{"nrhp_refnum":"00000259","name":"Washington, George, Boyhood Home Site","other_names":["Ferry Farm","44st174"],"category":"site","location":{"address":"237 King's Highway","address_restricted":false,"city":"Fredericksburg","county":"Stafford County","state":"VA","lat":38.294296057000054,"lon":-77.44922650658951,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2000-02-16","is_nhl":true,"nhl_designated_date":"2000-02-16","areas_of_significance":["Historic - Non-Aboriginal","Exploration/Settlement","Other"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"An archaeological site known as Ferry Farm, a 68.8-acre tract on the east bank of the Rappahannock River opposite Fredericksburg in Stafford County, Virginia, where the Washington family lived for more than thirty-three years in the 18th century.","why_significant":"The site holds archaeological remains of the Washington domestic complex, including the cellar of the Strother-Washington House that burned in 1740, along with service yards, ferry landing sites and a ferry road. It was the boyhood home of George Washington. Features linked to the Civil War, including Union pontoon bridge crossings, add to its importance.","narrative":"Ferry Farm is a 68.8-acre archaeological site on the east bank of the Rappahannock River, directly across from Fredericksburg, Virginia. The Washington family occupied the plantation for more than thirty-three years, and George Washington spent his boyhood there. Excavations have uncovered the cellar of the Strother-Washington House, a frame dwelling that, according to later archival research, burned on Christmas Eve, 1740. Other contributing features include a second 18th-century domestic structure, service yards, the area around an icehouse pit, a ferry road, the site of a small ferry house and two ferry landing sites. The landings were also used for Union pontoon bridges in 1862, 1863 and 1864. Much of the site remains uninvestigated, and the property is now a private historical and archaeological park. Its recognition rests on the archaeological evidence of the Washington household and on its link to Washington's early life.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Owned by a private association and operated as a historical and archaeological park and museum; the Colbert House burned in 1994, leaving its concrete cellar intact.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:57.807013-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/53/6791/41679153/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/00000259_NHL.pdf"},"photo":null,"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41679153","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":null},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/stafford-county/washington-george-boyhood-home-site-00000259/"}