There are plans to reconstruct the home and several outbuildings as they looked in the 1740s. They will be integrated with educational programs on the site, called George Washington's Boyhood Home at Ferry Farm - a 113-acre National Historic Site and museum operated by the George Washington Foundation. None of the farm's original buildings survive.
Historians believe the Washingtons - Augustine, his wife, Mary, son George and five other children - moved to Ferry Farm in 1738, when George was 6 years old. Augustine Washington wanted to be nearer the Accokeek Creek Iron Furnace, which he managed.
During his 15 years there, George witnessed the death of his baby sister, Mildred, in 1740. Historians once believed that a fire that year destroyed the original home and forced the Washingtons to rebuild. Burned plaster and lathe, and other evidence from the dig, however, suggest that the fire damaged only part of the house, which was repaired and expanded.
The future general and president is known to have swum in the Rappahannock, and often took the ferry across to Fredericksburg. He learned the surveyor's trade and applied for his first military commission while living at the home.
George Washington's father died at Ferry Farm in 1743. His mother did not remarry, and the family fell on hard times. George, who inherited the 600-acre farm, once complained in a letter of having too little hay to sustain his horse for a ride to visit his brother.
But Muraca said colorful fragments of a fine Wedgewood tea set suggest that good times had returned a decade before Mary Washington moved to Fredericksburg in 1772.
"She does have adult children. They could be helping her out," Muraca said.
Washington grew tobacco, wheat and corn at Ferry Farm. In 1753, he moved to another family property, called Little Hunting Creek, which he later renamed Mount Vernon.
When his mother finally moved, the old place was leased and later sold to tenants. By the 1830s, the house was in ruins. It was finally destroyed during the Civil War Battle of Fredericksburg and its exact location was forgotten.
The long search
Several previous attempts to find the site failed. This one began with crews digging a large number of small test pits, Muraca said. When they turned up household artifacts from the right period, including broken tableware and pipes, the diggers noted their locations. Eventually, they focused on three "areas of interest" and started digging more seriously.
