At the Ford Orientation Center
Pick up an audio guide to learn about the estate's history as you walk the grounds.
Look for the self-guided tour map about the Enslaved People of Mount Vernon at the Guest Services Desk.
The Enslaved People of Mount Vernon Tour
During this 60-minute guided walking tour, learn about the daily lives of the enslaved community who built and operated Mount Vernon.
Offered daily from February – December.
Learn More about the TourThe Kitchen
Explore the interior of George Washington’s 18th-century Mansion and kitchen. A staff of enslaved butlers, housemaids, waiters, and cooks made the Washingtons’ lifestyle possible.
Entry to the Mansion is by guided tour only and requires a Mansion tour ticket.
Learn More about the Mansion TourWreath Laying at the Slave Memorial
Commemorate the enslaved community at Mount Vernon during our special wreath-laying presentations.
Offered daily from February - October.
Learn More about the Wreath LayingStory of an American Icon Exhibit
Visit the Story of an American Icon exhibit in the Museum and learn about the different people who shaped Mount Vernon, including the formerly enslaved individuals who helped preserve and interpret George Washington’s home.
Open daily.
Learn More about the ExhibitDistillery and Gristmill Tour
Tour the Distillery and Gristmill and learn about how enslaved distillers Hanson, Peter, Nat, Daniel, James, and Timothy performed the hot and tiring work of making whiskey.
Offered Saturdays & Sundays, April – October.
Learn More about the TourWalk the Estate Grounds
The locations below were all central to daily operations on the estate. Visit each to learn more.
On the Estate
Slave Cemetery and Memorial
This memorial marks the site where enslaved people were buried in the 18th and 19th centuries, usually without identifying markers.
In 2014, Mount Vernon's archaeologists began a multi-year project to create a map showing where individuals are interred on the ridge just southwest of Washington’s tomb. This work documents the location of each grave, and will not excavate any remains buried in the cemetery.
Kitchen
Tour the kitchen where enslaved cooks such as Doll, Hercules, Lucy, and Nathan, worked from 4:00 in the morning to late in the evening to prepare meals for the Washington Family and their many guests.
Learn about the complex process of 18th-century cooking and the lives of the enslaved individuals who contributed to Mount Vernon’s reputation for hospitality.
Slave Quarters
View the reconstructed Women's and Men's bunkrooms of the Greenhouse Slave Quarters, a space that housed many of the enslaved people who worked on Mansion House Farm.
Reproduction clothing, tools, furniture, cookware, ceramics, toys, and personal accessories help depict enslaved people's living conditions and experiences.
Blacksmith Shop
Visit the reconstructed blacksmith shop located on the site where enslaved blacksmiths Nat and George completed work that was essential to the running of Mount Vernon.
Chat with history interpreters to learn more about the blacksmithing trade and the lives of enslaved craftsmen.
Wash House
In the wash house, Dolsey, Vina, and other enslaved laundresses worked up to six days a week washing and drying clothes for the Washingtons, their guests, and Mount Vernon’s hired white workers.
Coach House and Stables
Learn about how enslaved men and boys, such as Peter Hardiman, were responsible for caring for and breeding Mount Vernon’s 21 horses at the coach house and stables.
The Farm
The Farm offers visitors a chance to learn more about the lives of the enslaved individuals who put Washington’s agrarian ideas into practice.
Observe historic trades interpreters as they demonstrate many of the skills that would have been performed by those assigned work at one of the outlying farms like hoeing fields, harvesting crops, or threshing wheat.
Slave Cabin
The replica cabin allows you to see the living conditions of many of the enslaved families who lived and worked on George Washington’s outlying farms. On each farm, several cabins would be built in a cluster near the overseer’s house.
Mount Vernon: The Making of an American Icon
Visit the Story of an American Icon museum exhibit and learn about the different people who shaped Mount Vernon, including the formerly enslaved individuals who helped the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association preserve and interpret George Washington’s home.
Distillery and Gristmill
Saturdays & Sundays, April – October, tour the Distillery and Gristmill and learn about how enslaved distillers Hanson, Peter, Nat, Daniel, James, and Timothy performed the hot and tiring work of making whiskey.
In addition to being one the largest whiskey distilleries in America in 1799, the distillery and gristmill were the central hub for the enslaved community living and working on George Washington’s Dougue Run farm.
Extend Your Visit Online
Learn more about the lives of those enslaved at Mount Vernon and Washington’s changing views on slavery.
Extend Your Visit Online
Learn more about the lives of those enslaved at Mount Vernon and Washington’s changing views on slavery.
Learn moreLives Bound Together Online
Lives Bound Together: Savery at George Washington's Mount Vernon was an exhibit on display from the fall of 2016 to the summer of 2021.
You can tour the exhibit virtually below.
Lives Bound Together: Slavery at George Washington's Mount Vernon
This exhibit was on display from the fall of 2016 to the summer of 2021. Tour the exhibit virtually below.
Researching Slavery
To piece together the stories of Mount Vernon’s enslaved community, historians studied George Washington's papers, archeological evidence of
combined with archaeology and oral history with descendants, to