Samuel Vaughan, Plan of Mount Vernon

Maps

Samuel Vaughan, an Englishman who immigrated to America, visited Mount Vernon in August 1787. In his journal, he described Mount Vernon and made the earliest-known sketch of the grounds. He later mailed George Washington a more detailed and finished plan of the estate (pictured here) based on his earlier sketch. The drawing is an invaluable resource for reconstructing what Mount Vernon looked like in George and Martha Washington’s time (image courtesy of Mount Vernon Ladies' Association).

Samuel Vaughan

1787

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Fry-Jefferson Map

Map of Virginia

One of the most famous maps produced in America before the Revolution, the Fry-Jefferson map was a survey of the Virginia/Maryland border. It was drawn in 1752 by surveyors Joshua Fry annd Peter Jefferson (father of Thomas Jefferson). The area containing the locations where Martha Washington lived is visible on the map: Chestnut Grove on the Pamunkey River in New Kent County (where Martha was born); White House, the Custis plantation downriver from Chestnut Grove; and Mount Vernon (image courtesy of the Library of Virginia).

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