The Gilmore Farm

A 1920s image of the Gilmore Cabin. The yard around the house was commonly used as part of the living space by rural families of the era, and used for such activities as cooking, washing, craft work, carpentry and socializing. Notice the bee hives in the foreground - the Gilmores raised bees for honey, which served as a sweetener, preservative, and a source of revenue. [Courtesy of the Mills Family.]

The Gilmore Cabin in 2005 following reconstruction. When the Montpelier Foundation began stabilization of the structure in 2001, the failure of the cabin's roof was imminent, and the footers had completely failed. Since 2001, the Montpelier Archaeology Department has conducted multiple architectural surveys of the structure and completely restored the interior and exterior.

George Gilmore, a former enslaved African-American at Montpelier, built this home after his emancipation. George and his wife, Polly, leased the land from Dr. James Madison (a great-nephew of President Madison) in the late 1860s. By 1870 the Gilmores had built the cabin, and in 1901 purchased the 16 acres of land on which their home sat. Members of the family lived on the farm until the early 1930s. Descendants of George and Polly Gilmore have been instrumental in helping to understand the home and site. Our interpretive focus at the Gilmore Farm is to understand the transition that the Montpelier enslaved African American community made from bondage to freedom after the Civil War.

In our excavations at the Gilmore Farm, we have focused on two areas: the soils below the cabin, and the yard. The excavations carried out below the cabin floor revealed a dense deposit of small items (such as glass beads, sewing and safety pins, and buttons) that likely fell between the cracks in the floor. Excavation units in the yard allowed us to uncover what appears to be the remains of a Confederate encampment and a small structure in the back yard, which the Gilmore family might have used for their first home prior to constructing their cabin in 1873.

Conjectural layout of the Gilmore's 16-acre farm based on 1937 aerial photographs and subsequent archaeological surveys. The 1889 Agricultural Schedule lists George Gilmore as tilly 12 of his 16 acrews and the remaining four as "unimproved" - likely meaning these four acres were wooded.
[Click picture for larger image.]

Excavations at Gilmore, while not yet completed, have revealed a great deal about the lives of George Gilmore and his family: