Monticello

Monticello was the primary plantation of Thomas Jefferson, the third President of the United States, who began designing and building Monticello at age 26 after inheriting land from his father. Located just outside Charlottesville, Virginia, in the Piedmont region, the plantation was originally 5,000 acres (20 km²), with Jefferson using slaves for extensive cultivation of tobacco and mixed crops, later shifting from tobacco cultivation to wheat in response to changing markets.

Jefferson designed the main house at the plantation, also called Monticello, initially using neoclassical design principles described by Italian Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio, subsequently reworking the design through much of his presidency to include design elements popular in late 18th-century Europe and ultimately integrating numerous of his own design solutions. Situated on the summit of an 850-foot (260 m)-high peak in the Southwest Mountains south of the Rivanna Gap, the name Monticello derives from the Italian for "little mountain". Along a prominent lane adjacent to the house, Mulberry Row, the plantation came to include numerous outbuildings for specialized functions, e.g., a nailery; quarters for domestic slaves; gardens for flowers, produce, and Jefferson's experiments in plant breeding — along with tobacco fields and mixed crops. Cabins for field slaves were located farther from the mansion.

Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson (April 13 [O.S. April 2] 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American Founding Father who was principal author of the Declaration of Independence (1776). He was elected the second Vice President of the United States (1797–1801) and the third President (1801–09). Jefferson was a proponent of democracy, republicanism, and individual rights, which motivated American colonists to break from Great Britain and form a new nation. He produced formative documents and decisions at both the state and national level.

Primarily of English ancestry, he was born and educated in Virginia. He graduated from the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg and practiced law. During the American Revolution, he represented Virginia in the Continental Congress that adopted the Declaration, drafted the law for religious freedom as a Virginia legislator, and served as a wartime governor (1779–1781). He became the United States Minister to France in May 1785, and subsequently the nation's first Secretary of State in 1790–1793 under President George Washington. Jefferson and James Madison organized the Democratic-Republican Party to oppose the Federalist Party during the formation of the First Party System. In 1796, he was elected vice president. With Madison, he anonymously wrote the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions in 1798–1799, which sought to embolden states' rights in opposition to the national government by nullifying the Alien and Sedition Acts.

Monticello Dam

Monticello Dam is a 304-foot (93 m) high concrete arch dam in Napa County, California, United States constructed between 1953 and 1957. The dam impounded Putah Creek to create Lake Berryessa in the Vaca Mountains.

Lake Berryessa is currently the seventh largest man-made lake in California. Water from the reservoir primarily supplies agriculture in the Sacramento Valley downstream. The dam is noted for its classic, uncontrolled morning-glory type spillway. The diameter at the lip is 72 ft (22 m). Locally, the spillway is also known as 'The Glory Hole'.

To the south is Putah Creek State Wildlife Area.

Statistics

Although the dam and its 26-mile (42 km) long reservoir are located entirely in eastern Napa County, the dam lies less than 500 ft (150 m) west of the boundary with Yolo County. In addition, parts of the lake's watershed extend into Lake County.

Monticello is a concrete medium thick arch dam 304 ft (93 m) high from the foundations, 1,023 ft (312 m) long and 239 ft (73 m) above the riverbed. The dam is 100 ft (30 m) thick at the base, tapering to 12 ft (3.7 m) at the crest. The total volume of construction materials is 326,000 cubic yards (249,000 m³).