Edgehill was the plantation of Martha Jefferson Randolph and Thomas Mann Randolph, and later the chief residence of their eldest son, Thomas Jefferson Randolph. The land was part of a Randolph family inheritance of 2,400 acres near Shadwell belonging to Thomas Mann Randolph's father, Thomas, Sr. When Thomas Jefferson's daughter Martha married Thomas Mann Randolph in 1790, they moved to Edgehill, although the family often stayed at Monticello.
The original house was built around 1799. The family lived there until a second, larger home was built by Thomas Jefferson Randolph in 1828. In 1836, the family opened up a small girls' school known as the Edgehill School, which ran in some form until 1896. In 1916, the original house was gutted by fire, but later rebuilt.[1]
Monticello Guide Alison Kiernan takes a deep dive into the legacy of female education among elite Virginians and shares the story of the school founded and operated by the Jefferson's daughter and granddaughters in the aftermath of his death.
