George Gilmore was born into slavery at Montpelier about 1810 and, like millions of African Americans throughout the South, made the transition to freedom after the Civil War. Many emancipated slaves worked on the same plantation where they had once labored. Gilmore, his wife Polly, and their five children lived in this cabin, built by family members in 1873, and farmed the surrounding fields. In 1901 George Gilmore obtained the deed for 16 acres from Dr. James A. Madison. After Gilmore's death in 1905, the property remained in the family until 1920. Archaeological and architectural investigations led to the restoration of this rare surviving freed family's cabin.