More than 1,700 texts written by or to Thomas Jefferson are available on this website, including correspondence, books, addresses, and public papers. While most texts are presented in transcribed, word-searchable format, 18 appear as color images of original manuscripts.

The site also includes a biography of Jefferson written in 1834, eight years after his death. The Jeffersonian Cyclopedia, published in 1900, organizes more than 9,000 quotes according to theme and other categories. A collection of 2,700 excerpts from Jefferson's writings present his political philosophy. A wealth of searchable bibliographic listings is provided, including two previously published volumes and thousands of additional bibliographic references.

Also available are a recent dissertation on the construction of the Jefferson-designed University of Virginia (UVA), listings from the Oxford English Dictionary that show Jefferson's influence on English-language usage, and four links to UVA exhibitions on Jefferson.

By the time Thomas Jefferson became the third President of the United States in 1801, interest in exploring the West had begun to shape U.S. policy. This chronological narrative traces Jefferson's life, participation in politics, and accumulation of scientific geographical knowledge from 1735 to 1804. There are four main sections: "The Jeffersons and Their Frontier Virginia Neighborhood," "From Colony to Commonwealth," "Science and Statecraft at Home and Abroad," and "Public Servant to the Early Republic."

This narrative is accompanied by an archive of 169 letters, statues, books, treaties, maps, and journals providing primary source insight into Jefferson's thoughts about the West and the Lewis and Clark expedition in particular. Three interactive maps from the 1700s, overlaid with historical data about cities, private dwellings, natural features, courthouses, and waterways, provide important insight into the geographic and social environment at the time.