The Stables

The Stables. . , Nothing conduces more to the health of a horse then a good and whole stable. Richard Mason, The Gentleman's New Pocket Companion...of the Noble and Useful Animal the Horse, 1811 (from Jefferson's library), These structures were once part of a larger stable complex completed in 1809. Jefferson, an avid horseman, quartered five to seven prized riding and carriage horses and stored tack and feed in this central location, Jupiter, Wormley Hughes, and other enslaved hostlers (stable hands or grooms) prepared horses for Jefferson's ride or pulling carriages here. The stables also may have occasionally sheltered visitors' carriages. Additional stables on the quarter farms and near the overseer's house at the foot of Monticello mountain housed the workhorses, mules, and oxen that pulled ploughs, carts, and wagons across the plantation's fields and roads., Location , All roads linking the plantation with the wider world came together at the Stable. The East Road, the most important, tied Monticello to the road southeast to Richmond and Williamsburg, and the road north to Washington. The South Road led from the Stable so the "old gate" and to Milton on the Rivanna River, the closest depot for boats from the James River. The "Thorofare" gate, an entrance at the foot of the mountain, connected Monticello to the road to Charlottesville. The closest water source, 800 feet downhill, was located on the South Spring Road., History , Jefferson altered the stable at least three times. A stable may have been near this site by 1778. It was succeeded by a wood structure erected ca. 1793 As he neared retirement, Jefferson replaced several log buildings along Mulberry Row with more permanent stone structures and also reorganized the stable. In 1808, hired white stonemason William Maddox, assisted by four Monticello slaves, built these two stone bays. Shortly after, hired and enslaved carpenters constructed an L-shaped wood addition., (captions) , View from Monticello looking towards Charlottesville by Jane Braddick Peticolas, 1825. , Thomas Jefferson Foundation at Monticello, Stable Scene by George Morland, ca. 1790. Stables needed to be dry and well-ventilated, with good drainage and adequate lighting to keep the horses healthy and the tack and feed stored there in good condition. , Gloucester Museums Service, Digital reconstruction of the ca. 1793 stable with five bays for animals and supplies. , Thomas Jefferson Foundation at Monticello, Digital reconstruction of the ca. 1809 stable complex illustrates Jefferson's revised plan - two stone bays and a wood addition , Thomas Jefferson Foundation at Monticello, The stables as drawn in Jefferson's surveys of Monticello suggests that the wood stable was failing by 1806. The five bays depicted in 1796 (left) were shown as three bays in 1806 (middle); the 1809 survey (right) shows the two new bays and the L-shaped addition. , Massachusetts Historical Society, Monticello mountaintop (plat) by Thomas Jefferson, 1809. , Massachusetts Historical Society, The restoration of the Stable was generously funded by the Sarah and Ross Perot, Jr. Foundation