For the ultimate learning experience, give your students their own private tour. This opportunity is offered exclusively to schools, grades 3-12. This special one hour outdoor walking tour is led by guides with expertise on George Washington, Mount Vernon, 18th-century life, and who specialize in working with students.
During this tour, students will explore how George Washington grew from an ambitious young man to a leader whose contributions still impact our nation today. Our special walking tour takes place around the grounds where students learn how Washington transformed Mount Vernon from a 2,000-acre plantation to an 8,000-acre estate with five farms and a twenty-one room home.
Students will analyze how the transformation of his home reflected the evolution of Washington’s career from a young surveyor, to gentleman farmer, to colonial military leader and, finally, to national statesman and first President. Lastly, the tour will provide a focus on the enslaved community of 316 African Americans who built and maintained Washington’s estate. The tour ends at the line to the Mansion*.
The tour objectives coincide with themes from the National Council of Social Studies including culture; people, places, and environment; individual development and identity; power, authority, and governance; and civic ideals and practices.
For your convenience, these popular walking tours may be scheduled three times daily (based upon availability) for groups of 20 or more: (maximum of 75 per tour time)
Advance reservations are required. Expert Guide service is $5 per person in addition to admission. Please scroll below to the bottom of the page for Policy and Instructions on Guide Service.
*Expert Guide Service does not include a tour of the mansion and does not give your group preferencial line status.
Student Group Guide Service Themes
Landscape Tour
The emphasis of this tour is General Washington’s skill as an amateur landscape architect. General Washington considered not only the mansion, but also its setting. During the years between being a Revolutionary War general and the first constitutionally elected President of the United States, Washington turned his attention to creating the gardens and vista that would enhance his home, and yet have the work buildings ready and convenient to the main house—a vision both beautiful and practical that tells us much about the man.
Slave Life Tour
The focus of this tour is to introduce the guests to the enslaved families at Mount Vernon who wove a community of rich traditions and social and cultural identities despite great odds. They’ll learn about the typical day in the life of a slave, of the skilled workers whose hands formed the rusticated siding on the mansion, and of the field hands and mill workers whose labor made the farms, mill, and distillery economically successful.
They’ll hear the stories of people like Hercules, the Presidential cook, whose life took a dramatic turn after General Washington’s decision not to serve a third term, of Oney Judge who decided that she didn’t want to be a slave when she was informed by Mrs. Washington that she would be given to Mrs. Washington’s grand daughter Eliza as a wedding gift, and of Frank and Lucy for whom freedom brought both joy and pain. Guests will also learn of General Washington’s changing attitude toward the institution of slavery.
Student Walking Tour
Our student walking tour gives a biographical overview of General Washington’s life, accomplishments, and love of Mount Vernon. Students will be invited to consider him not only as a general and President, but also as a surveyor, a farmer, a businessman, a loving husband and stepfather, and as a slaveholder who found his own attitude toward slavery changing as he fought for freedom. A private wreathlaying at Washington’s Tomb is included.
Each of the tours runs between 45 and 60 minutes covering various terrain of the Mount Vernon Estate. Please see the Policy and Instructions for Guide Service document for more information.
