George Washington's Boyhood Homes

LITTLE HUNTING CREEK

George Washington lived in three homes during his childhood. Last month we looked at his birthplace at Popes Creek, later know as Wakefield, located in Westmoreland County in the northern neck area of Virginia.           

Mount Vernon ~ Twentieth Century

The Washington home at Popes Creek burned in 1735 when George was three. At that time, George’s father Augustine moved his young family sixty miles up the Potomac River to their Little Hunting Creek property which had been in the Washington family since 1699. While there is no definitive reason why the Washington family made the move, the fact that Augustine needed to manage his business pursuits including iron mining interests in what is now Stafford County, Virginia made the Little Hunting Creek plantation far more convenient than the Popes Creek property. The Washington family lived at Little Hunting Creek for three years until 1738, when they moved south to a 260 acre farm, known as Ferry Farm, on the north bank of the Rappahannock River.

Augustine’s eldest son Lawrence, by his first wife, inherited Little Hunting Creek in 1743, shortly after Augustine’s death. That same year Lawrence married Ann Fairfax, the eldest daughter of his neighbor William Fairfax. He renamed the plantation Mount Vernon to honor the British Naval hero, Admiral Edward Vernon, whom he had served under in the West Indies. George Washington would return to Mount Vernon a number of times over the next fourteen years to visit Lawrence, with whom he had a close relationship.

Original Family Crypt ~ Mount Vernon

Lawrence drew up a will shortly before his untimely death in 1752, leaving Mount Vernon to George, who was managing the estate, with stipulations that his widow was to have the use, benefit and profit of all his lands, and that their daughter Sarah, if she lived to majority, would inherit the estate. However, Sarah died shortly after Lawrence’s death and Ann remarried and left Mount Vernon. George Washington moved to Mount Vernon again in 1752 at the age of twenty to manage the property. By 1754 George had bought his sister-in-laws’ interest in Mount Vernon and the plantation remained his for the rest of his life. During his lifetime he made many improvements and expansions to the property. George and Martha Washington’s tomb is located on the Mount Vernon estate.

George & Martha Washington's Tomb ~ Mount Vernon
Built in 1831

Mount Vernon, located sixteen miles from the nation’s capitol, is one of the country’s oldest and most popular ongoing preservation sights.

Next month, learn more about Ferry Farm, where George Washington would spend from 1738-1752.