Washington's Boyhood Home

George Washington spent his boyhood at his family home on the broad upland terrace across the river, moving there in 1738 at age six. His father, Augustine Washington, owned several plantations and part of an iron foundry on Accokeek Creek. After Augustine died in 1743, Mary Ball Washington was widowed and never remarried. In 1754 Washington moved to Mount Vernon, which he inherited from his brother, while his mother remained in Fredericksburg. From this early beginning, he taught himself land surveying, secured his first public office at age 17 as surveyor of Culpeper County, later fought a revolution and helped found a nation, and finally returned to Mount Vernon to resume life as a gentleman farmer. By 1855 the farm buildings had disappeared, but local memory of their native son endured, and the farm had come to be known as Ferry Farm.

Fredericksburg, Virginia · United States