Chemical Lab made by Thomas Jefferson unearthed in University of Virginia

A worker renovating the Rotunda at the University of Virginia made an unexpected discovery when he crawled through a hole in the wall: part of a chemistry lab partly designed by Thomas Jefferson almost 200 years ago, the Charlottesville Newsplex reports. “We therefore prepare the rooms under the oval rooms of the ground floor of the rotunda for furnaces, stoves etc. These rooms are of 1,000 square feet area each”.

In addition, University of Virginia senior historic preservation planner Brian Hogg, notes, “This may be the oldest intact example of early chemical education in this country”.

The school thinks that the chemical hearth may have been seal at the back of the wall when the chemistry laboratory was to Rotunda’s annex prior to the 1895 fire.

Emmet began teaching at the university in 1825 and used a small room on the north side of the building as his first lab. But the room was too hot, he complained. The heat exchange device was operated simply by turning a knob on the device. Emmet died relatively young in 1842 at age 47. For more on the discovery of Jefferson’s chem lab, see the video accompanying this article.

“The original arch above the opening will have to be reconstructed, but we hope to present the remainder of the hearth as essentially unrestored, preserving its evidence of use”, Hogg said.

The hearth for the chemistry lab provided heat through two fireboxes, one for burning coal and one for burning wood.

The hearth will be part of a permanent display once the two years of renovations are completed next spring. Brick funnels beneath the building directed fresh air to fireboxes and workstations, whilst duets expelled smoke and fumes.

Jefferson, the university’s founder, agreed to the lab because professor John Emmet said the students needed to do their own experiments, not just watch him, the Dispatch Tribunal reported.

“Back then, the different experiments would get different levels of heat from different sources”, explained Jody Lahendro, a historic preservation architect supervising the renovation work.