Long-Sought Washington Home Found

July 2, 2008— -- Nearly everyone has heard of George Washington's Mount Vernon, Va., estate, where tourists flock to visit the place where our first president lived and died.

Now, archeologists believe they have found the home where, according to legend, Washington, who could not tell a lie, chopped down the cherry tree.

The Ferry Farm site, located near Fredericksburg, Va., overlooking the Rappahannock River, just 50 miles south of Washington, D.C., which archeologists have excavated, is believed to be the house where Washington lived as a child, from the time he was 6 years old,.

After Washington moved away, the house rotted and was swallowed by time and grassland, preventing archeologists from finding its actual site until now.

The search for Washington's childhood home began seven years ago. First, researchers found remains of a home predating Washington's, and then they uncovered another home from the 19th century. Through trial and error, researchers found this area and excavated for three years, before verifying that it was the Washington's family home.

"If George Washington did, indeed, chop down a cherry tree, as generations of Americans have believed, this is where it happened," said Philip Levy, who is a historical archaeologist and professor at the University of South Florida.

"What we see at this site is the best available window into the setting that nurtured the father of our country," Levy said.

David Muraca, director of archeology at the George Washington Foundation, made the find. From the remains, they were able to debunk historical assumptions about Washington's first home.

While historians had long believed Washington lived in a small cottage, the foundation and cellars that were found prove that the house was one and a half stories. Evidence also shows that the fire that had been said to have driven the family from the home, was merely minor.

Also from the remains, archeologists unearthed thousands of artifacts that once belonged to the Washington family: fragments of ceramic tableware, the bowl of a clay pipe with Masonic markings, scissors and a set of 18th century wig curlers -- perhaps used by Washington himself.

The clay pipe bowl -- with the Masonic crest -- is especially exciting for archeologists, since Washington joined the Masons in 1753.