Ferry Farm

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Ferry Farm, between 1900 and 1920

The Ferry Farm , also known as George Washington parents or Ferry Farm Site is the name of the farm and the house where George Washington spent much of his childhood. In July 2008, archaeologists announced that they had found remains of the parents' home that had been destroyed by fire. These included artifacts such as pieces of a tea set believed to have belonged to Mary Ball Washington , George Washington's mother.

history

The property was in Stafford County , Virginia, on the north bank of the Rappahannock River , across from the city of Fredericksburg . The farm was so named after the Washington family had already left the property. It was named after a ferry that crossed the Rappahannock River on land owned by the Washington family, either owned or operated by the family. It is unclear what the courtyard was called when the Washingtons inhabited it. Sometime in the late 19th century, the farm came to be known as Pine Grove . The farm attracted national interest in 1932 during the Bicentennial Celebration of the Birth of Washington - in the years surrounding this festival, some authors mentioned both the name Ferry Farm and Pine Grove.

George Washington

George was six years old when the family moved to the farm in 1738. His father, Augustine Washington , bought the property to be closer to the ironworks he managed. George Washington inherited the farm after his death and lived in the house until his early twenties, although he often stayed with his older half-brother Lawrence in Mount Vernon . Washington's mother lived in the house until she moved to Fredericksburg in 1772, when the property was sold in 1777.

Ferry Farm is home to some of the best-known stories of George Washington's childhood, especially those brought to the attention of the American public through the tales of Mason Locke Weems in the early 19th century. This includes the anecdote first told in the 1806 edition of Weemss Life of Washington : 6-year-old George felled one of his father Augustine's favorite English cherry trees with a new ax. After his father confronted him about this, the boy shouted, "I cannot lie, Pa, you know I cannot lie, I did it with my ax." Another version says that George was on his horse and the horse "debarked" the tree (accidentally scratched the bark with its hoof) and George took the blame on himself. This is also said to be the place where George Washington "threw a silver dollar over the Rappahannock River". It is possible to have a coin or flat stone "hop" over this point. During this time the river was much wider than it is today, which must have made it much more difficult back then. Every year during the celebration of Washington’s birthday, residents of the city are invited to try to repeat the act. In the summer of 2006, the archeology intern Jim Trueman succeeded for the first time. To prove that this was not a coincidence, he repeated it again in the summer of 2007.

After George Washington

The Ferry Farm was the site of fighting during the American Civil War in 1862. Union soldiers used the house as their headquarters and then demolished it for firewood. There have been several unsuccessful attempts to obtain the property since the 1920s. The first one, led by property owner James Beverly Colbert, failed due to the Great Depression . Over the next ten years, various groups of conservationists tried to make the house a "national sanctuary" "Washington's boyhood home". In the 1960s, the property became a home for boys at risk. This period still shows the most noticeable traces on the property - the large pseudo-Georgian building that was built at that time now houses a museum, offices and an archaeological laboratory, which has been open to visitors since 2006.

In the 1990s, the Stafford County Board of Supervisors set out how to both preserve the site and bring economic benefits to the county. Their investigation ultimately revealed a change in use and a bid from Wal-Mart to buy the property in order to build a large department store there. This plan was rejected by many of Fredericksburg's residents. There was a widespread belief that such a change in this historic site would have a negative impact on the city's important tourism, as well as detrimental to the city's charm and quality of life. The result was a deal in which the historical Kenmoreplantage ( Historic Kenmore ) (the 1770 the home of Washington's sister Betty Washington Lewis and her husband Lewis Fielding was), together with the National Park Service bought and Commonwealth funds the estate. Historic Kenmore became the George Washington's Fredericksburg Foundation and, in 2008, the George Washington Foundation. This foundation looks after the two locations as well as Augustine Washington's ironworks in Accokeek (Potomac) Furnace (1726 ~ 56) in Stafford County, part of the Principio Company.

The Ferry Farm has been listed as a site on the National Register of Historic Places since May 1972 . In February 2000 it was awarded the status of a National Historic Landmark .

Extensive archaeological research began in 2002 under the direction of David Muraca (of the former Colonial Williamsburg Foundation) and Philip Levy of the University of South Florida . The aim of the excavation was to pinpoint the exact location and understanding of the original Washington farm. There is also a long-term goal to reconstruct the farm. Ferry Farm also runs children's programs and other public events.

In 2008 Muraca and Levy announced that one of the three excavation sites was the original house. The main house was approximately 53 by 37 feet. In the 1740s the Ferry Farm consisted of about 600 acres of land and a 1½ story house with about eight rooms, at a time when most families had one or two rooms. It probably had a clapboard facade and wooden roof shingles. It had two chimneys and two stone cellars. The house was the victim of a small fire while George Washington was still alive. It is located in Fredericksburg, off the 237 King's Highway (Virginia Route 3). A building associated with Washington’s surveying work is located on 712 King’s Highway.

Web links

Commons : Ferry Farm  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Remarks

  1. ↑ Ferry Farm Site on the National Register of Historic Places , accessed February 27, 2020.
  2. ↑ Listing of National Historic Landmarks by State: Virginia. National Park Service , accessed February 27, 2020.