Reconstructing the Mulberry Row Paling Fence

This fall, Monticello’s Restoration Department reconstructed a second section of Jefferson’s original ten-foot tall paling fence along Mulberry Row. The first section was reconstructed in 2018 between the Stone Stable and Hemmings Cabin. During Thomas Jefferson’s lifetime, enslaved carpenters constructed two generations of fences along Mulberry Row. It was this second fence, which was started in 1808 and finished by 1809, that we have partially reconstructed.

The 1809 insurance plat showing the paling fence outlined in red. Image courtesy of The Coolidge Collection of Thomas Jefferson Manuscripts at the Massachusetts Historical Society.

Digital rendering of the Monticello mountaintop circa 1815 showing the Paling Fence. Digital image by Rendersphere, LLC.

The primary documentation for the construction of the 1809 paling fence comes from Thomas Jefferson’s September 1808 memo to Elisha Watkins, Monticello’s head plantation carpenter from 1808 until 1810. The memo describes exactly how to construct the fence, who was to work with Watkins, and even specifies the size of the posts, rails, and vertical pales (or pickets) as well as the type of wood to use: chestnut for the pales, heart poplar or pine for the rails, and locust for the posts. Jefferson also commented that the pales should be placed so close together to not “let even a young hare in.”

We also know about this fence from a plat Jefferson in 1809 plat (N-225). The drawing exactingly recorded the Mountaintop’s major landscape features, including the fence’s almost three quarters of a mile run as it enclosed the vegetable garden and South Orchard on the mountain’s southern slope. 

Staff of Black Creek Workshop riving the white oak pales for the Mulberry Row paling fence. Image courtesy of Black Creek Workshop.

The first, and most important step in reconstructing the fence was to locate the Jefferson-era post holes in order to prove that the fence was actually constructed. Jefferson is famous for having produced many drawings and notes for buildings and landscapes features that were never built. Fortunately, post holes corresponding to the 1809 paling fence were found during archaeological excavations in the 1980s. In order to preserve these Jefferson-era holes so they can be studied in the future, the reconstructed paling fence took care to use new holes dug adjacent to the original holes.

Skilled carpenters then used traditional techniques to reconstruct the historically accurate. One of the most visible elements are the hand-riven white oak fence pales. The process of riving involves carefully splitting logs along the wood grain into thinner and thinner pieces using a tool called a froe. These pales are nailed to traditionally split three-sided, horizontal oak rails with rose-headed iron nails.

Because riving requires fresh, or “green,” wood, the entire fence will need to dry for several months before it is coated with a protective finish of log oil. We use log oil on almost all of our reconstructed elements that aren’t painted. By faithfully applying it every year, the fence will survive for many years to come.

The Mulberry Row paling fence under construction by skilled local carpenters, Salvagewrights. Image by Lucy Midelfort.

The end result—almost 280-feet of restored paling fence on the southern end of Mulberry Row—means that Monticello’s plantation “main street” is one step closer to how it looked after Jefferson retired from public life in 1809. The paling fence was a formidable feature in the landscape, built to keep animals and people—both enslaved and free—away from Jefferson’s vegetables and fruits. The presence of the massive fence and its size clearly demonstrates to today’s visitors how valuable, and at times scarce, food was in Jefferson’s time.

The newly reconstructed Mulberry Row paling fence after completion. Image by Lucy Midelfort.

Digital rendering of the three slave dwellings on Mulberry Row (Buildings "r, s, and t") depicting the Paling Fence behind them. Digital image by Rendersphere, LLC.