Teaching for Historic Places Lesson Plan

An Antebellum Plantation in Virginia

Everyday Life and the Built Environment
at the Sweet Briar Plantation

Locating the Site

Figure 6: Map 1. Amherst, Virginia and the Sweet Briar Plantation [ Print Figure ]Map of Amherst, Virginia
  • Why is Amherst located near the railroad tracks?
  • What feature is represented by the blue blobs? The blue lines leading into them?
  • What is another name for "Route 29" on the map?
Figure 7: Map 2. Sweet Briar Plantation Landscape [ Print Figure ]
Topographic Map of Sweet Briar Plantation 1. Sweet Briar House.
2. Slave Cabin (there is no dot, but it lies north of #3).
3. Garden Cottage, c. mid-19th century. Sidney Fletcher used it as a farm office.
4. Main College Campus (Ralph Cram Buildings, designed in the 1900s).
5. Fletcher Family Cemetery (used by the plantation owners). Here it is labeled "Williams Cem." (after Indiana's married name).
6. Slave Cemetery (used by the enslaved African Americans).
7. Route 29 (the main highway access)
  • What does the green represent on this map? The white?
  • Can you find the lakes from Map 1 on this version of a map?
  • What does the abbreviation "cem" stand for? Can you find it on the map?

Figures