Commerce and Transportation

In Washington's time, rivers functioned like highways, and access to the water connected Mount Vernon to the outside world through daily riverfront activity that included shipping and receiving tobacco, fish, flour, and cornmeal as well as leisure travel. George Washington believed the future of the United States depended on successful westward expansion, which required making the Potomac River an easily navigable center of commerce. On March 28, 1785, representatives from Virginia and Maryland met to discuss navigational rights on the Potomac River at what became known as the Mount Vernon Conference. The delegates produced the 13-point Mount Vernon Compact, setting a precedent for interstate cooperation on navigation, toll duties, commerce regulations, debt collection, and fishing rights. The success of that conference led to another convention on interstate commerce the following year in Annapolis, Maryland, and the series of meetings and conventions that began at Mount Vernon ultimately led to a larger gathering of representatives from all states and the creation of the United States Constitution during the summer of 1787. A 15-foot fully rigged ship, the Federalist, arrived at Mount Vernon on June 9, 1788, as a gift from Baltimore merchants honoring Washington's service during the Revolution and celebrating Maryland's ratification of the Constitution. On July 24, a hurricane brought one of the highest tides seen on the river, tore the Federalist from her moorings, and sank her, and the vessel has never been found. In 1987, Maryland built a full-scale replica of the original Federalist to celebrate the bicentennial of the U.S. Constitution. Washington's vision for the country's growth also relied heavily on westward travel and water navigation, but use of the Potomac was hindered by Great Falls, where the river drops almost 80 feet in less than a mile. In 1785, Virginia and Maryland formed the Patowmack Company to improve navigation on the river and find a way around Great Falls. Washington served as its first president and oversaw construction of a series of canals and locks known as the Patowmack Canal, which carried barges around the falls. Although the project fell short of Washington's hopes, it did for a time increase trade both east and west.

Fort Hunt, Virginia · United States