George Washington's Distillery and Gristmill in 1799

From 1770 to 1799, George Washington employed several millers who lived in Miller's Cottage, beside a gristmill built in 1770-1771 with two sets of millstones and an interior waterwheel. In 1791, Washington installed Oliver Evans's patented automated milling system in the mill. A cooperage dating to about 1770-1771 produced barrels for flour and later for whiskey. Washington expanded the site in 1797-1798 with a large whiskey distillery containing five stills, and in 1798 added a malt house where barley was malted for whiskey and hog and cattle sheds where distillery slops were used as feed. A wharf built in 1770-1771 shipped flour from the gristmill and whiskey from the distillery by vessel to nearby Alexandria, Virginia and beyond.

Mount Vernon, Virginia · United States