Mount Vernon is open 365 days a year, including Christmas Day.

A-Z Index

Explore the wide range of subjects related to George Washington’s world and the colonial and founding eras.

The Digital Encyclopedia of George Washington was generously supported by Richard and Bonnie Dial in memory of Irby and George Prendergast.

Agriculture

16-Sided Barn

16-Sided Barn

The 16-Sided barn on Washington's Dogue Run farm was one of the most innovative structures at Mount Vernon

Learn More

American Revolution

Battle of Second Trenton

Battle of Second Trenton

On 2 January 1777, a Continental Army force led by George Washington successfully repulsed a British attack in Trenton, New Jersey by soldiers under the command of Lord Charles Cornwallis.

Learn More

American West

Proclamation Line of 1763

Proclamation Line of 1763

The Proclamation Line of 1763 was a British-produced boundary marked in the Appalachian Mountains at the Eastern Continental Divide.

Learn More

Animals

Dogs

Dogs

There were many dogs living at Mount Vernon during George Washington's lifetime. These animals were owned by George and Martha Washington, by her grandchildren, by friends, and by slaves who lived on…

Learn More

Artists

Washington Irving

Washington Irving

Washington Irving was one of the most famous American authors of the nineteenth century. While he is primarily remembered for short stories such as “Rip van Winkle” and “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow…

Learn More

Enslaved Community and Slavery

Hercules

Hercules

Hercules Posey (1747?-1812) was an enslaved cook for George Washington during the 1780s and 90s. A renowned chef during his lifetime, Hercules self-emancipated from Mount Vernon in 1797.

Learn More

Family

John Augustine Washington III

John Augustine Washington III

John Augustine Washington III was the great-grand nephew of George Washington and the last private owner of Mount Vernon.

Learn More

Food and Drink

Recipe for Small Beer

Recipe for Small Beer

George Washington’s recipe for “Small Beer” appears in a 1757 notebook of his, which can be found today in its original form at the New York Public Library.

Learn More

Gardens

Upper Garden

Upper Garden

The upper garden was established in the 1760s and paralleled the lower or kitchen garden to its south. This garden was initially planted with fruit and nut trees, and was walled and rectangular in shape…

Learn More

Mansion

New Room

New Room

Washington's New Room is the largest and most ornate of the rooms found within the Mount Vernon mansion.

Learn More

Military

Edward Braddock

Edward Braddock

General Edward Braddock commanded British forces in the unsuccessful 1755 campaign to expel the French from the Ohio Valley near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Learn More

Mount Vernon

Tomb

Tomb

Learn more about the New Tomb at Mount Vernon - the Washington's final resting place.

Learn More

Objects

Bastille Key

Bastille Key

In 1790 George Washington received the key to the Bastille prison from an appreciative Marquis de Lafayette. It remains at Mount Vernon to this day.

Learn More

Personal

Alexandria Academy

Alexandria Academy

Incorporated by the Virginia Assembly in 1786, the Alexandria Academy, located in George Washington’s home community of Alexandria, Virginia, embodied his commitment to the education of all Americans,…

Learn More

Politics

Annapolis Convention

Annapolis Convention

Held September 11-14, 1786, the Annapolis Convention was a meeting incipiently aimed at constructing uniform parameters to regulate trade between states during a time of political turbulence and economic…

Learn More

Preservation

Foreign Leaders and Post World War II Diplomacy (1951-1955)

Foreign Leaders and Post World War II Diplomacy (1951-1955)

During the decade after World War II, Mount Vernon became an important space for visiting political leaders whose countries had received aid from the United States.

Learn More

Presidency

New England Tour

New England Tour

George Washington went on his New England Tour from October 15 to November 13, 1789, during the first Congressional recess under the new federal government. He travelled from New York City, then the capital…

Learn More

Servants and Laborers

Login
Buy Tickets Activities Calendar Shop Restaurant Give Membership
Estate Hours

9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

iconDirections & Parking
buy tickets online & save