The South Grove Midden is located just south of the Mansion and Kitchen.

Archaeologists recovered over 100,000 objects from the South Grove.

In 1948, while planting a large holly tree in the South Grove, the grounds crew found over 35 individual wine bottles, in addition to numerous other items from the 18th-century.  These artifacts, found just 80-feet south of the Mount Vernon Mansion, were suggestive of trash deposits, or a midden, formed through the disposal of Kitchen and Mansion refuse during George Washington’s lifetime. Given the practice of discarding debris near where it was created, the portion of the South Grove south of the Mansion Kitchen is a likely spot to find domestic trash associated with the entire Washington household – family, visitors, tradesmen, servants, and slaves.

In 1990, a large, oval-shaped trash-filled feature was revealed located only yards from the “holly hole,” where the grounds crew located the artifacts in 1948.

A variety of artifacts, including ceramics, were found in the trash.

Mount Vernon archaeologists realized they had discovered another pile of trash, that could provide details about the lives of the Washington households. The feature that the archaeologists uncovered was a large depression filled with layers of trash and soil approximately 30 feet in diameter and in excess of one and one-half feet thick at its center.  The midden seems to have formed in a natural depression and contained more than 50 separate episodes of throwing away garbage. This feature is known as the South Grove Midden.

The artifacts from the midden help illustrate daily life for young George and Martha Washington.

Over five years the Mount Vernon Archaeology Department conducted an intensive excavation to explore this artifact-rich area. Over 75,000 items were unearthed, including ceramics, glass, toys, tobacco pipes, wig curlers, scissors, oyster shells, animal bones, and crab claws, discarded between 1735 and 1765. These artifacts provide valuable information about George Washington and his family and friends during these years and support the historical documents that detail how the South Grove was transformed from an area where trash was deposited into a pleasure grove during Washington’s life.

Read an article about the South Grove published in 2006.