CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – Contractors working on sidewalk improvements along University Avenue just north of the Rotunda have uncovered a piece of Grounds history. The workers recently uncovered what had been a several-feet tall stone pillar that had once been part of an early 20th-Century wall that ran alongside the road. UVA Today reports this was one of a pair of pillars that flanked an opening in the center of the wall providing a way to the Rotunda.

Traffic improvements made along University Avenue between 1909 and 1913 lowered the wall in places to provide a clearer view of University buildings… and rather than removing this heavy piece of stone, the pillar was laid down on its side and buried. Click here for the UVA Today article with a pic of the pillar.