Old, crushed, and rusted food cans in and of themselves aren’t terribly interesting, at least not to me. But when the can contains 150-year-old bullets, it becomes very interesting indeed. Recently, while going through our artifact collection database, I came across an item excavated at George Washington’s Ferry Farm nearly 20 years ago and simply … Continue reading Chock Full o’ Minie Balls: A Civil War Mystery
Uncategorized
We Really Dig History!: This Summer’s Excavations at Ferry Farm
Archaeological excavations at George Washington’s Ferry Farm have occurred nearly every summer since The George Washington Foundation purchased the property in 1996. The summer of 2017, when the majority of the replica Washington house construction was underway, was the major exception. The archaeological site was proved too close to ongoing construction so excavations were put … Continue reading We Really Dig History!: This Summer’s Excavations at Ferry Farm
Spring at Historic Kenmore! [Photos]
Sunny days. Blue skies. Blooming flowers. Spring at Historic Kenmore is a beautiful time! To plan your next visit to Kenmore, go to kenmore.org/visiting.
How the Enlightenment Transformed Cats into Pets
We look at our cats today as the furriest, purriest companions known to humankind. But most cats in colonial America worked for their status as the designated house cat. It wasn’t all lazy days trying to squeeze into the smallest box possible or snoozing in that tiny sliver of sunlight on the living room floor. … Continue reading How the Enlightenment Transformed Cats into Pets
George’s Hometown: Masonic Lodge
As George Washington’s Ferry Farm prepares to celebrate the reconstruction of the Washington house, we traveled around George’s hometown – Fredericksburg, Virginia – to visit a few places important in the transformation of George from boy to man. In 1753, 21-year-old George Washington became a Master Mason having joined the Masonic Lodge in Fredericksburg the … Continue reading George’s Hometown: Masonic Lodge
Photos: The Fourth of July at Ferry Farm 2017
Scenes from last week’s Independence Day celebration at George Washington’s Ferry Farm!
Video: Building George’s House – Timber Framing
The timber framing of the Washington house is complete. In this video, we get a close-up view of the construction of the house's timber frame. For a timelapse view of the timber framing, watch this video. To see how the beams in the frame were fashioned, watch this video. Learn more about the Washington House … Continue reading Video: Building George’s House – Timber Framing
Top 5 “Lives & Legacies” Posts of 2015
This December marks the one-year anniversary of Lives & Legacies: Stories from George Washington's Ferry Farm and Historic Kenmore. As we bring the blog's first year to a close, we thought it might be worthwhile to share once again several of our most read entries from 2015. We hope you enjoy reading them for the first time … Continue reading Top 5 “Lives & Legacies” Posts of 2015
A Secret Society and a Historical Mystery
Occasionally, archaeologists uncover an artifact which raises more questions than it answers. Recent re-examination of artifacts recovered from Historic Kenmore revealed a number of ceramic sherds with an elaborate but unidentified crest. Determining the ware and vessel type was a snap, it was clearly a creamware pitcher with olive over-the-glaze printing. The glaze may have … Continue reading A Secret Society and a Historical Mystery
Season’s Greetings
The George Washington Foundation wishes everyone a joyous holiday season! We here at Lives & Legacies are taking a break from publishing this week. If you missed it, check out our most recent post "Christmas in Fredericksburg with George Washington, 1769". We'll be back next week.
Lives & Legacies 