Charlottesville

The site was patented by William Taylor in 1737. The town was established by law in 1762, and was named for Queen Charlotte, wife of George III. Burgoyne’s army, captured at Saratoga in 1777, was long quartered near here. The legislature was in session here, in June 1781, but retired westward to escape Tarleton’s raid on the town. Jefferson, who lived at Monticello, founded the University of Virginia in 1819.