Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, February 24, 1991 TAG: 9102240257
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: STAFFORD LENGTH: Short
For years, historians believed the nation's first president lived at Ferry Farm and have traced his young life through deed books and historic accounts. The farm home burned down around 1776.
But finding those remains has been difficult, said Alain C. Outlaw, an archaeologist with Espey, Huston & Associates who supervised the project on land between the Rappahannock River and Virginia 3.
The discovery of the farmhouse and some 18th century artifacts were announced on Washington's 259th birthday.
Washington's family moved to Ferry Farm in 1738, when George was 6. He lived there, off and on, until he was 20.
In 1857, when the property was owned by Winter Bray, a second house was built on the remains of the Washington foundation. A third structure, a much larger farmhouse, was built in 1914 over the Bray foundation.
The Washington house was about 40 feet wide and 24 to 28 feet long, Outlaw said. The foundation that survives is part of a 16-foot-by-16-foot cellar.
Archaeologists suspect that the Ferry Farm foundation and many artifacts were preserved when the house collapsed onto itself when it burned.
Stafford County, interested in developing the site to boost tourism, obtained the property in January 1990. Excavations began in November.
County officials hope to open the property to the public July 4.
by CNB