George Washington's Boyhood Home Found

Portrait of George Washington by artist Gilbert Stuart, oil on canvas, Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, Williamstown. Image from Wikipedia.

George Washington (1732-1799) was the first President of the United States, in office from 1789 to 1797.

After years of searching, archaeologists have identified and excavated the boyhood home of George Washington, the site of such legendary events as chopping down the cherry tree and throwing a silver dollar across the Rappahannock River.

The find indicates that the Washington family lived in a spacious eight-room home, a sign the family was well-off for its day, and provides new information about his childhood--a period that has remained largely obscured in the mists of history.

"We all know that much of our character is formed in our early years, so to be able to have access to the very specific place and the material conditions of what life was like will help us sort out who this man Washington was," said archaeologist Julia King of St. Mary's College of Maryland, who was not involved in the research.

The house is in Stafford County, Va., on a property now known as Ferry Farm, on the banks of the Rappahannock across from Fredericksburg and about 80 km south of Washington, D.C.

Researchers uncovered the remains of two chimney bases, two stone-lined cellars and two root cellars, along with thousands of artifacts that convinced them this was the Washington homestead. The size, characteristics and location of the structure were the deciding factors: "This is it--this is the site of the house where George Washington grew up," archaeologist David Muraca of the George Washington Foundation said in a news conference yesterday.

"If George Washington did, indeed, chop down a cherry tree, as generations of Americans have believed, this is where it happened," added archaeologist Philip Levy of the University of South Florida, co-leader of the excavation.

George's father, Augustine, bought the 240-hectare parcel and moved his family there in 1738 so that he could be closer to the Accokeek Creek Iron Furnace, which he managed. George inherited the farm at age 11 when his father died in 1743 and eventually sold it after he moved to Mount Vernon in Virginia.

Originally known as the Washington Farm, it became known as the Ferry Farm because of the ferry at the site that carried travellers across the Rappahannock.

During the U.S. Civil War, Union troops camped at the site, initially using the ruined farmhouse as their headquarters, then demolishing it for firewood. Over the years, development has encroached, and now about 46 hectares are preserved as a National Historic Landmark.

The research team initially identified five sites on the property that might be the Washington house. The first two they excavated proved to be an earlier farmhouse built on the site and a 19th century house. The third one was the charm.

The house apparently had eight rooms--five on the full first floor and three more under the roof in the attic. The upper rooms, which most likely served as bedrooms, were unheated.

A kitchen and slave quarters were in detached buildings in the rear.

"This was a very elaborate house for this time and place," said architectural historian Mark Wenger of the architectural firm Mesick Cohen Wilson Baker. "You get this only at the very top echeolon of Virginia society."

» Source: Los Angeles Times