The Gilmore Cabin at James Madison’s Montpelier

The Gilmore Cabin at Montpelier

NPS Photo

Quick Facts

Location:

11350 Constitution Highway; Montpelier Station, VA 22957

Significance:

The home of George Gilmore - a freedman who was once enslaved on the land he eventually owned at Montpelier.

Designation:

The Gilmore Cabin at James Madison's Montpelier is a part of the Reconstruction Era National Historic Network

MANAGED BY:

James Madison's Montpelier

Initially built and owned by a formerly enslaved man, George Gilmore, the cabin is representative of not just the Gilmore family’s early years of freedom, but countless other newly freed African Americans in the Piedmont region of Virginia during Reconstruction. George Gilmore was born enslaved at Montpelier around 1810 according to census records. After emancipation, Gilmore stayed at Montpelier, and is listed in census records worked as a saddle maker and as a tenant farmer. In 1873 the Gilmores built this 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, and after an ownership change, the property would eventually become abandoned in the 1960s. Rebecca Gilmore Coleman, the great-great granddaughter of the builders, informed Montpelier staff of its existence in 2000 and collaborated with staff in its restoration. From 2000-2002, the Montpelier Foundation stabilized the Gilmore Cabin and conducted initial documentary, archaeological, and architectural studies of the property. As a site built during Reconstruction, Gilmore Cabin serves to teach the public about the legacies of slavery in America including political status, land ownership, and economic production. 

The Gilmore Cabin at James Madison's Montpelier is a part of the Reconstruction Era National Historic Network.