{"nrhp_refnum":"03000739","name":"Washington's, George, Distillery and Gristmill","other_names":["Vdhr# 029-0330","44fx2262"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"5512 Mount Vernon Memorial Hwy.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Lorton","county":"Fairfax (city and county)","state":"VA","lat":38.71329978400004,"lon":-77.13063352182265,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2003-08-08","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Industry","Historic - Non-Aboriginal","Entertainment/Recreation","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A 6.65-acre historic site in Lorton, Fairfax County, Virginia, about three miles from Mount Vernon, containing a reconstructed 1932-1933 stone gristmill on George Washington's 1770-1771 foundations, a reconstructed miller's house, mill races, and the archaeological site of his 1797 distillery.","why_significant":"The site preserves the location of Washington's commercial milling and whiskey operations, which by 1799 were the most profitable of his Mount Vernon pursuits. It holds archaeological potential, and the 1932-1933 reconstruction produced Virginia's first historical state park, using archaeological and documentary evidence. The listing also recognizes the Colonial Revival design and the reconstruction itself.","narrative":"Located near Dogue Creek in Lorton, Virginia, about three miles from Mount Vernon, this 6.65-acre site was the center of George Washington's commercial milling and distilling. His gristmill dates to 1770-1771, and in 1797 he added a large five-still distillery. By 1799 the operation produced 11,000 gallons of whiskey a year and was the most profitable of his Mount Vernon ventures. The buildings were lost by the mid-nineteenth century. In 1932 Virginia bought the tract as part of the Washington bicentennial. Landscape engineer R.E. Burson led the reconstruction of a Colonial Revival sandstone mill on the original foundations, along with a miller's house and mill races, completed in 1933. Millworks from a circa 1818 mill near Front Royal were reused. The result became Virginia's first historical state park. The distillery remains an archaeological site, and the property is now operated as a museum.","period_of_significance":"1770 - 1808; 1932-1933","architect_builder":"R.E. Burson","architectural_style":"Late 19th and 20th Century Revivals: Colonial Revival","criteria":["A","C","D"],"status_note":"Used as a museum; the gristmill and miller's house (a gift shop) are reconstructions, and the distillery survives as an archaeological site.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:52:02.343743-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/45/6805/41680545/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/03000739.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/03000739/ed2e587a70-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/03000739/ed2e587a70-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 2.0","author":"jimsohn1 from Alexandria, Virginia, USA","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:George_Washington%27s_Gristmill_(7403551024).jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">jimsohn1 from Alexandria, Virginia, USA</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY 2.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:George_Washington%27s_Gristmill_(7403551024).jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41680545","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Washington%27s_Gristmill","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5545904"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/fairfax/washingtons-george-distillery-and-gristmill-03000739/"}