This vintage postcard shows Mt. Vernon Mansion, the home of George Washington, first President of the United States. Mt. Vernon estate is sixteen miles below Washington, D.C. on the banks of the Potomac River in Virginia.
George’s older brother, Lawrence Washington, died in July 1752. His will provided that his widow should own a life estate in Mount Vernon, with the remainder interest falling to Lawrence’s brother, George. Lawrence’s widow, Anne Fairfax, soon remarried and moved into her new husband’s home. Later George bought his sister-in-law’s life estate and became owner of the property.
George Washington occupied Mt. Vernon shortly after his marriage in 1759 to the widow Martha Dandridge Custis and by 1775, had doubled the size of Mount Vernon to 6,500 acres running a plantation. George and Martha Washington lived at Mt. Vernon until his death in 1799, he being gone while serving in the war. As the first President of the United States, he was required to be present in the Capitol and live in the President’s Mansion with Martha, but they always had Mt. Vernon to go to for rest and retreat. They raised their two children from Martha’s previous marriage at Mt. Vernon and later raised two grandchildren there.
The entire Mt. Vernon estate comprising 200 acres, is under management by the Mt. Vernon Ladies’ Association who acquired it by purchase in 1860. The restoration, equipment, and keeping of the rooms in the Mansion is entrusted to the women of the different States represented in the Board of Vice-Regents. Among the principal rooms are the room Washington died in, the room Martha Washington died in, and Lafeyette’s room. The Mt. Vernon estate includes the tomb of George and Martha Washington, as well as other family members
Mount Vernon was designated a National Historic Landmark on December 19, 1960 and later administratively listed on the National Register of Historic Places.