National Register of Historic Places

Edgehill

Shadwell, Albemarle County, Virginia
Listed
September 8, 1982
Type
Building
Period
Industrial
Ref No.
82004537

About this property

Edge Hill, also known as Edgehill and Edgehill Farm, is a historic house located near Shadwell in Albemarle County, Virginia, United States. William Randolph of Tuckahoe acquired 2400 acres as a land grant from King George II in 1735, and it was inherited by his son Thomas Mann Randolph, Sr. of Tuckahoe. In 1790, he gave it and his Varina plantation near Richmond to his son Thomas Mann Randolph, Jr. as a wedding gift when the younger Randolph married Martha Jefferson, daughter of Virginia governor and U.S. President Thomas Jefferson. The younger Randolphs came to prefer the cooler mountain air of Albemarle County, so they built a one-story, wood-frame structure on the property about 1799, but they preferred living at Monticello. Randolph Jr. acted as an overseer at Jefferson's plantation as well as ran this one, but also ran up and inherited great debt. The current two-story, brick main house dates from 1828, and was rebuilt in 1916, after a fire gutted the interior. Thomas Jefferson Randolph, one of Randolph Jr.'s sons who became Thomas Jefferson's favorite grandson and beneficiary of his papers as well as executor of his estate, acquired his debt-ridden father's estate (house, land and slaves) at an auction on January 2, 1826. About two years later, he hired William B. Phillips and Malcolm F. Crawford (local master mason and master carpenter, respectively) to build this house in the style of Monticello (which often can be viewed from it), the University of Virginia and other historic Charlottesville properties. That original Edgehill structure remains on the property, having been rolled to the hilltop and used as a private academy run by Jane Hollins Nicholas Randolph beginning in 1829 until about 1850 and as an academy for young ladies from 1867 until 1900, as well as used an office. The property passed out of the Randolph family in 1902, following the death of Carolina Ramsay Randolph. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982. Edward Dickinson Tayloe, grandson of Benjamin Ogle Tayloe, was conveyed a 173.8-acre parcel of the plantation on February 5, 1937.

Location

Shadwell, Albemarle County, Virginia
38.01803, -78.39435

Categories

EDUCATIONPOLITICS/GOVERNMENTARCHITECTURE
National Register nomination ›
Sources

Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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The Land
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Geology
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Conflict & War
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The Civil War
The Civil War on this ground, 1861 to 1865: who held it, and the battles, camps and regiments nearby.
The Soldiers
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Native Heritage
The Native nations who held this land, mapped across time from before European contact to today.
Settlement
Who claimed and held this ground, from Indigenous homelands through the colonial powers to the United States.
The Community
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Rivers & Rail
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Notable People
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Finds & Access
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Nearby Historic Sites

Clifton
Industrial
0.8 mi
La Fourche
Industrial
1.1 mi
East Belmont
Listed
1.9 mi
Monticello
Industrial
2.1 mi
Limestone
Early Republic
2.9 mi

Questions about this property

When was Edgehill listed on the National Register?

Edgehill was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on September 8, 1982.

What type of historic resource is Edgehill?

Edgehill is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.

What is the period of significance for Edgehill?

The period of significance for Edgehill is recorded as the industrial era.

Can I research the history near Edgehill?

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