George Washington's Gristmill

In 1771, George Washington replaced a deteriorated gristmill that his father, Augustine, may have erected as early as the 1730s. The new mill ground grain from Mount Vernon and neighboring farms, and was outfitted with two pairs of millstones. In 1791, Washington installed improvements that had been recently developed and patented by Oliver Evans, of Delaware. Other structures at the site included a stone whiskey distillery, a malthouse, a cooperage, a miller's cottage, and slave quarters. Washington's mill was razed around 1850, and in 1933 the Commonwealth of Virginia built a reconstruction on the original site.