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Sir Archie
US 158, Jackson,
NC,
USA
Latitude & Longitude:
36° 24' 5.2884",
-77° 29' 4.6968"
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North Carolina State
Historical Marker |
Marker Text: "Foundation sire of American Thoroughbred race horses, including Timoleon, Boston, Lexington, & Man O'War. Died at Mowfield, one mile north, in 1833." The greatest thoroughbred in North Carolina history was the celebrated Sir Archie, foundation sire of champions Timoleon, Boston, Lexington, and Man O’War. In the era preceding the time when Kentucky became the nation’s center of horse racing and equine culture, North Carolina established a considerable reputation. For several generations Virginia and North Carolina horses dominated tracks throughout the country.
Foaled in Cumberland County, Virginia, Sir Archie (1805-1833) at an early age came to the attention of the nation’s first great trainer, William Ransom Johnson (1782-1849), a native of Warrenton, North Carolina. Johnson bought the horse for $1,500 and described him as “the best horse I have ever seen.” After Sir Archie won races in Richmond and Petersburg, Johnson was hard pressed to find competition. In 1809 William R. Davie of Halifax, Revolutionary War general and founder of the University of North Carolina, purchased Sir Archie for $5,000 and soon thereafter put him out to stud. Sir Archie’s offspring became the next generation of champion thoroughbreds. From 1817 to 1833 he was quartered at Mowfield plantation and is buried on its grounds. In the annals of turf history he has no peer.
In 1974 a State Highway Historical Marker was erected on US 158 one mile south of the Mowfield and west of Jackson in Northampton County. It is the only state marker dedicated to a four-legged mammal.
References:
Elizabeth Amis, Cameron Blanchard, and Manly Wade Wellman, The Life and Times of Sir Archie: The Story of America’s Greatest Thoroughbred, 1805-1833 (1958)
Roger Longrigg, The History of Horse Racing (1972)
http://www.tbheritage.com/Portraits/SirArchy.html
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Sir Archie Historical Marker Location Map, Jackson, North Carolina
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