When we moved from Southern California to Alexandria, Virginia in the early 1990s, we did what any normally curious people would do in this new territory. We explored the trove of historical sites that nearly inundate the region: the august memorials on The Mall; Civil War battlefields all over the place; and running or biking to Mt.
... Washington with their wives for dinner. The presidents and their spouses hopped on a helicopter bound for Mount Vernon, Washington's historic riverside home, for a private dinner one night before the leaders sit down for talks on a weighty agenda ...
According to the estate, the tree arrived to Mount Vernon in a half whiskey barrel as a present from then New York governor George Clinton: Adolph Ulrich Wertmuller/Metropolitan Museum of Art Extreme winds have toppled a tree, believed to be well over two centuries old, that was planted by former US president George Washington on his Mount Vernon estate. The 227-year-old Canadian hemlock which collapsed on Friday was planted by the founding father and first American president back in 1791.
When George Washington was sworn in as America's first president in 1789, his wife Martha did not accompany him to the nation's capital in Manhattan. Instead, she remained at the family estate in Mount Vernon, complaining to all who would listen, including to the household slaves, who were well accustomed to dealing with Mrs. Washington's moods - especially a teenage girl named Ona Judge.
