George Washington in Winchester

Q-4-c

In Mar. 1748, George Washington first visited Winchester, then known as Fredericktown, as a surveyor for Lord Fairfax. Washington purchased property in Winchester in 1753 and was an unsuccessful candidate for a House of Burgesses seat here in 1755. Winchester served as Washington's headquarters from 1755 to 1758 while he commanded Virginia troops on the western frontier during the French and Indian War. He was also involved with the construction of Fort Loudoun here and a series of other frontier forts authorized by the Virginia General Assembly during this period. He represented Frederick County in the Virginia House of Burgesses from 1758 to 1765.

Department of Historic Resources, 2005

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References/Bibliographic Citation:

William Wright Abbot, ed., The Papers of George Washington: Colonial Series (Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1983-); Stewart Bell, Jr., “Young George Washington on the Frontier in Old Frederick County,” Winchester-Frederick County Historical Journal 12 (2000): 1-3; Douglas Southall Freeman, George Washington: A Biography (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1948-1947, 7 vols), 1:202-203, 1:212-213, 2:226-231; Maral S. Kalbian, Frederick County, Virginia: History Through Architecture (Winchester, Va.: Winchester Printers, Inc., 1999), 2-3, 5; Cynthia Miller Leonard, compiler, The General Assembly of Virginia, July 30, 1619–January 11, 1978: A Bicentennial Register of Members (Richmond: Virginia State Library, 1978), 88, 91; Mark Mastromarino, Biography of George Washington, http://gwpapers.virginia.edu/faq/washbio.html, 28 December 2004; Garland R. Quarles, George Washington and Winchester, Virginia, 1748-1758…in Winchester-Frederick County Historical Papers (Winchester, Va.: Winchester-Frederick County Historical Society, 1974); Edward Redmond, George Washington: Surveyor and Mapmaker, http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/gmdhtml/gwmaps.html#B, 28 December 2004; Jack D. Warren, Jr., “George Washington Biography: A Brief Biography,” http://www.mountvernon.org/learn/meet_george/index.cfm/ss/21/, 28 December 2004.