The Mary Washington House, at 1200 Charles Street in

Fredericksburg, Virginia Fredericksburg is an independent city located in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 27,982. The Bureau of Economic Analysis of the United States Department of Commerce combines the city of Fredericksburg wi ...

, is the house in which

George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...

's mother,

Mary Ball Washington Mary Washington (; born sometime between 1707 and 1709 – August 25, 1789), was the second wife of Augustine Washington, a planter in Virginia, the mother-in-law of Martha Washington, the paternal grandmother of Bushrod Washington, and ...

, resided towards the end of her life. It is now operated as an 18th-century period

historic house museum A historic house museum is a house of historic significance that has been transformed into a museum. Historic furnishings may be displayed in a way that reflects their original placement and usage in a home. Historic house museums are held to a ...

, one of several museums in Fredericksburg operated by Washington Heritage Museums. Today it displays 18th-century furniture, and her personal possessions, such as her "best dressing glass” (her mirror).

History

George Washington purchased this house for his mother from Micheal Robinson in Fredericksburg, Virginia in 1772 for 275 pounds. Mary Ball Washington spent her last few years in the white frame house that sites on the corner of Charles and Lewis Street. The house is located on 1200 Charles St Fredericksburg, Virginia. It was located close to her daughter

Betty Washington Lewis Elizabeth "Betty" Washington Lewis (June 20, 1733 – March 31, 1797) was an American Colonist. She was the younger sister of George Washington and the only sister that survived childhood. Her half-sister, Jane, died at age 11 and her sister Mildre ...

' home,

Kenmore Plantation Kenmore, also known as Kenmore Plantation, is a Plantation house in the Southern United States, plantation house at 1201 Washington Avenue in Fredericksburg, Virginia. Built in the 1770s, it was the home of Fielding Lewis, Fielding and Betty Wa ...

, and close to a town home owned by her younger son

Charles Washington Charles Washington (May 2, 1738 – September 16, 1799) was a Virginia planter and government official in several counties, who founded a town in the Shenandoah Valley which was named Charles Town in his honor shortly after his death and that o ...

. In 1780, Charles moved to western Virginia (present day Charles Town, West Virginia) from Fredericksburg. At that point, the house—on the town's main street—was converted into a tavern. Today, as the Rising Sun Tavern, it is open as a building museum managed by the local Washington Heritage Museums group. Later in his life, on his visits to Fredericksburg, George Washington was a frequent visitor to his mother's home, and, in April, 1789, came to this house to receive a blessing from his mother before his inauguration. A visit to Mrs. Washington in her home became a regular stop for distinguished visitors to Fredericksburg. Among those stopping by to pay their respects were

John Marshall John Marshall (September 24, 1755July 6, 1835) was an American politician and lawyer who served as the fourth Chief Justice of the United States from 1801 until his death in 1835. He remains the longest-serving chief justice and fourth-longes ...

George Mason George Mason (October 7, 1792) was an American planter, politician, Founding Father, and delegate to the U.S. Constitutional Convention of 1787, one of the three delegates present who refused to sign the Constitution. His writings, including s ...

Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 18 ...

Marquis de Lafayette Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de La Fayette (6 September 1757 – 20 May 1834), known in the United States as Lafayette (, ), was a French aristocrat, freemason and military officer who fought in the American Revoluti ...

, and members of the

Lee family The Lee family of the United States is a historically significant Virginia and Maryland political family, whose many prominent members are known for their accomplishments in politics and the military. The family became prominent in colonial Bri ...

. She lived in this home until her death later in 1789. The Mary Washington House is located near the college named for her, the

University of Mary Washington The University of Mary Washington (UMW) is a public liberal arts university in Fredericksburg, Virginia. Founded in 1908 as the Fredericksburg Teachers College, the institution was named Mary Washington College in 1938 after Mary Ball Washingt ...

. The house is currently a museum for tourists to visit and view. Within the house itself, Mary's bedroom, and parlor room from a later addition can be found on the first floor. The second floor contains two bedrooms and a small room dedicated to the history of its preservation. The gardens are available for self-guided tours. Tourists are able to visit a kitchen building built in 1804, several decades after Mary's death, and can look at, but not enter several other replica buildings; a wellhouse, and an interpretation of the original kitchen from the 18th century (In reality, it would have been farther north than its current location). Tourists are able to go in the Mary Washington House Gift Shop, which is believed to have originally been a dining room from a period of the late 18th century when it was used as a boys' school, due to its proximity to where the original kitchen would have been.

Preservation

In 1891, the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities acquired the house, which was scheduled to be disassembled for travel to the Chicago World's Fair for display. It was their second property acquisition, and the location where the Fredericksburg Branch was chartered. The house underwent a restoration and was opened to the public for tours. The APVA recovered 8 objects original to the house, including a mirror Mary Washington once labeled her "best dressing glass". By the later Twentieth Century, APVA had become Preservation Virginia and that organization signed an agreement with the newly created and Fredericksburg-based "Washington Heritage Museums" group, to cede ownership of the property to the later group by 2013. The site is a landmark in that City.

References

External links

Washington Heritage MuseumsPreservation Virginia: Mary Washington HouseMary Washington House, 1200 Charles Street, Fredericksburg, Fredericksburg, VA
11 photos, 12 measured drawings, and 5 data pages at

Historic American Buildings Survey Heritage Documentation Programs (HDP) is a division of the U.S. National Park Service (NPS) responsible for administering the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS), Historic American Engineering Record (HAER), and Historic American Landscapes ...

Image of Deed at FamilySearch.org - Spotsylvania County, Virginia deed book H, page 227
{{DEFAULTSORT:Washington, Mary, House Historic American Buildings Survey in Virginia Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Virginia Washington family residences Houses in Fredericksburg, Virginia Museums in Fredericksburg, Virginia Historic house museums in Virginia Georgian architecture in Virginia National Register of Historic Places in Fredericksburg, Virginia Historic district contributing properties in Virginia