Thomas Jefferson designed this grand, two-story entryway as a museum, greeting his many visitors with busts, paintings, fossils, maps, and Native American artifacts. 

Audio Overview:

Listen as Monticello guide Ashley Hollinshead provides an introduction to the Entrance Hall.

  • The ceilings in this room are approximately 18 ½ feet high.
  • The elk antlers above the map of Virginia are an original specimen sent to Jefferson by Lewis and Clark from the Mandan Nation, in modern-day North Dakota.
  • American artist Gilbert Stuart suggested that Jefferson have the floor painted “grass green” in his Entrance Hall.
  • Jefferson thought grand staircases were a waste of space. He designed two narrow and steep staircases instead that were placed in the passageways on either side of the house.

Keep Scrolling for more Information about this Room


 

American Indian Art and Artifacts

Jefferson displayed Native American art and artifacts in this room, similar to the pieces hanging on the walls today. During Jefferson’s presidency, he purchased the Louisiana Territory from France, and sent the Corps of Discovery, led by Meriweather Lewis and William Clark, west on a scientific and diplomatic expedition. They traveled from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean and back, assisted along the way by a young Shoshone woman named Sacagawea, who helped translate their meetings with over 40 Native Nations. Their cultural exchanges resulted in Jefferson’s collection of Native American art and artifacts, though the Corps of Discovery’s journey also foreshadowed centuries of westward expansion and Native American displacement. 

The pieces on display are recreations made for the Thomas Jefferson Foundation by artisans of Native Nations like the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Lakota, at United Tribes Technical College in North Dakota.

"His house is filled with paintings and Indian relics, and a view of his rooms affords as much gratification as of a museum."

- Salma Hale, May 16, 1818


Mastodon Bones


Do you like science?  So did Thomas Jefferson! Check out the upper and lower jawbones of a mastodon, a furry prehistoric elephant, in the back corner. As president, Jefferson spent his spare time examining fossils like these and trying to put them back together. Today, we call a scientist who studies fossils a paleontologist.

Fry-Jefferson Map


The map of Virginia, located on the wall with the antlers, was the most accurate map of the colony at the time. Peter Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson’s father, and his partner, Joshua Fry, were land surveyors and mapmakers who worked for the British Crown. They drew this 1751 map that detailed the mountains, river systems, and major cities and counties in Virginia. Thomas Jefferson owned over 300 maps, globes and atlases throughout his life. This print edition is from 1775. 
Video about the Fry-Jefferson Map »


Next Room: FAMILY SITTING ROOM

Walk through the doorway to the left of the fireplace and follow the tour sign.


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