POPLAR FOREST

The Bedford County Sheriff’s Office is investigating a burglary at Thomas Jefferson’s Poplar Forest.

Poplar Forest has been preserved to tell Jefferson's history, but now new efforts are being made to tell the stories of enslaved people who helped build it.

FOREST, Va. – Thomas Jefferson’s Poplar Forest, one of Central Virginia’s strongest ties to the founding fathers, welcomed Independence Day visitors in a different way this year because of covid-19. Poplar Forest guests could still tour the Third President’s former home, but tours were limited to ten people at a time. Everyone at Poplar Forest had to wear a mask, and the museum organized several outdoor activities to keep people at a distance. “A couple of weeks ago, we were very worried that we wouldn’t be able to do anything,” Massie said. However, the house did not open to the public until Independence Day 1986.