Washington's Boyhood Home

Washington's Boyhood Home. Local Boy Made Good. , A young George Washington grew to manhood at his home on the broad upland terrace directly across the river. He moved there with his family in 1738, at the age of six. Augustine Washington, his father, owned several plantations and part of an iron foundry on Accokeek Creek. George's mother, Mary Ball Washington, became a widow in 1743, when her son was only 11. She would never remarry., Washington moved to Mount Vernon in 1754, which he inherited from his brother. His mother remained in Fredericksburg. Washington fought a revolution and helped found a nation, and finally returned to Mount Vernon to resume a life as a gentleman farmer. When Washington Irving wrote a biography of the first president, in 1855, the farm buildings across the way had disappeared, but not local memories of their native son., [Captions:] , The George Washington Foundation logo, which includes George Washington's signature and the Washington family crest, dating back to 12th century England., This artist's rendition (by L.H. Barker in 2008) shows the Washington house on the hill behind the ferry. The ferry itself was a modest, but critical river crossing and the Washington farm came to be known as Ferry Farm., Washington taught himself land surveying and secured his first public office, at age 17, as surveyor of Culpeper County., The rebuilt Washington home.