Facts about Mount Vernon

On March 30, 2007, Washington’s Mount Vernon estate officially opened a reconstruction of Washington’s distillery.

Lawrence Washington returned from the war in late 1742, burying his father in April 1743, married into the Fairfax family and took up residence at his "Mount Vernon" in July 1743.

When Washington died in December 1799, 316 slaves were living at Mount Vernon, of whom approximately 42 percent were too young or too old to work, but were provided for by the estate.

Upon Anne Fairfax Washington Lee's death in 1761, Washington legally inherited the Mount Vernon estate, where he labored to become a prominent agriculturist.

Before moving to Mount Vernon on a permanent basis in 1754, he inherited eight more slaves, purchasing a like number soon after.

Upon Lawrence's untimely death in July 1752, George Washington, age 20, was already living at Mount Vernon and probably managing the plantation.

Built of wood in a neoclassical Georgian architectural style, the estate is located near Mount Vernon, Virginia in Fairfax County, on the banks of the Potomac River.

The Ford Orientation Center introduces visitors to George Washington and Mount Vernon with displays and a film.

Mount Vernon was designated a National Historic Landmark on December 19, 1960, and later administratively listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The early history of the land on which Mount Vernon is situated is separate from that of the home, which was not erected until 1741-1742 and occupied for the first time in 1743.

Mount Vernon, Virginia, was the plantation home of the first president of the United States, George Washington.

When Washington married Martha Custis in 1759, she brought 11 slaves to Mount Vernon.

At Mount Vernon, slaves lived and worked on the five farms which made up Washington’s plantation and at the grist mill, located three miles from the mansion.

Upon the death of Anne and Lawrence's only surviving child in 1754, George, as executor of his brother's estate, arranged to lease Mount Vernon that December from Fairfax.

In 1674 John Washington and Nicholas Spencer came into possession of the land from which Mount Vernon plantation would be carved.

Following his service in the war, Washington returned to Mount Vernon and in 1785-1786 spent a great deal of effort in improving the landscaping of the estate.

Mount Vernon is one of the most visited colonial sites in America and remains a valuable historical testimony to America's first president and the lifestyle of his times, both good and bad.

There have been several architectural digs at Mount Vernon, with special significance given to the porters’ lodges measuring 12 by 14 feet that were discovered.