After years of searching, archaeologists have identified and excavated the boyhood home of George Washington, site of such legendary -- if perhaps apocryphal -- events as chopping down the cherry tree and throwing a coin across the Rappahannock River.
The find indicates that the Washington family lived in a spacious eight-room home -- a sign that the family was well-off for its day -- and provides new information about George's childhood, a period that has remained largely obscured in the mists of history.
"We all know that much of our character is formed in our early years, so to be able to have access to the very specific place and the material conditions of what life was like will help us sort out who this man Washington was," said Julia King, an anthropology professor at St. Mary's College of Maryland who was not involved in the excavation.
The house in Stafford County, Va., on a property now known as Ferry Farm, is on the banks of the Rappahannock across from Fredericksburg and is about 50 miles southwest of Washington, D.C.
Archaeologists uncovered the remains of two chimney bases, two stone-lined cellars and two root cellars, along with thousands of artifacts -- all of which convinced them they had found the Washington homestead. The size, characteristics and location of the structure were the deciding factors, the researchers said.
"This is it -- this is the site of the house where George Washington grew up," archaeologist David Muraca of the George Washington Foundation said at a news conference Wednesday.
"If George Washington did indeed chop down a cherry tree, as generations of Americans have believed, this is where it happened," added Philip Levy, a history professor at the University of South Florida and co-leader of the excavation.
Erased by time
George's father, Augustine, purchased the 600-acre parcel and moved his family there in 1738 so he could be closer to the Accokeek Creek iron furnace, which he managed. George inherited the farm at age 11 when his father died in 1743, and sold it after he moved to Mount Vernon.
Originally known as the Washington Farm, it became known as the Ferry Farm because of a ferry at the site that carried travelers across the Rappahannock.
During the Civil War, Union troops camped at the site, initially using the ruined farmhouse as their headquarters, then demolishing it for firewood. The land was also plowed in the 19th century, destroying many of the artifacts.
