Historic Kenmore and George Washington’s Ferry Farm experienced a snowstorm on Wednesday, March 21, 20118. Our staff took these photos of the snowfall from around the Lewis and Washington homes.
View of the front of the reproduction Washington house.
The house’s period-correct 18th century paint is called “Spanish brown.”
Actually built after the Civil War, the “Surveyor’s Shed”, incorrectly thought to be Washington’s surveying office, stands next to the reproduction Washington house.
The Washington house sits on the building’s original location atop a bluff looking west toward the Rappahannock River.
The old Ferry Road that led from Kings Highway down to the ferry crossing at the river.
Snow sculpture
The work yards behind the Washington house.
The west front of Kenmore.
The reproduction kitchen building at Kenmore.
Kenmore’s gardens.
Bricks under the snow.
The east front of Kenmore.
Snow pile on a portico column.
We also setup a timelapse camera at the Ferry Farm Visitors Center to capture the snowfall over the course of the storm. Closely watch the pine trees in the video below and you can see their branches droop down as the heavy wet snow weighs them down and then raise back up as the snow started to melt late in the day.
Scenes from a recent autumn stroll around George Washington’s Ferry Farm. This semester’s Fleming-Smith Scholar Courtney Kuzemchak, a student at the University of Mary Washington, captured these seasonal images. You can see photos of Ferry Farm in winter here and a video from summer here.
The visitor center at Ferry Farm built in the 1960s.
Sunshine and shade.
The Great Oak Pavilion was built in 2005 by the Timber Framers Guild and Virginia Military Institute.
The so-called “Surveyor’s Shed,” long-held by local legend to be George’s surveying office, actually dates from the late 1800s.
A flag marking one stop on the self-guided iPad tour of the Ferry Farm grounds.
Nature shaped the lives of English colonists and enslaved Africans living and working at Kenmore Plantation 200 years ago. Over centuries, humans changed Kenmore’s natural world from a plantation setting into an urban green space. Yet, nature remains just outside the door.
This past Saturday at Historic Kenmore, visitors had a chance to explore humans’ dynamic relationship with nature through the years during Our Urban Nature. They discovered — in some cases, held — the wildlife living right in town with Fredericksburg Parks & Recreation. They explored the meaning behind the color of the river’s water with Friends of the Rappahannock. Visitors learned about worm composting with the Rappahannock Regional Solid Waste Management Board. They dug into the importance of dirt with the Tri-County/City Soil and Water Conservation District. Visitors also enjoyed a native plant and urban geology walk through the neighborhood and learned how to build terrariums from found objects and plants. Kids created a food web mobile, fairy houses, and built their own river.
Kenmore’s lawn is an island of green in our beautiful city.
Holding a frog.
Learning about millipedes
A display of scat you may see in your very own neighborhood.
About a month ago on “Lives & Legacies,” we shared a gallery of photos showing snow-covered Historic Kenmore and George Washington’s Ferry Farm in years past. That post especially focused on snowy scenes of Kenmore. With snow from yesterday’s storm still on the ground under beautiful sun-filled blue skies, we thought we ought to share a few more snowy photos with special focus on Ferry Farm this time.
Flags fly over Ferry Farm.
Fredericksburg across the Rappahannock.
Snow-covered stones marking one corner of the Washington’s house site.
Geese landing.
A gaggle of geese visiting the farm.
Archaeological dig site remains closed for winter.
Little friends.
Deer track.
Snow laying on some rail fencing.
Snow on magnolia leaves.
Sparkling water droplets fall to the ground as icicles hanging on the visitor center melt.
This year, we’ve not had a particularly photographic snow at George Washington’s Ferry Farm or Historic Kenmore… yet. Snow eventually will come but, until then, we’re sharing some of our best snowy photos from last year and from ten years ago.