George Washington's Mount Vernon

George Washington's Mount Vernon Mount Vernon is the historic home of America's first president, George Washington. president, his family, and the enslaved people who lived and worked here.
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Visit George Washington’s Virginia estate to learn about the daily lives of the first U.S. Wander the gardens, meet farm animals, and pay your respects at George Washington's tomb and at the Slave Memorial and Cemetery. Mount Vernon is open 365 days per year. Between visits, make sure to follow us for daily posts about the founding era and what life was like in the 1700s.

George Washington selected this striking green paint for his dining room, a fashionable shade for the period.The paint w...
11/23/2024

George Washington selected this striking green paint for his dining room, a fashionable shade for the period.

The paint was made from verdigris, the corrosion product of copper. It was incredibly expensive in the 18th century. This paint required regular maintenance because it continued to oxidize and eventually turned black.

Learn more about the dining room: https://bit.ly/4eVbRZW

11/21/2024

Bring your lunch and learn more about George Washington's world, the Washington Presidential Library’s important map collection, and the American Revolutionary Geographies Online (ARGO) web portal in our ARGO Brown Bag lunch series.

In honor of the recent discovery in George Washington’s cellar of over 30 bottles of remarkably intact fruit—including c...
11/20/2024

In honor of the recent discovery in George Washington’s cellar of over 30 bottles of remarkably intact fruit—including cherries—we are sharing a historic cherry pie recipe. This delicious pie is like one that the Washingtons might have enjoyed.

Because we consider you part of our Mount Vernon family, we would love to be a part of your baking traditions, too. Please submit your own favorite cherry pie recipe using this form: https://bit.ly/40NhbLe

George Washington paid close attention to the appearance of enslaved house servants, including their skin color. Like ma...
11/19/2024

George Washington paid close attention to the appearance of enslaved house servants, including their skin color. Like many slaveowners, Washington considered enslaved people with lighter skin as more desirable for household work, where they were highly visible.

About 6% of Mount Vernon’s enslaved population were described as “mulatto,” the 18th-century term for mixed race. They included butler Frank Lee, valet William Lee, waiters Austin and Christopher Sheels, lady’s maid Ona Judge, and overseer Davy Gray.

Learn more: https://bit.ly/3zMPS8S

(Image Credits)⁣⁣
"George Washington and Family" by Thomas Prichard Rossiter, c.1858-1860.⁣

in 1751, a young George Washington contracted smallpox while in Barbados with his half-brother Lawrence Washington.Was...
11/17/2024

in 1751, a young George Washington contracted smallpox while in Barbados with his half-brother Lawrence Washington.

Washington was only nineteen years old at the time and the illness, which lasted nearly a month, left him only with slight scarring. The brush with smallpox, however, did provide Washington with immunity from further attacks of the disease, the benefits of which would not become apparent until many years later.

Learn more about Washington's experiences with smallpox: https://bit.ly/3zMNi2G

(Image Credit)
"Washington as a Young Surveyor." Oil on panel, 19th century, artist unknown. Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Daniel H. Sheppard, 2006. (MVLA)

During the ongoing Mansion Revitalization Project, significant work has been undertaken to remove masonry outside of the...
11/16/2024

During the ongoing Mansion Revitalization Project, significant work has been undertaken to remove masonry outside of the New Room and on the piazza.

Dominion Traditional Building Group masons carefully removed the stoop near the west door of the New Room and the paving on the piazza floor to provide access to critical framing elements that required repair.

The stones that were removed are not original to the 18th century; in fact, multiple generations of piazza pavers have been used over the years, and numerous repairs have been made to the stoop, reflecting the evolving preservation efforts at Mount Vernon.

Learn more about this part of the Mansion Revitalization Project: https://bit.ly/3BCZHXh

On November 7 and 8, a team of archeologists from George Washington's Mount Vernon visited George Washington Birthplace ...
11/14/2024

On November 7 and 8, a team of archeologists from George Washington's Mount Vernon visited George Washington Birthplace National Monument to conduct a Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) study in the Memorial Area.

We are excited to have an opportunity to collaborate with another amazing Washington site and further our understanding of the landscape here. Thank you, Mount Vernon!

George Washington had a “ha-ha,” or walled ditch, installed just below the crest of the hill, out of sight from the piaz...
11/14/2024

George Washington had a “ha-ha,” or walled ditch, installed just below the crest of the hill, out of sight from the piazza.

While keeping livestock out, the ha-ha fostered the illusion that the manicured lawn continued toward the river. Down the slope, a cluster of neatly trimmed trees were maintained and never allowed to grow high enough to obscure the view of the Potomac.

11/13/2024

Hear from historians David Head and Timothy C. Hemmis, editors of A Republic of Scoundrels: The Schemers, Intriguers, and Adventurers Who Created a New American Nation. The Founding Fathers are often revered as American saints. This new book provides interesting stories of those Founders who were schemers and scoundrels, vying for their own interests ahead of the nation’s.

Christopher Sheels was born enslaved in 1776 at Mount Vernon. In 1789, at the age of thirteen, he was among the eight en...
11/12/2024

Christopher Sheels was born enslaved in 1776 at Mount Vernon. In 1789, at the age of thirteen, he was among the eight enslaved people taken from Mount Vernon to serve in George Washington’s presidential household in New York.

Sheels was sent back to Mount Vernon in 1791, where he began working as a carpenter and later as Washington's valet. In 1799, he married a young enslaved woman owned by a neighboring plantation. The two tried to run away together, but their plan was foiled.

Learn more about Christopher Sheels: https://bit.ly/4eOYue5

(Image Credit)
Conjectural image of Christopher Sheels, valet, digitally imposed in George Washington's study.⁣

When George Washington changed his cash crop from to***co to wheat, he was faced with the challenge of how to separate t...
11/03/2024

When George Washington changed his cash crop from to***co to wheat, he was faced with the challenge of how to separate the wheat berry from the top of the wheat stalk.⁣
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In a method called treading, animals walked over the sheaves of wheat, and the impact of their hooves separated the grain from the straw. Treading was often performed outdoors, which exposed the wheat to the elements and resulted in a portion of the grain being ruined or lost.
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Washington brought treading indoors at Mount Vernon by inventing a 16-sided treading barn. This two-story structure was constructed by hired carpenter Thomas Green and the enslaved carpenters he supervised. The top level has gapped floorboards on which the horses tread grain. The horses’ hooves knock 90% of the seed from the top of the stalk and down through the floorboards to the clean wooden granary floor below.⁣

Learn more about Washington's invention: https://bit.ly/4hxxrWz

As the Mansion Revitalization project continues, the New Room is now back on display. The Servants’ Hall and Kitchen are...
11/02/2024

As the Mansion Revitalization project continues, the New Room is now back on display. The Servants’ Hall and Kitchen are also open.

The rest of the Mansion is now off-view, but there are still many things to see around the estate, such as the blacksmith shop, spinning house, and other outbuildings; farm animals, including sheep and oxen; and George Washington’s Tomb. The Enslaved People of Mount Vernon tour is free, and other specialty tours are half-price ($5 instead of $10).

Learn more about the work being done on the Mansion: https://bit.ly/466o62L

Joseph Brant, or Thayendanegea, was a Mohawk warrior, tribal leader, and diplomat. His most notable alliance was with th...
11/01/2024

Joseph Brant, or Thayendanegea, was a Mohawk warrior, tribal leader, and diplomat. His most notable alliance was with the British during the American Revolution.
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As president, George Washington recognized Brant’s influence in the Six Nations Confederacy and sought to include him in post-revolutionary negotiations between the United States and Brant’s fellow Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) leaders. ⁣
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Learn more about Brant as part of : https://bit.ly/3MJSSW8

(Image Credits)
"Thayendanegea (Joseph Brant)" by Unidentified Artist, early 19th century. Courtesy of the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery USA.

10/31/2024

Bring your lunch and join Amanda Isaac, Associate Curator, and Kathrin Breitt Brown, Historic Costumer, in a discussion of how the study and reproduction of garments in the Mount Vernon collection informs what we know about the wearers and makers. In studying several Martha Washington gowns, bodices, and remnants of bodices, they have been able to draw conclusions about Martha Washington’s physicality.

from Mount Vernon! 🎃 👻
10/31/2024

from Mount Vernon! 🎃 👻

In 1929, the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association placed a commemorative marker noting the site of a 200-year-old slave ceme...
10/30/2024

In 1929, the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association placed a commemorative marker noting the site of a 200-year-old slave cemetery. We believe this marker to be the earliest of its kind on a historic plantation. Despite this official recognition, the burial ground lay unattended in dense underbrush for years.

By 1983, the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association dedicated a new memorial designed by students at Howard University's architecture school.

Learn more about the slave memorial: https://bit.ly/3zpZ4zA

Address

3200 Mount Vernon Memorial Highway
Mount Vernon, VA
22121

Telephone

+17037802000

Website

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Videos

Watch one way that fried catfish and sweet hoecakes were made in the 18th century. This video shows costumed 3rd person historic trades interpreters cooking.

Learn about the Old Chamber.

Brown Bag Lunch: The Atlantic Neptune and the Northern Survey
Brown Bag Lunch: The Atlantic Neptune and the Northern Survey

Bring your lunch and learn more about George Washington's world, the Washington Presidential Library’s important map collection, and the American Revolutionary Geographies Online (ARGO) web portal in our ARGO Brown Bag lunch series.

Learn about George and Martha Washington's presidential china.

#OnThisDay in 1775, the U.S. Marine Corps was formed. 🇺🇸 🫡 @Donald Francisco

Watch artist Lauren Muney create a freehand-scissor silhouette. Muney has been cutting silhouettes professionally for 15 years and is self-taught in this skill. Silhouettes By Hand

Watch gilding conservator, R. Wayne Reynolds, conserve the gold leaf on the mirrors and brackets from the New Room.

Ford Evening Book Talk: A Republic of Scoundrels
Ford Evening Book Talk: A Republic of Scoundrels

Hear from historians David Head and Timothy C. Hemmis, editors of A Republic of Scoundrels: The Schemers, Intriguers, and Adventurers Who Created a New American Nation. The Founding Fathers are often revered as American saints. This new book provides interesting stories of those Founders who were schemers and scoundrels, vying for their own interests ahead of the nation’s.

Happy #NationalCatDay, starring Johnny the Cat! 🐈 😻⁣⁣ Meet some of the cats who live around Mount Vernon.

Take a Tractor Trail Ride at Mount Vernon. 🚜 Reserve your spot in advance, as a limited number of spaces are available for this free tour: https://bit.ly/4dXtuHR

Brown Bag Lunch: The Study and Reproduction of 18th-Century Garments
Brown Bag Lunch: The Study and Reproduction of 18th-Century Garments

Bring your lunch and join Amanda Isaac, Associate Curator, and Kathrin Breitt Brown, Historic Costumer, in a discussion of how the study and reproduction of garments in the Mount Vernon collection informs what we know about the wearers and makers. In studying several Martha Washington gowns, bodices, and remnants of bodices, they have been able to draw conclusions about Martha Washington’s physicality.

Watch one way that ale bread was made in the 18th century. 🍞

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