Neoclassical Temple Built by the Enslaved at Montpelier

Members of an archaeological team at James Madison's Orange County plantation, Montpelier, excavate a planting hole near an open, domed, neoclassical temple built by enslaved laborers in 1810 at the direction of the then-president of the United States and his wife, Dolley Madison.  This hole held a pine tree—one of twenty pine trees planted by Madison's enslaved workers as an allée between the front portico of the mansion and the ornamental temple nearby.