Pantops Mountain is a mountain in Albemarle County, Virginia, directly east of

Charlottesville Charlottesville, colloquially known as C'ville, is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is the county seat of Albemarle County, which surrounds the city, though the two are separate legal entities. It is named after Queen Ch ...

across the

Rivanna River The Rivanna River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed April 1, 2011 tributary of the James River in central Virginia in the United States. The Rivanna's tributaries or ...

. and north of U.S. Route 250. In 1777,

Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was previously the natio ...

purchased some of the land for use as a farm. According to Edward C. Mead, "Pantops--formerly written 'Pant-Ops'--was therefore, so named by Mr. Jefferson from two Greek words...meaning 'all-seeing,' significant of the extended view from its summit."

References

Landforms of Albemarle County, Virginia Mountains of Virginia {{AlbemarleCountyVA-geo-stub