Thread by @CurtisSChin

At @MountVernon.
DYK: #GWMountVernon is owned & maintained in trust for the people of the US by the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association, a private/non-profit organization.
Join me & help preserve George Washington's home & legacy.
👉MountVernon.org
mountvernon.org/the-estate-gar…

Get ready for a #TwitterTour…

The mansion is closed due to #Covid19, but perhaps a 📷 or two from the grounds of the home of America’s first president, George Washington, & perhaps the most visited historic home in the USA: Mount Vernon @MountVernon in Virginia.
#StayTuned!

Ok... let’s get started.
A #TwitterTour of Mount Vernon #GWMountVernon @MountVernon 🇺🇸 to follow…
Thread. The home of George & Martha Washington & the most popular historic home in America.

Note: The mansion itself is temporarily closed but check out: mountvernon.org/virtualtour

#TwitterTour: First up, a leisurely walk along the Potomac River on the Mount Vernon Trail to mile zero: and the entrance to @MountVernon
#GWMountVernon

A reminder: #facecoverings / #facemasks & #socialdistancing required. For your safety & the safety of others. At #GWMountVernon @MountVernon. And if you’ve a fever or #COVID19 symptoms or known exposure to a #Covid_19 case in the last 14 days, 🙅🏻‍♂️🛑 #noentry. #signsofourtimes

Getting oriented.
The Ford Orientation Center at Mount Vernon, Virginia.
DYK: @MountVernon was George Washington’s home for almost 45 years. Explore the mansion online bat mountvernon.org/virtualtour #GWMountVernon

Hello Mount Vernon! The mansion is closed, but still lots to explore on the estate’s grounds. Map: mtv-main-assets.mountvernon.org/files/resource… #GWMountVernon @MountVernon #Virginia #USA 🇺🇸

The approach...
En route 🚶🏻‍♂️to the big house: Mount Vernon.

DYK: George Washington was born Feb. 22, 1732 near Pope’s Creek, Virginia. In 1735, he moved to Little Hunting Creek Plantation, which is later renamed Mount Vernon. @MountVernon #GWMountVernon

The view from the #selfie stand at Mount Vernon, Virginia.
🏠😷🤳

This former US Ambassador says, “Practice #safeselfie.” 🙄
@MountVernon #GWMountVernon

Admit it. It looks smaller than you thought: George Washington’s Mount Vernon, in #Virginia.
#GWMountVernon
@MountVernon

FYI: the mansion is furnished & decorated to look as it did in 1799, the year George Washington died.
Explore the interior via mountvernon.org/virtualtour

Picture perfect.
Tune in tomorrow as this Twitter Tour ↕️ takes in more of George Washington’s Mount Vernon estate. #AmericanHistory #historichomes #GWMountVernon #Virginia #USA 🇺🇸

And we’re back…
So great to see George Washington’s Mount Vernon home open again. (Just the grounds for now). & how great to be Visitor No.1 today. That’s one added benefit of being up early for a 6:10 am TV appearance w/ @MariaBartiromo. First at the entrance 🙌 #GWMountVernon

Yes, #FlattenTheCurve: @MountVernon reminds us: #facemasks & #socialdistancing.

But, to flatten the lawn?
This sign at #GWMountVernon says via “a large stone roller & cut with scythes by skilled enslaved laborers.” 🤔

More to come in this thread on slavery & George Washington.

#TwitterTour. DYK: The Mount Vernon grounds includes gardens, a demonstration farm, Washingtion’s tomb & a blacksmith shop, slave quarters & other buildings. At @MountVernon it is clear that enslaved & hired workers were essential to George Washington’s estate’s success.

We interrupt this Twitter Tour for a @MountVernon #July4 flashback. Happy #IndependenceDay everyone. Stay safe! #USA

Watch “Independence Fireworks” on #Vimeo 👉 vimeo.com/224508465 #GWMountVernon #MountVernon

Just a reminder: if George Washington can wear a #facemask, you can too. 🇺🇸😷Hello from Mount Vernon, Virginia. @MountVernon #MountVernon #GWMountVernon

#quote. “Knowledge I in every country the surest basis of public happiness.” ~George Washington

Room with a view? Meet #homewithaview. At Mount Vernon in Virginia, overlooking a view that George Washington once enjoyed of the Potomac River & beyond into Maryland. @MountVernon @PicPublic #GWMountVernon #MountVernon

📸: #Martha & the #grandkids. The family that masks together thrives together.... #Facemasks on display at George Washington’s #MountVernon estate. #BeSmart #StaySafe #WearAMask

#quote. “Knowledge is in every country the surest basis of public happiness.” ~George Washington

I’m back. This #TwitterTour of the grounds of George Washington’s estate, aka #MountVernon, resumes. DYK: during the US #CivilWar, Mount Vernon remained neutral territory, where the ideals of Washington could be celebrated by all. Read more here👉mountvernon.org/preservation/m…

At Mount Vernon—And we are headed left (so to speak): to the Upper Garden, which was first established in the 1760s. Read more here 👉mountvernon.org/library/digita… @MountVernon #mtvernon #GWMountVernon (The greenhouse is a reconstruction.)

I am reminded: “Earth laughs in flowers…” ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Indeed. You might know that line; but read the entire poem, “Hamatreya,” for its larger meaning. Of #Life, #Death & #Hubris.

📸: at the Upper Garden, Mount Vernon. mountvernon.org/library/digita… #MtVernon #GWMountVernon

More scenes from the “Upper Garden” — one of four gardens at George Washington’s Mount Vernon.

Read about them all here 👉mountvernon.org/the-estate-gar… #GWMountVernon #MountVernon #Virginia

Our #TwitterTour moves forward to a range of outer buildings that underscore the reality that it was enslaved & hired workers who labored to make George Washington’s 18th century plantation & estate successful. Read more here 👉mountvernon.org/library/digita…

#MountVernon #GWMountVernon

📸: Blacksmith shop & other outer buildings at George Washington’s Mount Vernon. #GWMountVernon

DYK: Most of the smiths who worked for Washington were enslaved, except for a Dutch (or German) immigrant named Dominicus Gubner.
mountvernon.org/the-estate-gar…

The “front door”—or at least where carriages would roll up to in days of old. Note: the original house George Washington expanded on is in the center.

Look closely, the mansion is actually not symmetrical due to a staircase. Check out the 5 windows above the door. #MountVernon

We pause this #TwitterTour of Mount Vernon for some GW #trivia: Why didn’t George Washington sign the Declaration of Independence?

Watch: for the answer.
#GWMountVernon #MountVernon #foundingfathers @MountVernon #quiznight

Panorama. Mount Vernon. Virginia. The home of George & Martha Washington. Overlooking the Potomac River.

#MountVernon #GWMountVernon @PicPublic

Every home needs a chair out front to watch the world go by.
#weekend #weekendvibes

Stay safe. @MountVernon #MountVernon #GWMountVernon

Beyond the quiet of the grounds today. Signs of the reality that was also George Washington’s Mount Vernon: “Dolsey & Vina, two enslaved laundresses, worked up to six days a week washing, drying & ironing laundry that belonged to the Washington family & their guests.”

#MtVernon

Our #TwitterTour of George Washington’s Mount Vernon continues, onward to the Lower (Kitchen) Garden.

“The kitchen garden was overseen by Mrs. Washington, & maintained by enslaved & hired gardeners.”

Read more about slavery at #GWMountVernon here 👉mountvernon.org/george-washing…

Next up: leaving the mansion behind us for now, the pathway leads to George & Martha Washington’s family tomb as well as to the Slave Memorial at Mount Vernon.

But first, pausing to look up. Whoa. A tree planted by George Washington in 1785.

With the mansion now on our left, a short walk down the not-so-long-but-winding road takes us to the original Washington family vault. George Washington was interred here after his death at Mount Vernon in 1799 at the age of 67, & moved to a nearby new family tomb in 1831.

The final resting place of George and Martha Washington. Mount Vernon, Virginia.

#respect #remembrance #foundingfather #USA 🇺🇸 Read more here ➡️ mountvernon.org/plan-your-visi… #MountVernon #GWMoumtVernon

At Mount Vernon, Virginia:
#remembrance

“Within this Enclosure
Rest
the remains of
Genl. George Washington.”

Let us not forget all who built America. 🇺🇸 The Slave Memorial & Cemetery at Mount Vernon, Virginia. @MountVernon #MountVernon #GWMountVernon

#Remembrance.

Slave Cemetery at Mount Vernon, Virginia. Read more about slavery at #MountVernon here 👉 mountvernon.org/george-washing… This too is our history.

#GWMountVernon #GeorgeWashington @MountVernon

DYK: at the time of George Washington’s death, the Mount Vernon estate’s enslaved population consisted of 317 people. Read more about them here. mountvernon.org/george-washing…

#SayTheirNames #thistooisAmerica #AmericanHistory #MountVernon #GWMountVernon @MountVernon

And that wraps today’s segment of this #TwitterTour of George Washington’s Mount Vernon. Tune in this week for more.

Mansion✔️
Washington Tomb✔️
Slave Memorial✔️
Pioneer Farm
Wharf
Forest Trail

Thanks for 🚶🏽‍♀️ following🚶🏻‍♂️along…

#Map: mountvernon.org/the-estate-gar…
#GWMountVernon

And we’re back. This #TwitterTour of George Washington’s Mount Vernon estate continues. Join me as we step inside…

@MountVernon #GWMountVernon #MtVernon
#Virginia @VisitVirginia

DYK: Limited tours of George Washington’s Mount Vernon mansion are now available. This follows the re-opening of the estate’s grounds a few weeks ago. Timed tickets are required. Can’t make it here? No worries. This #TwitterTour continues...

#MtVernon #GWMountVernon @MountVernon

#TwitterTour: First up. The “New Room” at Mount Vernon—the last built & grandest of George Washington’s additions to his mansion.

Take a virtual tour here 👉mountvernon.org/the-estate-gar… #MountVernon #GWMountVernon

#TwitterTour: Mount Vernon.
The New Room.
Interested in the design, construction & furnishing? (1774-1799)

Then, have a read here 👉mountvernon.org/the-estate-gar… #GeorgeWashington

#TwitterTour: Mount Vernon
What’s for dinner…
George Washington ate here.

Pics from the #green dining room, the inside of the front door in the central passage way, the front parlor & more. (Upstairs is, for now, off limits). For details, read: mountvernon.org/the-estate-gar…

#TwitterTour: Mount Vernon

Some of us might hang car keys by the front door. Then, there’s George Washington. Check out the #key 🔑 to the #Bastille prison & read why it’s hanging here. mountvernon.org/library/digita…

In the hood? Mask up & come see it in person. At #GWMountVernon

#TwitterTour: Mount Vernon

The Downstairs Guest Bedroom.
mountvernon.org/library/digita… Living at #MountVernon after the Revolutionary War: George & Martha Washington, 2 Custis grandchildren, nephew George Augustine Washington & wife, & 2 secretaries Col. Humphreys & Tobias Lear.

#TwitterTour: Mount Vernon

The study. This was where George Washington shaved, washed & dressed as well as where he conducted military, business & political affairs.

Learn more here 👉 And check out the “Fan Chair.”
mountvernon.org/library/digita… #GWMountVernon

#TwitterTour: Mount Vernon

Before we head outside, a look back at the dining room & at
The Butler’s Pantry. All about the #plating…

Food from the outside kitchen might well have been plated in the butler’s pantry before being served. Read more here. mountvernon.org/the-estate-gar…

#TwitterTour. Onward.
With only the 1st floor now open, we head on out of the Mount Vernon main house via a covered walkway to the kitchen.

The descriptions underscore how enslaved labor were the backbone of #GWMountVernon. Read more here. mountvernon.org/the-estate-gar…

#TwitterTour: Mount Vernon

Pausing for questions: & ensuring our guide answers the 🔑 question you (or your kids) want answered…🚽:

“Where’d George Washington go to the bathroom”?

Stay tuned for the answer.
Hint: it’s a necessity.
@MountVernon #MountVernon #GWMountVernon

#TwitterTour: Mount Vernon.

Q: Where’d George Washington go to the bathroom? (& by bathroom we mean #toilet…)
A: “The Necessary” @ George Washington's Mount Vernon

The details 👉 mountvernon.org/the-estate-gar… & chamber pots. #GWMountVernon 💩🙈 #youknowyouwantedtoknow

And it’s a wrap for this segment of my #TwitterTour of George & Martha Washington’s Mount Vernon estate & home. Stay tuned for more in the days ahead.

And in the meantime, as our Virginia Governor @GovernorVA says: #WearAMask & #SocialDistance.

Happy Weekend all!
Stay safe.

And we’re back…
#AftertheStorm
📷: MountVernon, Virginia @PicPublic @capitalweather

DYK: in addition to being a military general & the #USA’s 🇺🇸 first president, George Washington was also a visionary farmer. Read more here 👉 mountvernon.org/the-estate-gar… & join in as my amble on down 🚶🏻‍♂️ to the river & #TwitterTour of #GWMountVernon continues.
📸: #PioneerFarm

10 Facts About that George Washington farming innovation, the 16-sided treading barn.

Factoid 1 ➡️ The 16-sided barn was designed by George Washington in 1792 & constructed by skilled enslaved workers between 1792-1794.
The present reconstruction ⬇️, 1996
mountvernon.org/the-estate-gar…

This too was the reality of George Washington’s #MountVernon: slavery.

Here, a reconstruction of a one-room log structure. A 225-sq feet space might have housed up to 8 people. Barracks housed others.

Read more here ➡️ mountvernon.org/george-washing…

“Slave cabin.”

Let us not forget: The threat of physical & psychological violence underpinned slavery.

Read:“#Resistance & Punishment” at George Washington's Mount Vernon.
mountvernon.org/george-washing…

Content via the exhibition: “Lives Bound Together: Slavery at #GWMountVernon”

Onward, down the path🚶🏻‍♂️to the wharf @ #MountVernon.

DYK. In addition to its value as a trade route, the Potomac river supplied Washington w/ one of his most important commodities: 🐟 #fish. In 1772 alone, his fisheries reaped 1.3m herring & >11k shad. 👉mountvernon.org/the-estate-gar…

This leisurely #TwitterTour of George Washington’s Mount Vernon estate continues…

Mansion✔️
Washington Tomb✔️
Slave Memorial✔️
Pioneer Farm ✔️
Wharf ✔️
Forest Trail

Thanks for🚶🏽‍♀️ following🚶🏻‍♂️along…
@MountVernon #MountVernon #Virginia mountvernon.org/plan-your-visi…

#GWMountVernon
🇺🇸 Restored in 1991, the Wharf at Mount Vernon was dedicated that year by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain 🇬🇧.

DYK: In the 18th-century, waterways like the Potomac River were major travel & commerce routes & key food sources. mountvernon.org/the-estate-gar…

Onward. #IntoTheWoods.
In this #TwitterTour of #GWMountVernon.

The Forest Trail meanders through one of the small woodlands left on the estate, giving visitors a feel for the natural setting of Mount Vernon when George Washington lived here. mountvernon.org/the-estate-gar… @MountVernon

A reminder. For 1000s of years before the Washington family acquired this land in 1674, Native Americans lived here: #Dogue #Patawomeke #Piscataway

DYK: On one of the hilltops along the Forest Trail, archaeologists have excavated various Native American artifacts. #GWMountVernon

George Washington, early conservationist & #sustainability advocate? In search of that balance of forest & field, wildlife & livestock, woods & agriculture, 230+ years ago.

📷: Milking Devon cattle—among the animals at Mount Vernon today. mountvernon.org/george-washing…

Homeward-bound, as this #TwitterTour of Mount Vernon nears an end.

Great seeing & sharing with you 📷 stops at the:
Mansion✔️
Washington Tomb✔️
Slave Memorial✔️
Pioneer Farm ✔️
Wharf ✔️
Forest Trail ✔️

Stay tuned for a quick stop back at the big house, museum & giftshop…

“#Virginia Is for (#History) Lovers.”

One reason: beautiful historic, heritage homes like that of America’s 1st president: George Washington’s Mount Vernon estate. #GWMountVernon @MountVernon. #NowOpen.

Plan your visit 👉mountvernon.org/plan-your-visi… #facemasks #SocialDistancing

Before I left Mount Vernon, I stopped for a delightful chat w/ “Martha Washington.”

DYK: Martha Dandridge Custis was a young widow w/ two kids when she met George Washington.

Learn more about America’s first First Lady here 👉mountvernon.org/george-washing…

DYK: Though George & Martha Washington never had any biological children together, they raised several at Mount Vernon, including #MarthaWashington’s two surviving children from her first marriage. Read more about their family here. Via #GWMountVernon
mountvernon.org/george-washing…

Underscoring how life unfolds in unexpected ways…

While #MarthaWashington might have envisioned a quiet #MountVernon life, she spent months each yr from 1775-1783 at the Continental Army’s encampments, & was inoculated for smallpox in 1776. mountvernon.org/george-washing… #ArmyWives 🙌

#QuizNight! #Quiz Day:
We pause this TwitterTour of #GWMountVernon for a #MountVernon challenge: name those flags!

Answers: 👉revolutionarywar.us/flags/
#flags #AmericanRevolution #history #civics #education #yousayyouwantarevolution #GWMountVernon

#Remembrance & #Requiem.
Not just of/for people, but of/for trees too.

ICYMI: from here at #GWMountVernon, A fallen 240-year-old tree planted by George Washington gets a farewell sendoff. The Washington Post’s @michaelruane reports. washingtonpost.com/history/2020/0…
📷: Matt McClain

A look back at: Mount Vernon on the Potomac.
Virginia. USA. 🇺🇸
#GWMountVernon
@PicPublic

This #TwitterTour of George Washington’s Mount Vernon continues.

En route to the museum, education center & parking lot but first, the “garage.” While there is a 🐎 stables, check out these “#vehicles” from a bygone era.

#GWMountVernon #MtVernon @MountVernon

Hoping this little TwitterTour of the Mount Vernon estate gave you an added perspective on the #USA’s first president, George Washington.

And speaking of #perspective, check out this artwork at the entrance to the education center: from all angles…
mountvernon.org/the-estate-gar…

Moving on to highlight an exhibit or two (or 3) at the museum & education center at #MountVernon.

Q: How many #mountains ⛰ in the United States are named after George Washington?

0-10
11-25
26-40
40+

A: In the video below.

#MuseumFromHome: I went to Mount Vernon so U don’t have to (but go when you can…)

In case you wondered, 😬 George Washington’s “wooden dentures” 😳 were actually made of cow & human teeth as well as elephant ivory. 😱

#GWMountVernon #MountVernon #hardtounlearnthat #dentistry

#MuseumFromHome: how do #Virginia museums address the reality that many of America’s founding fathers incl. George Washington built their wealth via slave labor?

Some of the #MountVernon Museum & Education Center exhibits👇 on slavery. (1/2)

Read more 👉mountvernon.org/george-washing…

#MuseumFromHome: how do #Virginia museums address the reality that many of America’s founding fathers incl. George Washington built their wealth via slave labor?

Some of the #MountVernon Museum & Education Center exhibits👇 on slavery. (2/2)

Read more 👉mountvernon.org/george-washing…

#MuseumFromHome: have a look at one of the most famous, & perhaps most accurate, images of George Washington.

Watch “Houdon Bust 360” on #Vimeo vimeo.com/155036504?ref=…

Clay bust via Jean-Antoine Houdon, 1785.

At #GWMountVernon #MountVernon @MountVernon

#MuseumFromHome: ready for my close-up. George Washington. Via Jean-Antoine Houdon in 1785. On display at the entrance of the @MountVernon museum & education center in #Virginia. 🇺🇸

DYK: 4 of the first 5, & 8 to date, US presidents were born in Virginia. virginia.org/birthplacepres…

Have a good Sunday everyone!
📸: Mount Vernon, Virginia.
Home to America’s first president, George Washington.
@MountVernon #GWMountVernon #abeautifuldayintheneighborhood

And we’re wrapping up this #TwitterTour of Mount Vernon, the historic home & estate of George & Martha Washington, on another beautiful Virginia summer day. But first a stop at the gift shop…

Museum & Education Center ✔️
Shuttle ✔️
Shopping & Dining
Restrooms ✔️
Exit & Parking

#TwitterTip! Never too early to do your #ChristmasShopping. And one silver lining in the age of the coronavirus: even more #onlineshopping options, including from here at historic @MountVernon #GWMountVernon

Check out the shops, as I did, at Mount Vernon👉shops.mountvernon.org

Where my life in Virginia & SE Asia align: amidst the many #MadeInUSA 🇺🇸 products at #GWMountVernon, found these George Washington (r) & Alexander #Hamilton (l) keychains—in support of livelihoods of craftspeople in Northern #Thailand shops.mountvernon.org/products/gw-st… #fairtrade #Kamibashi

Headed home. & Just outside the entrance/exit of Mount Vernon, this monument marks the start of the #PurpleHeart trail. Read more here 👉purpleheart.org/our-services/p…

DYK: George Washington established the Purple Heart (Badge Military Merit) decoration. 📸: #August7 — #PurpleHeartDay

Nightfall on the Potomac River.
📸: On the way back from @MountVernon #GWMountVernon on the George Washington Memorial Parkway. DYK: The 25-mile-long #GWparkway runs along the south bank of the Potomac from Mount Vernon to McLean, Virginia. nps.gov/gwmp/index.htm @NPSNewsDC

And so concludes this #TwitterTour! / with a RT of a pic from how we began. 📸: here at Mount Vernon @MountVernon #GWMountVernon, Virginia, #USA 🇺🇸.

Join in & help preserve George Washington's home & legacy.
👉MountVernon.org

@threadreaderapp Unroll!