Editor’s note: In honor of America’s 250th birthday, Earth Observatory is revisiting stories about the landscapes that helped shape U.S. history.
The images and text on this page were originally published on February 17, 2025.
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George Washington was born in 1732 on his family’s tobacco plantation atPopes Creekin Westmoreland County, Virginia.
Three years later, he moved up the Potomac River toLittle Hunting Creek Plantation, a property laterrenamed Mount Vernon.
The riverside property, approximately 15 miles south of Washington, D.C., was central to the man who became the first U.S. president.
Though the family soon moved to Fredericksburg, Virginia, and resided there for much of his youth, Washington began managing the Mount Vernon property in 1759, soon after his marriage toMartha Dandridge.
Washington’s letters make clear that he cherished and longed for this place during his long absences as a surveyor, military commander, and politician—a location he called the most“pleasantly situated”estate in the United States.
It was where he helped raise two stepchildren, four step-grandchildren, and an array of crops and livestock.
It was also where he waslaid to restin 1799 at the age of 67.
TheOLI onLandsat 8captured this image of Mount Vernon and its surroundings on August 25, 2024.
While much of the land surrounding the estate has been developed into things like suburban neighborhoods, shopping areas, and military bases, fragments of the pristine forests, farmland, and riverscapes that Washington would recognize remain.
In a1793 letterto Arthur Young, an English agricultural expert and reformer, Washington expounded on the virtues of Mount Vernon’s land.
Toward the end of his life, Washington’s land holdingsextended across five farms centered on Mount Vernon.
The map below, based on one of Washington’s drawings, shows their layout.
The Mansion House Farm encompassed Mount Vernon, with Union Farm and Dogue Run Farmto the west.
Muddy Hole Farm lay to the north and River Farm to the east.
Washington was known as an innovative landowner who, with the labor ofhundreds of enslaved people, took unusual care to manage his crops sustainably.
For instance, he shifted much of his production to wheat and corn and started experimenting with aseven-year crop rotationsystem and cover crops to better preserve the health of his soil after realizing that growing tobacco depleted its fertility.
While most crops were raised at the outlying farms, Mount Vernon’s gardens were showcases for visitors and laboratories for experimentation.
The showyupper gardenwas a formal garden near the mansion with carefully trimmed dwarf boxwood hedges and a heated greenhouse with lemons, oranges, and rare plants.
Closer to the river was thelower garden, a kitchen garden brimming with vegetables, and a small garden that Washington called“my botanick garden,”where he spent much of his time experimenting with new varieties.
Even closer to the river was thefruit garden, an experimental orchard where the estate raised pears, cherries, peaches, and apples.
This may have been the source of the centuries-old preserved cherries thatarchaeologists unearthedin Mount Vernon’s cellar in 2024.
The lands connecting the five farms—his “wilderness,” Washington called it—were a forested area where he often spent timehunting and fishing.
Species such as oak, hickory, and heath shrubs dominated the forests in Washington’s time.
Dozens of the same plant species from that period are still found on the estate’s forests in modern times, though large numbers ofnon-native specieshave established themselves as well.
One of the larger open spaces visible in the Landsat image above isFort Hunt Park.
Once part of Washington’sRiver Farm, Fort Hunt was constructed in 1897 to bolster Washington D.C.’s defenses during a period of heightened tensions with Spain.
Across the Potomac River stands Fort Washington Park, home to ruins of a fort that was used to defend the city during the Mexican-American War and the American Civil War.
Across the river in Maryland lies another property with a connection to George and Martha Washington.
National Colonial FarminPiscataway Parkwas established in 1958 to preserve the couple’s beloved views across the Potomac.
Today, National Colonial Farm is a living farm museum and features several 18th-century heirloom varieties of herbs, flowers, and vegetables, including“Orinoco” tobacco, red May wheat, and Virginia white gourdseed corn.
NASA Earth Observatory images by Michala Garrison, using Landsat data from the U.S. Geological Survey. Map of Washington’s farm courtesy of the Library of Congress. Story by Adam Voiland.
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Lee, J.Experiencing Mount Vernon. Accessed February 14, 2025.
Library of CongressA map of General Washington’s farm of Mount Vernon from a drawing transmitted by the General. Accessed February 14, 2025.
The Mount Vernon Ladies’ AssociationArchaeologists Unearth 35 Glass Bottles from the 18th Century at George Washington’s Mount Vernon During Mansion Revitalization, Most Containing Perfectly Preserved Cherries and Berries.
Accessed February 14, 2025.
The Mount Vernon Ladies’ AssociationFarm structure. Accessed February 14, 2025.
The Mount Vernon Ladies’ AssociationGeorge Washington the Farmer. Accessed February 14, 2025.
The Mount Vernon Ladies’ AssociationThe Four Gardens at Mount Vernon. Accessed February 14, 2025.
NASALandsat science. Accessed February 14, 2025.
NASA HarvestOur Impact Areas. Accessed February 14, 2025.
National Park ServiceFort Hunt – History and Culture. Accessed February 14, 2025.
National Park ServiceFort Washington Park. Accessed February 14, 2025.
Wells, E. & Brown, R.An Annotated Checklist of the Vascular Plants in the Forest at Historic Mount Vernon, Virginia: A Legacy from the Past. Castanea, 65, 242-257.
Wine SpectatorPresidential Pits: Archaeologists Find 29 Bottles of Cherries and Berries at George Washington’s Mount Vernon. Accessed February 14, 2025.
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