Beneath The Bricks – An Analysis Of Features Beneath The Brick Floor In George Washington’s Mount Vernon Cellar

Summary

This is a poster submission presented at the 2025 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

In 2023 the archaeology department at George Washington’s Mount Vernon undertook an intensive excavation of the mansion cellar. The cellar has been expanded twice in the eighteenth century and altered several times over the course of time. These changes have added various architectural components and changed others. While many of these changes were documented and known, certain elements of them were not fully understood such as the expansive drainage system or how the cellar’s rooms were utilized over the last two and a half centuries. The evolution of various architectural elements will be highlighted through the use of images, GIS, and drawings alongside the historic record. This poster will explore how newly uncovered architectural and archaeological features have enhanced the understanding of room evolution and function, including the location of the living quarters of Frank and Lucy Lee, an enslaved valet and cook.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for Historical Archaeology 2025   •
• 2025 SHA Poster Submissions

Keywords

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Nicole Haddow