Germantown White House

President George Washington twice lived in the Deshler-Morris House in Germantown. He first came there seeking refuge from the yellow fever epidemic of 1793, when the rural village's pure and healthy air, six miles from Philadelphia, was safe from the disease. More than 4,000 Philadelphians died as the disease ravaged the national capital, and thousands of residents left the city for the comparatively disease-free countryside. The following summer Washington returned with his family, who had then joined him in Philadelphia, and the house became the first of many summer presidential retreats. There the elder Washingtons relaxed with their grandchildren, Eleanor Parke Custis and George Washington Parke Custis, and enjoyed family life, while enslaved Africans from Mt. Vernon, along with paid and indentured staff, served the household. Washington also met with his cabinet there in November 1793 to resolve domestic and foreign crises that threatened the new nation.

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania · United States