100 Years of Preservation Efforts at Ferry Farm

 Since the 1920s, Ferry Farm has been the object of a series of mostly failed preservation attempts. In 1928, the Washington Farm was purchased by the "Citizens Guild of George Washington's Boyhood Home," which renamed itself to the George Washington Farm, Inc.  The 1929 stock market crash resulted in a default of the mortgage and Ferry Farm reverted to the previous private owners, the Colbert family.

In 1945, George Washington Farm, Inc., formed again and bought the property, but insufficient fundraising resulted in default again.

In the 1950s, The George Washington’s Boyhood Home Restoration, Inc., purchased Ferry Farm and attempted to transform the farm into an historic site that focused on the early years of George Washington. By the end of the decade, the group faded, and, in 1961, a former board member brought Ferry Farm to the attention of Youth for Christ International.

In the early 1960s, a group affiliated with the Youth for Christ International formed a new group also called the George Washington Farm Inc. which took out a mortgage on the property. While elaborate plans were envisioned by this group, it only succeeded in constructing a large, two-story colonial revival structure and a replica rope ferry to carry passengers across the river using 18th-century technology. Like its predecessors, this group failed to raise sufficient money to acquire clear title to the property, and the site reverted to private ownership in 1969.

Fast forward to 1990, when the owners deeded 34 acres of the site to Stafford County in exchange for commercial zoning on the remainder of the property. Under this agreement Stafford County took possession of that part of the property that included the archaeological remains of the Washington domestic complex, with the agreement allowing for the rezoning of the remaining acerage to allow commercial development.

Wal-Mart purchased the commercially zoned acres with plans to build a supercenter adjacent to the boyhood site. This plan was opposed by a consortium of citizens and groups in Fredericksburg, Stafford County, the State of Virginia, and eventually nationally. In 1996, The Kenmore Association, which operated Historic Kenmore, took the lead in negotiations with Wal-Mart, which resulted in the Association's purchase of Ferry Farm in that same year. The Kenmore Association became The George Washington Foundation in 2008. This foundation oversees both sites as well as Augustine Washington's ironworks at Accokeek (Potomac) Furnace (1726~1756) in Stafford County.

In 1972, Ferry Farm was listed on the National Register of Historic Places and declared a National Historic Landmark in 2000. The National Park Service now holds a permanent conservation easement on the property to help protect it. The property is no longer threatened by development.