the Scottsville Museum.	290 Main Street	Main Street
Birthplace of George Rogers Clark	George Rogers Clark was born a mile northeast of here on 19 Nov. 1752. He grew up on a farm in Caroline County. Clark explored the Ohio River Valley, fought in Dunmore’s War in 1774, and helped convince the General Assembly to organize Kentucky as a county of Virginia. As a militia officer during the Revolutionary War, he allied with French communities on the Mississippi River, defeated the British at Fort Sackville in present-day Indiana, and fought Shawnee Indians in the Ohio Country, strengthening Virginia’s claim to the Old Northwest. His younger brother, William, and Meriwether Lewis led the 1803-1806 Lewis and Clark Expedition to the Pacific Ocean.	Rte. 20, opposite intersection with Winding River Road	Stony Point Rd.
Birthplace of Meriwether Lewis	Half a mile north was born, 1774, Meriwether Lewis, of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, sent by Jefferson to explore the Far West, 1804-1806. The expedition reached the mouth of the Columbia River, November 15, 1805.	Rte. 250, at intersection with Owensville Road	Ivy Rd.
Castle Hill	The original house was built in 1765 by Doctor Thomas Walker, explorer and pioneer. Tarleton, raiding to Charlottesville to capture Jefferson and the legislature, stopped here for breakfast, June 4, 1781. This delay aided the patriots to escape. Castle Hill was long the home of Senator William Cabell Rives, who built the present house.	Rte. 231, at southwest corner of intersection with Keswick Winery Drive	Gordonsville Rd.
Colle	Philip Mazzei, a Tuscan merchant and horticulturist, arrived in Virginia in 1773 and was persuaded by Thomas Jefferson to settle here. Jefferson gave him 193 acres of land, and Mazzei named his property Colle (meaning “hill”). He built a house ca. 1774 and organized a company to produce wine, oil, and silk. Mazzei wrote tracts supporting American independence, and, during the Revolution, served in a militia unit and was Virginia’s agent to the Grand Duke of Tuscany. He rented Colle to Hessian prisoner of war Gen. Friedrich Riedesel in 1779. The present French Colonial Revival house, designed by architect William Delano, was completed in 1940 for Stanley Woodward, a prominent diplomat.	Rte. 53, at entrance to Jefferson Vineyards	Thomas Jefferson Pkwy
Convention Army-The Barracks	In Jan. 1779, during the American Revolution, 4,000 British troops and German mercenaries (commonly known as “Hessians”) captured following the Battle of Saratoga in New York arrived here after marching from Massachusetts. It was called the Convention Army after the instrument of its surrender. Most prisoners lived in primitive huts spread out over several hundred acres of the barracks camp, where they endured great hardships. Supplying and guarding the Convention Army taxed the resources of the community and militia. By Feb. 1781, the last of the prisoners had been relocated.	Intersection of Barracks Farm Road and Barrackside Farm entrance	Barracks Farm Rd.
Covesville Apple Industry	In 1866 Dr. William D. Boaz established the first commercial apple orchard in Covesville. These orchards specialized in the Albemarle Pippin, which became one of the most prized and profitable apple varieties grown in Virginia. By 1890 the success of this variety, shipped as far away as England and France, helped the Boaz orchards become one of the most productive commercial orchards in Virginia. As the business grew, it spurred the development of many of Covesville’s buildings, including apple-packing plants, cider mills, workers’ housing, stores, depots, and cooperages. Several of these sites remain within the Covesville Historic District, which is on the National Register of Historic Places.	Rte. 29, at Covesville post office, south of Charlottesville	Monacan Trail Rd.
Crozet	The town grew around a rail stop established on Wayland's farm in 1876. It was named for Col. B. Claudius Crozet, (1789-1864)--Napoleonic army officer, and the state's engineer and cartographer. He built this pioneer railway through the Blue Ridge. The 4273' tunnel through the rock-solid mountain below Rockfish Gap carried traffic from 1858-1944. His talents were tested in solving safety, drainage and ventilation problems posed by the construction of this tunnel.	Rte. 240, in Crozet, at southern end of railroad underpass	Crozet Ave.
Earlysville Union Church	Earlysville Union Church is a rare surviving early-19th-century interdenominational church constructed in Albemarle County. Built in 1833, this frame structure served as a meetinghouse for all Christian denominations on land deeded by John Early, for whom Earlysville is named. This building provided an early home for several local congregations of the Baptist, Methodist, and Presbyterian faiths. The church is an excellent example of the 19th-century public architecture of rural Piedmont Virginia. It was listed on the Virginia Landmarks Register and the National Register of Historic Places in 1997.	On Earlysville Road, but it sits in front of 505 St. Francis Avenue	Earlysville Rd.
Edgehill	William Randolph patented the Edgehill plantation, just to the north, in 1735. His grandson, Thomas Mann Randolph, married Thomas Jefferson’s daughter Martha, acquired Edgehill in 1792, and was later governor of Virginia. The couple built a frame house ca. 1799 but resided mainly at nearby Monticello. Their son, Thomas Jefferson Randolph, erected a brick residence in 1828. A workforce of enslaved African Americans lived at Edgehill. Martha Jefferson Randolph and her family operated a school for girls here; its successor, established after the Civil War, was a highly regarded women’s academy. The main house burned in 1916 but was rebuilt using the original walls.	Rte. 250, about 900 feet west of Louisa Road intersection	Richmond Rd.
Free State	Free State, a community of free African Americans, stood here. Its nucleus was a 224-acre tract that Amy Farrow, a free black woman, purchased in 1788. Her son Zachariah Bowles lived here and married Critta Hemings of Monticello, an older sister of Sally Hemings. Free State residents farmed and practiced trades, accumulated personal property, and did business with local whites. The small community expanded after the Civil War and by early in the 20th century was home to the Free State Colored School and the Central Relief Association, a local benevolent society.	Belvedere Blvd. near intersection with Free State Road	Belvedere Blvd.
General Thomas Sumter	Thomas Sumter was born on 14 Aug. 1734 in this region. Sumter, a member of the Virginia militia during the French and Indian War, moved to South Carolina in 1765. He served as a lieutenant colonel in the Continental Army (1776-1778); in June 1780 he came out of retirement. In Oct. 1780, he became a Brigadier General, and was instrumental in defeating the British in the Carolinas. He served in Congress (1789-1793; 1797-1801) and was an U. S. senator (1801-1810). He died on 1 June 1832. Sumter's name is also associated with the Civil War, because Fort Sumter is named for him.	Rte. 231, east side, between Lovers Lane and Klockner Road	Gordonsville Rd.
Grace Episcopal Church	The vestry of Fredericksville Parish commissioned a church for this site in 1745. First known as Middle Church, the wood-frame building was later called Walker’s Church. Thomas Jefferson attended the nearby classical school of the Rev. James Maury, who was rector here and is buried in the churchyard. Jefferson served on the parish vestry from 1767 to 1770. Parishioner Judith Page Walker Rives enlisted William Strickland, one of the nation’s foremost architects, to design a replacement for the old frame church. The Gothic Revival sanctuary, consecrated by Bishop William Meade as Grace Church in 1855, is Strickland’s only known work in Virginia.	5607 Gordonsville Road	Gordonsville Road
Greenwood-Afton Rural Historic District	The Scots-Irish settled the Greenwood-Afton area in the 1730s, linking the agriculturally rich Shenandoah Valley with eastern Virginia. Settlement routes expanded into prominent roads and turnpikes. In the 1850s the railroad arrived, with Claudius Crozet's Blue Ridge Tunnel becoming the longest tunnel in the United States when it opened in 1858. The depot villages of Greenwood and Afton followed, drawing wealthy residents who built elaborate estates. Skyline Drive and the Blue Ridge Parkway, constructed in the 1930s, furthered the bucolic appeal of the region as a tourist destination. The area was officially designated as the Greenwood-Afton Rural Historic District in 2011.	Rte. 250, north side, 400 feet west of intersection with Hillsboro Lane	Rockfish Gap Turnpike
Hatton Ferry	James A. Brown began operating a store and ferry at this site on rented property in the late 1870s. In 1881 he bought the land from S. P. Gantt at which time the store became a stop on the Richmond and Alleghany Railroad. Two years later, Brown was authorized to open a post office in his store, which was named Hatton for the young federal postal officer who signed the authorizing documents. The ferry is one of only two poled ferries still functioning in the continental United States.	Rte. 625, at railroad crossing	Hatton Ferry Rd.
Historic Scottsville	In 1745 Old Albemarle County was organized at Scott's landing, its first county seat, here on the Great Horseshoe Bend of the James River. In 1818 the town was incorporated as Scottsville. Beginning in 1840 it flourished as the chief port above Richmond for freight and passenger boats on the James River and Kanawha Canal. It played a vital role in the opening up of the west. The 1840s and '50s were its golden era.	Valley Street at intersection with Main St.	Valley St.
Jackson's Valley Campaign	During the Shenandoah Valley Campaign (March-June 1862) Confederate Maj. Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson used deceptive maneuvers and sharp attacks to divert Union forces from the Peninsula Campaign against Richmond. Late in April, Jackson’s men began an eastward march over the Blue Ridge Mountains, convincing the Federals that they were bound for Richmond. On 3 May, Jackson bivouacked at nearby Mechum's River Station on the Virginia Central Railroad. The next day, part of his army returned to the Valley by train while the rest followed on foot. At the Battle of McDowell in the Allegheny Mountains on 8 May, Jackson defeated the vanguard of Union Maj. Gen. John C. Frémont's army.	Ivy Road, about 850 feet east of intersection with Three Notched Road and Rockfish Gap Turnpike	Ivy Rd.
Maury's School	Just north was a classical school conducted by the Rev. James Maury, Rector of Fredericksville Parish from 1754 to 1769. Thomas Jefferson was one of Maury's students. Matthew Fontaine Maury, the "Pathfinder of the Seas," was Maury's grandson.	Rte. 231, about 3/4ths mile north of intersection with Lindsay Road	Gordonsville Rd.
Miller School	A bequest of Samuel Miller (1792-1869) provided funds to found the Miller School in 1878. Miller, a Lynchburg businessman born in poverty in Albemarle County, envisioned a regional school for children who could not afford an education. The school was a pioneer in combining the value of hands-on labor with a liberal arts education. Coeducational from 1884 until 1928, then all male, the school became coeducational again in 1992. Built on property once owned by Miller, the principal building ("Old Main") was designed by Albert Lybrock and D. Wiley Anderson in the High Victorian Gothic style. Miller School was listed on the Virginia Landmarks Register in 1973 and the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.	Rte. 635, main entrance of school	Miller School Rd.
Mirador	Nearby stands Mirador, the childhood home of Nancy, Viscountess Astor, the first woman member of Parliament. Born Nancy Witcher Langhorne in 1879, she lived here from 1892 to 1897. In 1906 she married Waldorf Astor and moved to England permanently. Mirador also was home to her sister Irene, wife of Charles Dana Gibson and model for the Gibson Girl of the 1890s. New York architect William Adams Delano remodeled Mirador in the 1920s for Lady Astor's niece, Mrs. Ronald (Nancy Perkins) Tree. Later, as Nancy Lancaster, she greatly influenced interior design by creating the "English country house look."	Rte. 250, about 1/4 mile west of intersection with Greenwood Road	Rockfish Gap Tpke.
Monacan Indian Village	Near here, on both sides of the Rivanna River, was located the Monacan Indian village of Monasukapanough. This village was one of five Monacan towns that Captain John Smith recorded by name on his 1612 Map of Virginia, though many more existed. Monasukapanough was a chief's village and was occupied for several centuries until it was abandoned in the late seventeenth or early eighteenth century. Monacan descendants still reside throughout the central Virginia area. The tribe's headquarters today is on Bear Mountain in Amherst County.	Rio Mills Road, 70 feet from northwest corner of Seminole Trail intersection	Rio Mills Road
Proffit Historic District	Ben Brown and other newly freed slaves, who founded the community after the Civil War, first named the settlement Egypt and then Bethel. About 1881, the community became known as Proffit when the Virginia Midland Railway placed a stop here, stimulating further development between 1890 and 1916 by white landowners who built along Proffit Road. Prominent reminders of Proffit's black heritage are Evergreen Baptist Church, built in 1891, and several houses constructed by the Brown and Flannagan families in the 1880s. The district was listed on the Virginia Landmarks Register in 1998 and the National Register of Historic Places in 1999.	Mossing Ford Road, at fork with Proffit Road	Mossing Ford Rd.
Revolutionary Soldiers Graves	Jesse Pitman Lewis (d. March 8, 1849), of the Virginia Militia, and Taliaferro Lewis (d. July 12, 1810), of the Continental Line, two of several brothers who fought in the war for independence, are buried in the Lewis family cemetery 100 yards south of this marker.	Rte. 250, 50 feet west of intersection with Colonade Drive	Ivy Rd.
Rio Mills	The 19th-century mill village of Rio Mills stood 600 yards west of here, where the former Harrisonburg-Charlottesville Turnpike crossed the South Fork of the Rivanna River. Following the Battle of Rio Hill on 29 February 1864, Union General George Armstrong Custer burned the covered bridge and gristmill at Rio Mills. Immediately rebuilt under the direction of Abraham L. Hildebrand, the gristmill continued to grind wheat and corn for the Confederacy. The milling operation apparently closed down soon after 1900.	Rio Mills Road, 80 feet west of northwest intersection with Seminole Trail	Rio Mills Road
Shadwell, Birthplace of Thomas Jefferson	Thomas Jefferson--author of the Declaration of Independence, third president of the United States, and founder of the University of Virginia--was born near this site on 13 April 1743. His father, Peter Jefferson (1708-1757), a surveyor, planter, and officeholder, began acquiring land in this frontier region in the mid-1730s and had purchased the Shadwell tract by 1741. Peter Jefferson built a house soon after, and the Shadwell plantation became a thriving agricultural estate. Thomas Jefferson spent much of his early life at Shadwell. After the house burned to the ground in 1770, he moved to Monticello, where he had begun constructing a house.	Rte. 250, about a quarter mile west of the VDOT headquarters entrance	Richmond Rd.
Skirmish at Rio Hill	On February 29, 1864, General George A. Custer and 1500 cavalrymen made a diversionary raid into Albemarle County. Here, north of Charlottesville, he attacked the Confederate winter camp of four batteries of the Stuart Horse Artillery commanded by Captain Marcellus N. Moorman. Despite the destruction to the camp, 200 Confederates rallied in a counterattack which forced Custer's withdrawal. Few casualties were reported.	Rio Hill Center, at the Rio Hill Shopping Center	Rio Hill Center
Southern Albemarle Rural Historic District	Bounded by the James River to the south and the Rivanna River to the north, this nationally significant district encompasses 83,627 acres. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2007, it includes buildings influenced by Jefferson’s Classical Revival ideals. The beauty of the Piedmont landscape is revealed in the panoramic vistas, farmlands, and vineyards. The district reflects the architectural and cultural influences of former residents Thomas Jefferson and James Monroe. The landscape remains predominantly agricultural with large farm complexes, historic villages, and an early transportation network of roads and waterways.	Scottsville Road, south end of Carter's Bridge over the Hardware River	Scottsville Rd.
Southwest Mountains Rural Historic District	Extending from the Orange County line on the north to the outskirts of Charlottesville with the Southwest Mountains forming its spine, this historic district encompasses more than 31,000 acres and contains some of the Piedmont’s most pristine and scenic countryside. Thomas Jefferson often traveled along the eastern side of the Southwest Mountains to Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. and referred to the mountains as the “Eden of the United States.” The district includes a broad range of 18th through early 20th century rural architecture, reflecting the evolving cultural patterns of more than 250 years of settlement. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1992.	Rte. 22, at intersection with Keswick Road	Louisa Rd.
St. John School--Rosenwald Funded	The St. John School, built here in 1922-1923, served African American students during the segregation era. Julius Rosenwald, president of Sears, Roebuck and Co., collaborated with Booker T. Washington in a school-building campaign beginning in 1912. The Rosenwald Fund, incorporated in 1917, helped build more than 5,000 schools and supporting structures for African Americans in the rural South by 1932. The Rosenwald Fund contributed $700 for the St. John School, while local residents donated $500 and Albemarle County provided $1,300. The two-classroom school closed during the 1950s and was later purchased by St. John Baptist Church.	1569 St. John Road	St. John Road
Staunton and James River Turnpike	The Staunton and James River Turnpike ran through here at Batesville and stretched for 43 ½ miles from Staunton to Scottsville. Construction began in 1826 and was completed by 1830. The turnpike provided a direct route for Shenandoah Valley farmers to transport agricultural products to Scottsville, then to Richmond via the James River and Kanawha Canal. Because the turnpike became impassable during wet weather, it was converted to a plank road (wooden boards laid crosswise to the road surface) beginning in 1849. The emergence of the railroad industry and the high cost of maintenance resulted in its disuse by the late 1850s and eventual incorporation into the country's road system.	Rte. 692, at Batesville, between Schoolhouse Hill and Miller School Road	Plank Rd.
Union Occupation of Charlottesville	On 3 Mar. 1865, after the Battle of Waynesboro, Maj. Gen. Philip H. Sheridan's Union Army of the Shenandoah entered Charlottesville. As Bvt. Maj. Gen. George A. Custer’s 3d Cavalry Division arrived, Mayor Christopher L. Fowler, local officials, and University of Virginia professors Socrates Maupin and John B. Minor, likely with rector Thomas L. Preston, met Custer on the University Grounds. Fowler surrendered the town and keys to the public buildings. The professors asked that the University be protected as a national asset. Custer agreed, posting guards during a three-day occupation. The University suffered little damage, unlike the Virginia Military Institute, which was burned in June 1864.	Rte. 250, about 100 feet west of Colonnade Drive intersection	Ivy Rd.
Wilson Cary Nicholas 1761--1820	Just to the south was Mount Warren, the home of Wilson Cary Nicholas. He served in the Continental army, represented Albemarle County in the General Assembly (1784–1789, 1794–1799), and was a delegate to the Virginia Convention of 1788 that approved the United States Constitution. Nicholas was a member of the U. S. Senate (1799–1804), served in the House of Representatives (1807 - 1809), and was governor of Virginia (1814–1816). A close personal friend and political ally of Thomas Jefferson, Nicholas is buried at Monticello.	Rte. 726, about a quarter-mile east of intersection with Rte. 627	James River Rd.

Charlottesville

Marker Name	Marker Text	Marker Location
Buck v. Bell	In 1924, Virginia, like a majority of states then, enacted eugenic sterilization laws. Virginia's law allowed state institutions to operate on individuals to prevent the conception of what were believed to be "genetically inferior" children. Charlottesville native Carrie Buck (1906-1983), involuntarily committed to a state facility near Lynchburg, was chosen as the first person to be sterilized under the new law. The U.S. Supreme Court, in Buck v. Bell, on 2 May 1927, affirmed the Virginia law. After Buck more than 8,000 other Virginians were sterilized before the most relevant parts of the act were repealed in 1974. Later evidence eventually showed that Buck and many others had no "hereditary defects." She is buried south of here.	800 Preston Avenue
C. B. Holt Rock House	African American Charles B. Holt owned a carpentry business in Charlottesville’s Vinegar Hill neighborhood. The son of former slaves, Holt built this Arts and Crafts–style house in 1925–1926, during the era of segregation when blacks were more than a quarter of the city's population but owned less than one-tenth of its private land. He lived here with his wife, Mary Spinner, until his death in 1950. Later Holt’s stepson, Roy C. Preston, and his wife, Asalie Minor Preston, moved in. After a distinguished career teaching in Albemarle County’s segregated black public schools, Asalie Preston endowed the Minor-Preston Educational Fund to provide college scholarships.	1010 Preston Avenue
Charlottesville	The site was patented by William Taylor in 1737. The town was established by law in 1762, and was named for Queen Charlotte, wife of George III. Burgoyne's army, captured at Saratoga in 1777, was long quartered near here. The legislature was in session here, in June, 1781, but retired westward to escape Tarleton's raid on the town. Jefferson, who lived at Monticello, founded the University of Virginia in 1819.	Rte. 250 westbound, just west of the Rivanna River bridge
Charlottesville	The site was patented by William Taylor in 1737. The town was established by law in 1762, and was named for Queen Charlotte, wife of George III. Burgoyne's army, captured at Saratoga in 1777, was long quartered near here. The legislature was in session here, in June, 1781, but retired westward to escape Tarleton's raid on the town. Jefferson, who lived at Monticello, founded the University of Virginia in 1819.	Rte. 20, Carlton Road and Blenheim Avenue
Charlottesville	The site was patented by William Taylor in 1737. The town was established by law in 1762, and was named for Queen Charlotte, wife of George III. Burgoyne's army, captured at Saratoga in 1777, was long quartered near here. The legislature was in session here, in June, 1781, but retired westward to escape Tarleton's raid on the town. Jefferson, who lived at Monticello, founded the University of Virginia in 1819	Business Rte. 29, southbound between Appletree and Piedmont Aves.
Charlottesville General Hospital	During the Civil War, the Rotunda at the University of Virginia, the Charlottesville town hall and the courthouse, as well as nearby homes and hotels were converted into a makeshift hospital complex called the Charlottesville General Hospital. It treated more than 22,000 wounded soldiers between 1861 and 1865. The first of the wounded arrived by train within hours of the First Battle of Manassas (Bull Run) in July 1861. One of the facilities, known as the Mudwall or Delevan Hospital, received wounded soldiers as they arrived at the adjacent railroad depot.	Corner of Jefferson Park Avenue and West Main Street.
Charlottesville Woolen Mills	As early as 1795, several types of mills operated here. In 1847, Farish, Jones, and Co., opened a cotton and woolen factory. John A. Marchant gained control of it by 1852 and renamed it the Charlottesville Manufacturing Company. His son, Henry Clay Marchant, bought it in 1864. Although the Union army burned the factory in 1865, Marchant reopened it in 1867 as the Charlottesville Woolen Mills, which became Albemarle's largest industry. A community grew up around the mill and Marchant built worker houses and a chapel. By the 1880s the mill specialized in making cloth for uniforms; it remained in operation until 1964.	1819 E. Market St.
Dogwood Vietnam Memorial	The Dogwood Vietnam Memorial, a project of the Charlottesville Dogwood Festival, Inc., was conceived late in 1965 after news arrived of the first casualty of the Vietnam War from this area. Consisting of a plaza with a plaque and flagpole, the memorial was dedicated on 20 Apr. 1966 and is believed to be the nation’s first public Vietnam veterans’ memorial. The site honors all who served the United States during the war, especially those from Charlottesville and Albemarle County who gave their lives. The memorial, known as “the hill that heals,” was renovated and expanded in 2014-2015.	in McIntire Park, on John W. Warner Parkway, northwest corner with Rte. 250
Edgar Allan Poe	Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849)--writer, poet, and critic--was born in Boston, Mass. Orphaned at a young age, Poe was raised by John and Frances Allan of Richmond. He attended schools in England and Richmond before enrolling at the University of Virginia on 14 Feb. 1826 for one term, living in No. 13 West Range. He took classes in the Ancient and Modern Languages. While at the university, Poe accumulated debts that John Allan refused to pay. Poe left the university and briefly returned to Richmond, before moving to Boston in Mar. 1827. Some of his best-known writings include the Raven, Annabel Lee, and the Tell-Tale Heart. He also edited the Southern Literary Messenger in Richmond from 1835 to 1837. Poe died in Baltimore, Md.	McCormick Road, between Mews and Poe Alleys
Enderly	Built ca. 1859 in the Greek Revival style, Enderly was the home of William F. Gordon Jr. during the 1860s. Gordon served as clerk of the Virginia House of Delegates from 1859 to 1865. He was temporary secretary of the convention that met in Richmond in 1861 to debate Virginia’s secession from the Union. As special emissary of the convention, he delivered a copy of the Ordinance of Secession to Confederate President Jefferson Davis in Montgomery, Alabama. From 1861 to 1862, Gordon was a private in the 19th Virginia Infantry. He represented Louisa County in the House of Delegates (1875–1877).	603 Watson Ave.
First Baptist Church West Main Street	The Charlottesville African Church congregation was organized in 1864. Four years later it bought the Delevan building, built in 1828 by Gen. John H. Cocke, and at one time used as a temperance hotel for University of Virginia students. It became part of the Charlottesville General Hospital and sheltered wounded soldiers during the Civil War. The church members laid the cornerstone for a new building in 1877 on the Delevan site, and the First Baptist Church, West Main Street, was completed in 1883. This building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.	632 W. Main St.
Gen. Alexander Archer Vandegrift	Gen. Alexander Archer Vandegrift was born in Charlottesville on 13 Mar. 1887. He entered the U.S. Marine Corps in 1909 and served on posts in the Caribbean, Central America, China, and the United States. General Vandegrift led American forces in their first successful major Pacific offensive in World War II at Guadalcanal and was awarded the Navy Cross and the Medal of Honor. He also served as the Commandant of the Marine Corps from 1944 to 1947 and in 1945 became the first active-duty Marine four-star general. He died on 8 May 1973 and is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.	E. High St. and 4th St. NE, southeast corner
Georgia O'Keeffe	Georgia O'Keeffe was born in Wisconsin in 1887. Her mother moved to Charlottesville in 1909 and rented the house here. Beginning in 1912, O'Keeffe intermittently lived with her mother and sisters. She took a summer drawing class taught by Alon Bement at the University of Virginia. O'Keeffe taught art classes at the university each summer between 1913 and 1916. O'Keeffe used a number of mediums to showcase her artistic talents throughout her long career. In 1916, noted photographer, art impresario, and future husband Alfred Stieglitz began to promote her work. O'Keeffe later became one of America's most renowned artists. She died in New Mexico in 1986.	Corner of Wertland St. and 12 1/2 St. NW
Jack Jouett's Ride	On 4 June 1781, John "Jack" Jouett Jr. arrived at the Albemarle County Courthouse to warn the Virginia legislature of approaching British troops. The state government under Governor Thomas Jefferson had retreated from Richmond to reconvene in Charlottesville because of the threat of British invasion during the Revolutionary War. Jouett had spotted Colonel Banastre Tarleton and his 180 dragoons and 70 cavalrymen 40 miles east at Cuckoo Tavern, and rode through the night to reach here by dawn. Jouett's heroic ride, which allowed Jefferson and all but seven of the legislators to escape, was later recognized by the Virginia General Assembly, which awarded him a sword and a pair of pistols.	Intersection of Park and E. High Streets, southwest corner
James Monroe's First Farm--Site of the University of Virginia	In 1788 James Monroe purchased an 800-acre farm here to be close to his friend Thomas Jefferson and to establish a law office. In 1799 the Monroes moved to their new Highland plantation adjacent to Monticello and sold the first farm. In 1817 the Board of Visitors of Central College purchased 43 3/4 acres of Monroe's old farm, for the Lawn and the Ranges of the "academical village" that Jefferson was planning to build with private contributions. On 6 Oct. President Monroe, with former presidents Jefferson and Madison, laid the cornerstone for its first building, Pavilion VII. On 25 Jan. 1819, Central College was chartered by the General Assembly as the University of Virginia.	McCormick Road, 200 feet south of where it splits at University Avenue
Jefferson School	The name Jefferson School has a long association with African American education in Charlottesville. It was first used in the 1860s in a Freedmen's Bureau school and then for a public grade school by 1894. Jefferson High School opened here in 1926 as the city's first high school for blacks, an early accredited black high school in Virginia. The facility became Jefferson Elementary School in 1951. In 1958, some current and former Jefferson students requested transfers to two white schools. The state closed the two white schools. Their reopening in 1959 began the process of desegregation in Charlottesville. Jefferson School housed many different educational programs after integrating in 1965.	4th St. NW at intersection with Commerce St.
Monticello	Three miles to the southeast. Thomas Jefferson began the house in 1770 and finished it in 1802. He brought his bride to it in 1772. Lafayette visited it in 1825. Jefferson spent his last years there and died there, July 4, 1826. His tomb is there. The place was raided by British cavalry, June 4, 1781	Intersection of East Jefferson and Park Streets
Monticello Wine Company	The Monticello Wine Company's four-story brick building was located on the middle of Perry Drive on the north side. Founded in 1873 using grapes from local vineyards, it operated until about the time Prohibition began in Virginia in Nov. 1916. Spurred by production increases and highest-awards honors from exhibitions in the United States and abroad, the Charlottesville region proclaimed itself the "Capital of the Wine Belt in Virginia." In 1904 its wine was used to christen the USS Virginia. The building was last used as a storage facility until fire destroyed it in 1937. The home of the winery's general manager, Adolph Russow, stands nearby at 212 Wine Street.	Corner of McIntire Road and Perry Drive.
Technical Sergeant Frank D. Peregory	Born at Esmont on 10 April 1915, Frank D. Peregory enlisted in May 1931 in Charlottesville's Co. K (Monticello Guard), 116th Inf. Regt., 29th Inf. Div. On D-Day, 6 June 1944, T. Sgt. Peregory landed in the assault on Omaha Beach, Normandy, France. At Grandcamp, on 8 June, he single-handedly charged an enemy stronghold with grenades and bayonet, killing 8 soldiers and capturing 35. Six days later he was killed in action near Couvains. For his valor T. Sgt. Peregory was awarded the Medal of Honor. He was the sole Virginian in the 29th Division to be awarded the medal, which was given to only 14 of the 300,000 Virginians who served in the war. Peregory is buried at the American Cemetery in St. Laurent, Normandy, France.	University Ave. at intersection with Route 29
The Farm	The Farm stands on a 1020-acre tract acquired by Nicholas Meriwether in 1735 and later owned by Col. Nicholas Lewis, uncle of Meriwether Lewis. A building on the property likely served as headquarters for British Col. Banastre Tarleton briefly in June 1781. In 1825, Charlottesville lawyer and later University of Virginia law professor, John A. G. Davis, purchased a portion of the original tract and engaged Thomas Jefferson's workmen to design and build this house. It is considered one of the best surviving examples of Jeffersonian residential architecture. Maj. Gen. George A. Custer occupied the house as his headquarters for a brief time in March 1865.	Corner of E. Jefferson Street and Farm Lane
Three Notch'd Road	Also called Three Chopt Road, this colonial route ran from Richmond to the Shenandoah Valley. It likely took its name from three notches cut into trees to blaze the trail. A major east-west route across central Virginia from the 1730s, it was superseded by Route 250 in the 1930s. Part of Jack Jouett's famous ride and the Marquis de Lafayette's efforts to prevent Gen. Charles Cornwallis from obtaining munitions took place along this road. Today West Main Street and part of University Avenue approximate the Three Notch'd Road's original course through present-day Charlottesville.	Main Street East/Downtown Mall, between 5th and 7th Streets
University of Virginia	Thomas Jefferson founded the University of Virginia. The cornerstone of its first building was laid on October 6, 1817, in the presence of three presidents of the United States--Jefferson, James Madison, and James Monroe. In 1825, the university admitted its first scholars, who were educated in what Jefferson called "useful sciences." Following Jefferson's beliefs, the university was nonsectarian and allowed its students to choose their own courses of study. The honor system was established in 1842. In 1987, the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) named the original grounds, Thomas Jefferson's "academical village," to its prestigious World Heritage List.	University Avenue, opposite intersection with Rugby Road