Locating Slavery's Legacies @ University of Virginia

Memorial Place

Space on Campus

Enslaver

Armfield, John

Armfield Bluff; scenic outlook dedicated to John Armfield

A scenic outlook on the South Cumberland Plateau and "Domain" (or property) of the University of the South. University leadership dedicated it in 1859 in the name of John Armfield, a pioneering figure in the global slave trade, for his material and social contributions to the founding of the University of the South. In 1859 the University’s leaders expressed their appreciation for Armfield’s monetary gifts by naming this site in his honor.

Although difficult to find or inconvenient to access today, Armfield Bluff was to have been part of a necklace of scenic spots and outlooks along the “Corso,” a broad carriage road that was to circumnavigate the mountaintop site for about 30 miles. The Corso was laid out in the original 1859 plan of the campus envisioned by engineer Charles Barney and John Henry Hopkins, Episcopal bishop of Vermont, landscape architect, and recognized apologist for slavery. The Corso never materialized, but in the 1970s it served as the outline for the campus Perimeter (hiking) Trail.

Armfield Bluff today is about four miles by foot from the central area of the campus. Overgrown with brush and forest, its prospect blocked by trees, the area is frequented most often by rock climbers and hikers.

Armfield, John

1859

1820-1865: Slavery, Anti-Slavery, and Civil War

University of the South; Sewanee, Tennessee

University of the South; Sewanee, Tennessee

The Cornerstone Gift: John Armfield and the University of the South

Sewanee Trails website

A lecture on John Armfield by historian Joshua Rothman