virtual tour.mount vernon.org

Encyclopedia Virginia, Virginia Humanities

Virtual Tour of Mount Vernon

This is a virtual tour of Mount Vernon, the Fairfax County plantation home of George Washington, the first president of the United States.

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Virtual Museum Impressions: Mount Vernon

April 9, 2020

While I was sharing previous blog posts about my impressions of museums I visited, I thought about the museums I have not visited in the past and decided to make a virtual trip to one of them. I remember as a child I visited Monticello, the home of the third president of the United States Thomas Jefferson. My family and I were not able to visit Mount Vernon, the home of George Washington the first president of the United States, while we were in Virginia. Therefore, I decided to virtually visit Mount Vernon and its grounds for today’s blog post. My whole visit was overwhelmingly impressive, and the Mount Vernon Ladies Association’s efforts have proven its significance in our nation’s history will never be overlooked.

I visited every part of George Washington’s house and property including but not limited to his farms, gardens, hired and enslaved living quarters, and a gristmill. Even though I aimed to see everything in one visit, there is a ton of information to soak in so as if I was visiting Mount Vernon in person I would need to plan to make more than one visit to potentially see everything and learn all I could about the mansion. Within the tour, there are videos from both Mount Vernon staff and characters of George Washington, Martha Washington, and the enslaved servants discussing what it was like to live and work on the Mount Vernon property. At each point of the virtual tour, there are cursors that once clicked on it will share more information about an item in the collections and about the historic preservation process.

The Mansion has approximately fourteen rooms that were set up and preserved as if the Washingtons were still living in their home. On the first floor, it contains the more formal parts of the Mansion, including the dining rooms, parlors, central hall, and Washington’s study. Inside the Mansion, there is an entryway called the Central Passage which is the place where visitors who came by carriage through the west front drive (the front of the house) were greeted. The Mansion also has a two-story piazza located on the east front (facing the Potomac River); it was treated as an outdoor room, serving afternoon tea to visitors and family members seated in simple Windsor chairs. Not only there is a view of the Potomac River, there is also a view of the wooded area that was originally an 18-acre deer park. On the second floor, there are six bedrooms and one of them is the Washingtons’ bedroom. On the third floor, includes a number of rooms that were used for storage and living space, and provides access to the cupola. The cupola was added to the Mansion to help cool the house, as it draws hot air out through open windows; by providing a strong vertical axis, the cupola also helps disguise the asymmetry of the west facade, facing the bowling green (the grounds in front of the Mansion). Washington’s home is not the only building on the property.

Washington’s estate also includes more than a dozen outbuildings where more than fifty enslaved men and women learned trades to make tools and textiles, care for livestock, process food, and construct and repair many of Mount Vernon’s buildings, including the Mansion itself. Some of the buildings include the blacksmith shop, smokehouse, stable, spinning house, and many more. There were also four gardens: the upper garden, lower garden, botanical garden, and a flower garden and nursery. Each garden served different purposes including providing food for the Mansion and experimenting with new plants. Washington also had a farm called the Pioneer Farm where enslaved workers put Washington’s innovative farming and fishing practices, hoe fields, cook over a fire, sheer sheep, and harvest crops into practice. Also, on the estate there was a distillery and a gristmill; today, the property has fully functioning reconstructions of the distillery and gristmill where George Washington’s whiskey, flour, and cornmeal were made.

The estate is also the location of the tombs and memorial where the Washingtons and enslaved individuals were buried and are remembered. There are two tombs: the old tomb where the Washington family were originally buried and the new tomb that was constructed under George Washington’s request; then the whole family located in the tomb were relocated to the new one. Also, there is a slave cemetery where the Mount Vernon staff is conducting an ongoing archaeological survey of the Slave Cemetery on the estate. According to their website, they stated about the slave cemetery:

From an archaeological standpoint, the best way to commemorate the lives of those free and enslaved individuals who lived and died at Mount Vernon is to thoroughly document the locations of individual burials on the landscape.

Mount Vernon also has a memorial dedicated to the enslaved individuals which is located about 50 yards southwest of George and Martha Washington’s tomb, on a bluff above the Potomac River.

The previous information I learned about Mount Vernon is only some of what I have learned in virtual tour. I recommend learning more about George Washington and Mount Vernon through not only the virtual tour but also through the education resources available on the official website. What I learned from this tour is the staff at Mount Vernon are continuously dedicating their efforts to preserve its history as well as investigate the untold stories the estate holds.

https://virtualtour.mountvernon.org/

https://www.mountvernon.org/

Upper Garden Livestream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqQi93Ao65Q

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Published by lindseystewardgoldberg

I am a passionate and dedicated individual who is determined to provide local and national history for future generations to appreciate their roots and teach the next generation. My love for museums began from a very young age. When I was a child, my family encouraged myself and my sisters to visit various historic sites and museums including Plimoth Plantation and Salem Witch Museum, and continued as I grew up when I saw places such as the Birthplace of Abigail Adams. My lifelong passion for history led me to earn my Bachelors degree in History from Western New England University and my Masters degree in Public History from Central Connecticut State University. While I was in the Central Connecticut State University Public History graduate program, I worked on the Connecticut Historical Society’s “Cooking by the Book” exhibit that my group came up with the original proposal for. I also helped set up art exhibits at CCSU’s art galleries, and wrote a lesson plan on women contributions to society in the eighteenth century as a final project in the program for the Stanley-Whitman House museum. Along the way, I gained various experiences within school activities and museums. My experiences include working with students in school programs at the Stanley-Whitman House in Farmington, Connecticut, Connecticut’s Old State House, and Connecticut Landmarks Hartford properties. I also volunteered at the Franklin Historical Museum in Franklin, Massachusetts where I provided tours for visitors, helped organize public programs connected with town events, and kept an inventory of the museum’s collections. I became a full time Museum Educator with the Long Island Museum where I teach programs, and take on administrative roles such as schedule programs. Today, I am an independent museum professional working on various projects for museums and historical societies. For instance, I joined the Three Village Historical Society working on various projects, both in person and virtually, in the education department. I continue to look for opportunities in which I educate school groups and the public on the significance of the arts, history, and sciences in our society through the museum education field. View all posts by lindseystewardgoldberg

Interesting post and blog content, as I’m looking into being a museum educator and I’m glad to see the new techniques museums are using to bring heritage to us all, especially as heritage should be for everyone.

Thank you can’t wait to read more to see more innovation in museum education!

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Plan Your Visit

• Things to Do
• Where to Eat
• Hours & Directions
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Accessibility
• Group Reservations
• Washington, D.C. Metro Area
• Guest Policies
• Historic Area
• Distillery & Gristmill
• Virtual Tour

George Washington

• French & Indian War
• Revolutionary War
• Constitution
• First President
• Martha Washington
• Native Americans

Preservation

• Collections
• Archaeology
• Architecture
• The Mount Vernon Ladies' Association
• Restoration Projects
• Preserving the View
• Preservation Timeline
• For Teachers
• Primary Source Collections
• Secondary Sources
• Educational Events
• Interactive Tools
• Videos and Podcasts
• Hands on History at Home
• Back to Main menu
• Teaching the Virtual Tour

Washington Library

• Catalogs and Digital Resources
• Research Fellowships
• The Papers of George Washington
• Library Events & Programs
• Leadership Institute
• Center for Digital History
• George Washington Prize
• About the Library

Estate Hours

9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

u_turn_left Directions & Parking

Virtual Tour Activities

Use the following Activity Sheets to implement the Mount Vernon Virtual Tour in your classrooms. Scroll to access downloadable sheets at the elementary, middle, and high school levels.

Elementary School Level

This Suggested Activities Sheet was created by LifeGuard Teacher Fellow Jamie Brown

Middle School Level

This Suggested Activities Sheet was created by LifeGuard Teacher Fellow Jennifer Schmidt.

High School Level

This Suggested Activities Sheet was created by LifeGuard Teacher Fellow Mari L. Harris

Back to the Virtual Tour

Click to return to Teaching the Virtual Tour

Plan Your Visit

• Things to Do
• Where to Eat
• Hours & Directions
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Accessibility
• Group Reservations
• Washington, D.C. Metro Area
• Guest Policies
• Historic Area
• Distillery & Gristmill
• Virtual Tour

George Washington

• French & Indian War
• Revolutionary War
• Constitution
• First President
• Martha Washington
• Native Americans

Preservation

• Collections
• Archaeology
• Architecture
• The Mount Vernon Ladies' Association
• Restoration Projects
• Preserving the View
• Preservation Timeline
• For Teachers
• Primary Source Collections
• Secondary Sources
• Educational Events
• Interactive Tools
• Videos and Podcasts
• Hands on History at Home
• Back to Main menu
• Professional Development Opportunities
• Educational Resources
• Plan a Student Trip to Mount Vernon
• Lesson Plans
• Additional Sources
• Civic Learning

Washington Library

• Catalogs and Digital Resources
• Research Fellowships
• The Papers of George Washington
• Library Events & Programs
• Leadership Institute
• Center for Digital History
• George Washington Prize
• About the Library

Estate Hours

9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

u_turn_left Directions & Parking

Virtual Tour Activities

Lesson purpose.

Use these pages alongside the Mount Vernon Virtual Tour to learn about George Washington, Mount Vernon, and 18th Century life.

These sheets are created by LifeGuard Teacher Fellows Mari L. Harris, Jennifer Schmidt, and Jamie Brown.

These Activity Sheets are scaffolded for Elementary School, Middle School, and High School levels. Click each link to download individual versions - or, click the "download" button at the bottom to download all.

Elementary School Virtual Tour Activities

Middle School Virtual Tour Activities

High School Virtual Tour Activities