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John and Mercy Chew kept a tavern in Alexandria; GW’s “Club” was the total charges for his entertainment at the tavern.

Hanover Court House, now Hanover, is located fifteen miles north of Richmond.

Chiswell’s ordinary was on the road in New Kent County, about fifteen [183] miles from Williamsburg and less than that from the residence of Martha Custis at the White House plantation on the ... Read More

William Pickett’s ordinary was the first public house north of Falmouth between Fredericksburg and Winchester. Martin Hardin’s ordinary was about 16 miles above Pickett’s.

The City Tavern, which Daniel Smith opened in 1774, was a popular place for members of Congress to meet and dine after their sessions. Standing on the west side of Second Street above Walnut, it ... Read More

GW dined at Havre de Grace on Friday, May 11, 1787, and again on Thursday, September 20, 1787.

Located on Occoquan Creek, Colchester was a settlement of Scottish merchants approximately eight miles from Mount Vernon.

John Hollis (d. 1768) ran an ordinary in Fairfax County near the Loudoun County line.

Richard Coleman and his son John ran an ordinary on the Leesburg road at Sugar Land Run.

Benjamin Hubbard’s ordinary was in Caroline County on the road from Williamsburg to Fredericksburg, about midway between the two towns.

Arell's tavern was located in Alexandria, Virginia, and was owned by Richard Arell.

Coleman’s tavern was at Caroline Court House, just off the main road and halfway between Fredericksburg and Todd’s Bridge. The tavern was owned by Francis Coleman ( ... Read More

On 18 Dec. 1759, Nathan Hughes applied for a license to keep an ordinary in Alexandria, and in December 1760 he and his wife mortgaged their property to Carlyle & Dalton.

The College of New Jersey (now Princeton University) was founded in 1746, and had as its main objective to train ministers. John Witherspoon, whom GW had known since before the Revolution, served ... Read More

Hunting Creek tobacco warehouse was one of four public tobacco warehouses in Fairfax County, Virginia. The others were Pohick, Falls of Potomac, and Colchester. Each had two inspectors appointed ... Read More

Joseph Combs operated a ferry across the Shenandoah River in Frederick County, and in 1759 he received a license to have an ordinary at his ferry landing.

The springs referred to as "Augusta Springs" included the Hot Springs, or Little Warm Springs as it was then called, in Augusta County, Va. (now Bath County, Va.). Augusta Springs is now ... Read More

Corotoman was a plantation on the Rappahannock River in the Northern Neck. Charles Carter (1732–1806) inherited both the Corotoman plantation and Shirley plantation on the James River.

Acquila Johnson’s ordinary was in Caroline County about twenty miles below Fredericksburg.

Christopher Ayscough and his wife Anne (both died c.1772) opened a tavern on Francis Street about 100 yards south of the Capitol in Williamsburg, Virginia. Before Governor Fauquier died in March, ... Read More

Thomas Dansie ran an ordinary and a ferry, both of which were located on the King William side of the Pamunkey River. GW often stopped at Dansie's ordinary when travelling between Mount ... Read More

Charles Julian and his wife kept a tavern in Fredericksburg.

GW in 1795 and 1796 bought a total of twenty-five shares in the Bank of Alexandria, fifteen for $200 a share and ten for $197 a share  (see Ledger C, 36).

The Dismal Swamp, a densely wooded swamp, covered over 2,000 square miles in southeastern Virginia and northeastern North Carolina between Chesapeake Bay and Albemarle Sound. It is geologically ... Read More

Kingsmill plantation, the home of Lewis Burwell of James City County, Va., was situated on the James River about four miles southeast of Williamsburg.  

Belvoir, George William Fairfax's estate, was located on the west bank of the Potomac River not far from Mount Vernon.

See also: Fields, Mason Faulkner. "Belvoir." The Digital ... Read More

Thomas Doncastle’s tavern in James City County was on the road from Claiborne’s ferry about fifteen miles from Williamsburg.

John Laidler (d. 1773) ran a ferry on the Potomac that ran from a site near Lower Cedar Point in Charles County, Maryland. Laidler’s was the major ferry crossing to the Virginia shore on that part ... Read More

A shipping town on the Patuxent River in Maryland, Benedict was about thirty miles south and east of Mount Vernon.

Dumfries, a town on Quantico Creek in lower Prince William County, is about twenty-five miles down the Potomac from Alexandria.

Berkeley County was formed in 1772 from the northern part of Frederick County, Va., and is now part of West Virginia.

Leesburg was the county seat of Loudoun County. It was founded in 1758.

Berkeley Springs, also known in the eighteenth century as Warm Springs or Bath, is in present-day Morgan County, West Virginia.

James Rumsey worked on building a house for GW at Bath from ... Read More

Run by John Evans, Jr., Evan's Ordinary was a tavern located in Essex County, Virginia. In 1769 Evan's, Jr, offered it for sale.

Little Falls Quarter was a plantation on the Rappahannock River which was owned by GW's mother Mary Ball Washington, but had been rented to GW, along with most of her slaves, after she moved to ... Read More

Originally located in King George County, Va., Falmouth is now a part of Stafford County, Va. Dixon's Warehouse, a warehouse appointed for the inspection of tobacco, was located in Falmouth.

John Lomax’s tavern was on the corner of Princess and Water streets in Alexandria, Virginia.

James Magill’s (McGill’s) tavern was on the road to Fort Cumberland from Winchester in Frederick County, Virginia.

GW owned a 1,644–acre tract, known as Washington’s Bottom, in Fayette county.  

George Mann (1753–1795) operated Mann’s tavern in Annapolis, Maryland. It was also referred to as City Hotel.

In 1772, Fincastle County was formed from Botetourt County on the north side of the Great Kanawha River. Later, in 1789, a section of Botetourt County was added to Montgomery County.

GW's Ferry farm consisted of two tracts purchased in 1769 and 1770 from John Posey and John West, Jr.  A short distance down the Potomac River from the Mount Vernon mansion, the farm was located ... Read More

Marlborough, located on the Potomac River in Stafford County, Va., was the Mercer family estate.

Fincastle County, Va., was created in 1772 from Botetourt County on the north side of the Great Kanawha River. 

Bruin's ordinary was run by Bryan Bruin who lived in Winchester, Virginia.

Alexander Finnie bought the Raleigh Tavern in Williamsburg in 1749 and sold it in 1752 but continued, at least intermittently, to be a tavern keeper in the town until his death in 1769. When GW ... Read More

This ordinary was located in Winchester, Virginia, and was run by Philip Bush (c.1733-1812)

The Four Mile Run tract was located on the north side of Four Mile Run, a stream that enters the Potomac River north of Alexandria. While GW began surveying the land on 22 April 1785, it was not  ... Read More

On 5 Aug. 1785, GW spent 6 shillings at a "Tavern at Monocasy" (Ledger B, 204). "Monocasy" likely refers to the Monocacy River, since GW's diary for 5 Aug. 1785 indicates that he "Dined at a Dutch ... Read More

The 130 mile Monongahela River flows generally north in Pennsylvania and joins the Allegheny at Pittsburgh to form the Ohio. The Cheat River enters the Monongahela from the right, or east, near ... Read More

Mrs. Penelope Manley French owned land that lay between the Ferry and Dogue Run farms. GW bought French’s tract and another tract lying between the two farms in 1786.

Washington took possession of the 519–acre tract in Montgomery County, Md. in April 1793. The land was one half of Woodstock Manor which John Mercer’s wife, Sophia Sprigg Mercer, had inherited ... Read More

Cameron was the name of the settlement or neighborhood which began at the junction of several major roads leading into Alexandria, between one and two miles west of town, and thence extending ... Read More

Gardner's ordinary was owned by William Gardner. He secured a license to operate an ordinary in Fairfax County on 15 April 1765.

The Mount Vernon estate, located on the banks of the Potomac River in Fairfax County, Virginia, was the home of George and Martha Washington.

See also: "Growth of Mount Vernon." The ... Read More

GW and and his brother-in-law Fielding Lewis purchased a tract of slightly more than 1,000 acres of Dismal Swamp land which was in Gates County, North Carolina in 1766.

Nanjemoy was a village in Charles County, Maryland. It was described by an English traveler who saw it in 1774, as "a small Village of about five houses" lying west of Nanjemoy Creek. ... Read More

Originally part of Frederick County, Maryland, Georgetown was formed in 1751 as a port on the Potomac River. It is now a part of Washington, D.C.

GW, Fielding Lewis, and Dr. Thomas Walker purchased land from Joseph Jones and James Wright in 1766 that was located in what was then known as Nansemond County, on or near Nansemond River. That ... Read More

Castle William was an island fortress in Boston Harbor. It was located on Castle Island that lay a short distance off Dorchester Point at the eastern end of Dorchester Neck. Castle William became ... Read More

New Town, now called Stephens City, is in Frederick County, about 7 miles south of Winchester. It was known as Stephensburg.

Grayson's ordinary was run by Benjamin Grayson. On 19 Sept. 1764 he was granted a license by the Fairfax County court to keep an ordinary in Alexandria.

Newcastle, also spelled New Castle, was an important colonial trading center located on the Pamunkey River in eastern Hanover County, northeast of Richmond.

Greenbrier County was formed in October 1777 from Botetourt and Montgomery counties in Virginia. It is now in the southeast portion of West Virginia. GW owned land in that county.

Charlestown, Md., originally a port on the Northeast River, was the county seat of Cecil County, Md., until 1786, when the courthouse was moved to Elkton (Head of  Elk). GW had breakfast there on ... Read More

Hampton is on the bay at Hampton Roads.

Chester, Pennsylvania is at the point where Chester Creek flows into the Delaware River, about three miles above Marcus Hook, and about fourteen miles below Philadelphia.

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