Open 365 days a year, Mount Vernon is located just 15 miles south of Washington DC.
From the mansion to lush gardens and grounds, intriguing museum galleries, immersive programs, and the distillery and gristmill. Spend the day with us!
Discover what made Washington "first in war, first in peace and first in the hearts of his countrymen".
The Mount Vernon Ladies Association has been maintaining the Mount Vernon Estate since they acquired it from the Washington family in 1858.
Need primary and secondary sources, videos, or interactives? Explore our Education Pages!
The Washington Library is open to all researchers and scholars, by appointment only.
George Washington loved farming, and would have rather been known as a farmer than as President of the United States. Throughout his life, he was interested in creating new and evolving plans for his farms and gardens. Check out some of his passion projects!
George Washington turned to cash crops for economic gain. Unfortunately, cash crops were dangerous to the grounds and could exhaust the soil. To fix this issue, Washington implemented crop rotations to ensure that the soil never got overused from one specific crop.
The enslaved field workers had long and tiresome days of doing back breaking work in varying weather conditions. See what a typical day looked like for these workers in this timeline.
Washington needed a strategic new way to thresh wheat. After many trials and errors, Washington, his hired help, and his enslaved workers figured out the perfect solution: the 16-sided treading barn.
Many different tools were used to help plant, plow, and nurture the different crops at Mount Vernon. Washington consistently tried to find ways to make farming more efficient and cost-effective.
Washington used a dung repository in order to fertilize his crops with manure.
George Washington was passionate about farming and the science behind it. However, all of the work in the fields and to the grounds was done by the enslaved.
Do you think George Washington was actually a farmer?
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