Washington's Grist Mill
Fairfax Co. | Virginia | USA
Watersource: Dogue's Creek.
Washington's Grist Mill
Located about two miles west of Mount Vernon via Mount Vernon Memorial Highway/Sh 235. Take the second access onto Old Mill Road, to the right, and follow signs to George Washingtons Grist Mill & Distillery, just past North Fork of Dogue Creek.
When George Washington inherited Mount Vernon in 1754, there was a smaller mill on Dogue Run Creek built by his father in 1730.
A drawing of the original appearance of George Washington"s Mill from an 1894 tourist book for Virginia and Mayland, "Some Old Historic Landmarks of Virginia, and Maryland: Described in a Hand-Book for the Tourist over the Washington, Alexandria, and Mount Vernon Railway," by William H. Snowden, 1894. The caption of the drawing on page 77 states, "Washington's Old Mill at Epsewasson, Head of Dogue Bay."
In 1771, George replaced the old mill with this new stone mill, using some water flow from the Piney Branch of the North Fork of Dogue Run Creek channeled over to the main branch of Dogue Run Creek.
The mill produced, even in low flow period, cornmeal and flour for the Mount Vernon Plantation with some top quality flour produced for export to the West Indies, the British Isles, and Europe.
Twenty years after building, Washington changed the mill over to operate on the Oliver Evans system of milling.
The mill headrace leading to the inlet on the uphill side of the mill. The adjacent distillery was built in 1797 at the suggestion of James Anderson, the farm manager of the plantation, and was the largest in America at the time. Whiskey was produced as well as brandy and vinegar. It produced about 11,000 gallons of whiskey just in the year 1799.
The distillery burned in 1814. An archeological study was done from 1997-2006, with the distillery being reconstructed in 2007.
The mill and distillery passed to Washington's nephew in 1808. Lawrence Lewis leased the enterprise to James Douglass from Alexandria. The mill was sold out of the family in 1848, when Lewis's grandson sold Woodlawn Plantation along with the mill. The mill, in bad shape , was torn down in 1850. The Mount Vernon Ladies Association and the Commonwealth of Virginia reconstructed the mill and miller's house in 1933. Check the website specified, wikipedia, above the top picture, to find out more about the reconstructions.
An Historic American Buildings Survey (Library of Congress) photo taken of Washington's Grist Mill after it was reconstructed by the C.C.C. after moving the mill from Front Royal, Virginia in 1933. Submitted by Ted R. Hazen 10/2009.