Elk Hill, also known as Harrison's Elk Hill, is a historic plantation home located near Goochland,

Goochland County, Virginia Goochland County is a county located in the Piedmont of the Commonwealth of Virginia. Its southern border is formed by the James River. As of the 2020 census, the population was 24,727. Its county seat is Goochland. Goochland County is inclu ...

. It was built between 1835 and 1839, and is a -story, three-bay,

stucco Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and ...

ed brick central-hall-plan house in the

Greek Revival Greek Revival architecture is a architectural style, style that began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe, the United States, and Canada, ...

style. It has a two-story rear ell. The front facade features a one-story

Tuscan order The Tuscan order (Latin ''Ordo Tuscanicus'' or ''Ordo Tuscanus'', with the meaning of Etruscan order) is one of the two classical orders developed by the Romans, the other being the composite order. It is influenced by the Doric order, but wit ...

portico A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cu ...

consisting of paired rectangular wooden pillars supporting a full entablature. Also on the property are the contributing servants' quarters (some former slave quarters), tack house, and

spring house A spring house, or springhouse, is a small building, usually of a single room, constructed over a spring. While the original purpose of a springhouse was to keep the spring water clean by excluding fallen leaves, animals, etc., the enclosing str ...

. an
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/ref> It was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1979.

Elk Hill Farm

The Elk Hill children and family services organization was founded in 1970 when the Scott family decided to provide a steady, stable home for young men at the former Elk Hill plantation site. It was the first of six locations established in Virginia since 1970. Today the property is used by a residential program for young men, called Elk Hill Farm. The house retains the original plan and the school farms the land.

Geography

The 35-acre Elk Hill property is located East of Elk Island and .8 miles east of

James River The James River is a river in Virginia that begins in the Appalachian Mountains and flows from the confluence of the Cowpasture and Jackson Rivers in Botetourt County U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowli ...

and 1700 feet south of State Route 608. It is about 1.3 miles southwest of thee intersection of State Routes 608 and 6 and about 2.1 miles southwest of George's Tavern, a crossroads settlement named for the former tavern and inn established for travelers. It is much smaller than the original Elk Hill plantation. Now, the land includes most of the hill that the house sits on. It is bounded by the contours of the hill on the north and south side of the property, partially by a drive on the east side, and the

Chesapeake and Ohio Railway The Chesapeake and Ohio Railway was a Class I railroad formed in 1869 in Virginia from several smaller Virginia railroads begun in the 19th century. Led by industrialist Collis Potter Huntington, it reached from Virginia's capital city of Rich ...

tracks on the western border of the property. It has a clear view of the James River.

History

Elk Hill was a plantation located at the mouth of Byrd Creek and near Elk Island. John Woodson acquired a land patent in 1714 for property that included Elk Hill. It was purchased in 1746 by

John Wayles John Wayles (January 31, 1715 – May 28, 1773) was a colonial American planter, slave trader and lawyer in colonial Virginia. He is historically best known as the father-in-law of Thomas Jefferson, the third president of the United States. ...

, the father of

Martha Wayles Skelton Jefferson Martha Skelton Jefferson ( ''née'' Wayles; October 30, 1748 – September 6, 1782) was the wife of Thomas Jefferson from 1772 until her death. She served as First Lady of Virginia during Jefferson's term as governor from 1779 to 1781. She died ...

. His daughter and her first husband, Bathurst Skelton, lived at Elk Hill during the two-year marriage that began in November 1766 and ended with his death in 1768. Three hundred acres of Elk Hill was a component of the dowry for the marriage between Martha and

Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (, 1743July 4, 1826) was an American Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was the primary author of the United States Declaration of Indepe ...

. The couple attained additional property following Wayles’ death in May 1773. Jefferson purchased additional adjacent property by May 1783. In 1799, Jefferson sold Elk Hill with 669 acres to Thomas Augustus Taylor of Chesterfield County. After a number of sales, Elk Hill was sold in 1832 With to Randolph Harrison for his son Randolph Harrison Jr. Randolph Harrison was a relative of Thomas Jefferson. Randolph Harrison Jr. who made a fortune on the tobacco trade, spent $15,000 to build the house. The Elk Hill house was situated on a hill overlooking James River and near the confluence with Byrd Creek. It was likely a frame house. Later owner, Henningham Carrington Harrison operated a mill on Byrd Creek at Elk Hill about 1850. It was the largest of 20 mills in Goochland. Harrison operated both a grain mill and sawmill. The plantation conveyed their products to Richmond via canal boats and, beginning in the late 19th century, via railroad trains. Elk Hill was one of the railroad stops. In 1902, the property was purchased by Thomas Dudley Stokes. In 1908, the Stokes' secured and installed the Pocahontas Bell on the grounds. S. Buford Scott became the owner of Elk Hill in 1943. A stockbroker from Richmond, Scott used Elk Hill as a country home.

Revolutionary War

During the Revolutionary War, Elkhill was occupied by

Lord Cornwallis Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis (31 December 1738 – 5 October 1805) was a British Army officer, Whigs (British political party), Whig politician and colonial administrator. In the United States and United Kingdom, he is best kn ...

and his men for ten days, during which they used the plantation as a temporary base of operations. During their stay they destroyed many of the crops on the plantation and slaughtered livestock for provisions. The plantation was also looted with 27 slaves taken as prisoners of war, 24 of which died of disease. Jefferson visited the site not long after Cornwallis left, and later recorded what he had seen in a letter to William Gordon in Paris.

Civil War

Elk Hill was plundered during the Civil War. Food and furnishings were removed from the house and some furnishings were destroyed.

Economic transition

Farmland has been sold and repurposed for commercial and residential development.

Notes

References

External links

* * {{National Register of Historic Places in Virginia Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Virginia Greek Revival houses in Virginia Houses completed in 1839 Houses in Goochland County, Virginia National Register of Historic Places in Goochland County, Virginia