George Washington's Ferry Farm and Historic Kenmore

08/24/2026

Can you shut the box?📦

Shut the Box, also sometimes called Batten Down the Hatches, was a common dice game played in the 18th century. Sometimes played in taverns and on ships by sailors, it was often a gambling game played by one to four players at a time. 🎲

The game uses addition, probability, and a bit of strategy for the end goal to shut all of your numbered boxes. The player with the least amount of points left on their boxes ends the game as the winner.

Try your hand at Shut the Box and many other period games at 18th Century Game Night at Ferry Farm this Friday, August 28 from 5-7pm!

Tickets available for purchase here: https://www.simpletix.com/e/18th-century-game-night-tickets-281720

08/23/2026

🚙Sunday is usually a heavy travel day in these parts of Virginia, with folks coming back from the beach or from vacations up north or down south.

Likewise, George Washington traveled extensively throughout his lifetime, one such moment beautifully captured by local artist Charles Fromer, "Returning to Ferry Farm," showing the father of our country as a young man returning home.

08/22/2026

🌿Kinda chic to ... have figs on your property. Among the hundreds of plants, shrubs, and trees on the grounds of Historic Kenmore, every summer sees a perpetual harvest of figs from several trees around the property. This variety is Ficus carica Brown Turkey, one of George Washington’s favorite varieties, also grown at George Washington’s Mount Vernon.

08/21/2026

📣Calling all actors! 🎬

Auditions coming up at Historic Kenmore on Saturday, September 12, for Twelfth Night at Kenmore: A Dramatic Performance.

Twelfth Night at Kenmore will take place January 9, 10, & 11, 2027.

Auditioning for these characters:

Nancy Alexander Lewis
Wife of Fielding Lewis Jr.
Worries over the looming Revolutionary War

Fielding Lewis Jr.
Husband of Nancy Alexander Lewis
Son of Fielding Lewis and Betty Washington Lewis
Untrustworthy with money

Rachel
Enslaved cook for the Lewis family
Maternal figure for Hetty, an enslaved washer woman

FAQ's and Registration:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfQmUmFdS91h-ealDBH5KZ4htOVGcqkvlqdz8zps1y97DJPUg/viewform

08/21/2026

Although found at Ferry Farm, these gun flints remind us of Fielding Lewis’ contributions to the fight for independence from Great Britain. During the Revolutionary War, Lewis and Charles Dick ran the Fredericksburg Gun Manufactory, which produced, at great personal expense to Lewis, munitions for the patriot cause.

08/20/2026

So here's the scoop! 🍨
Our next Taste Through Time program will be Sunday, September 20 on ice cream making. It will be a very chill time, with a historical discussion on one of George Washington's favorite treats, an ice cream-making kitchen demonstration, and tasting.

Attendees will delve into the chilly delights of 18th-century ice cream in the Historic Kitchen at Kenmore, where a simple dessert reveals a complex past. This luxurious treat—made with imported ingredients and preserved using harvested ice—was a symbol of status and sophistication in colonial America. Learn about the tools, techniques, and painstaking labor involved in creating ice cream long before electricity. Explore how enslaved cooks made these indulgences possible and uncover the histories behind a dessert once reserved for the elite.

Stop by Historic Kenmore, 12-5 and be one of the cool kids!

Event with House Tour
$15 for Adults
$6 for students ages 6-17
Free for Children under 6
(House tours at 12:15pm, 1:30pm, 2:45pm, 3:45pm)

Event (Includes Museum Admission)
$6 for adults
$3 for students ages 6-17
Free for children under 6

More details - https://kenmore.org/calendar-item/taste-through-time-a-scoop-of-history/

08/19/2026

Looking for a fun night out with friends, family, or coworkers? Come to 18th century game night and play a plethora of games from years past.🎲
♠️♣️Check out this video on how to play whist to get a glance of what we have in store!♥️♦️
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0x5RDl7dzk
🎟Get tickets in advance here: https://www.simpletix.com/e/18th-century-game-night-tickets-281720
— at George Washington's Ferry Farm. See less

Colonial Americans often played cards for leisure and enjoyment and...

08/19/2026

Stafford County is looking kinda chic through the camera lens on this World Photography Day📸

what are your favorite places to see in Stafford County?

Featured Places:
🏖️Aquia Landing Park
🍻6 Bears & A Goat Brewing Company
🏠George Washington's Ferry Farm
🍕Zibibbo 73 Trattoria Italiana & Bar
🍷Potomac Point Winery
🌳Government Island
🎭Riverside Center for the Performing Arts
🛶Widewater State Park

Stafford County Parks and Recreation
Stafford County Government

08/18/2026

Join us at George Washington’s Ferry Farm on Friday, September 18, for a day of archaeological exploration designed for homeschool students and their families. Participants will excavate artifacts from our teaching pits, mend broken archaeological finds and tour the replica Washington House.

Attendees are welcome to enjoy a picnic lunch on our grounds; walk along the scenic Rappahannock River; explore the Ferry Farm visitor center; and complete a variety of self-guided, take-home activities.

Two sessions to choose from:
Session 1 - 10:00 to 11:20 am
Session 2 - 12:00 to 1:30 pm

Admission:
$6 per child attendee (ages 6-17)
Free for children under 5
$4 per adult attendee
All children must be accompanied by an adult caregiver.
Advanced registration for all attendees is required, as space is limited.

🎟https://www.simpletix.com/e/homeschool-day-at-ferry-farm-tickets-284903

08/14/2026

Like all the best designs, the brown rim on this sherd of white salt-glazed stoneware is both stylish and practical. The engobe, or white slip, used to color the off-white bodies of some vessels often detached from the fabric during firing. Therefore, according to ceramics historians Diana Edwards and Rodney Hampson, potters dipped engobe-covered holloware pieces into an iron-oxide-rich slip before placing them in the kiln. The brown bands kept the white slip in place and provided an attractive decoration to boot.