Mary Lee Brady, Ph.D.

Maps of Alexandria, Virginia

G3884.A3 1748 .W3 Vault
Washington, George.
Plat of the land where on now stands the town of Alexandria.
Scale not given.
1 map: ms., 32 x 40 cm.
 

George Washington's map of the proposed site of the new town of Alexandria, Virginia, drawn in 1748. Probably prepared under the direction of John West Jr., Deputy Surveyor of Fairfax County. Washington's half brother Lawrence was among those who petitioned the Virginia Assembly for the establishment of a new town on the banks of the Potomac River. Titled on the reverse in Washington's hand Plat of the land where on now stands the town of Alexandria, it displays the locations of several warehouses, shoals, the edge of the navigable channel in the Potomac, and notes on land suitability.

G3884.A3 1749 .W3 Vault
Washington, George.
A Plan of Alexandria, now Belhaven.
Scale ca. 1: 2,970.
1 map: ms., 32 x 40 cm.

A second map of Alexandria by George Washington, probably drawn in 1749, showing the town laid out in eighty-four lots with ten streets. The map may have been used in the sale and distribution of lots that took place on July 14-15, 1749, as indicated by the proprietors' names, lot numbers, and prices paid shown on the right of the plan.

[G3882.M7B5 1755 .W3]
Washington, George.
A Plan of Mr. Clifton's Neck Land. Platted by a scale of 50 poles to the Inch. by T.H. 1755 and copied by Washington in 1760.
Scale 50 poles to the inch.
1 map: ms., [dimensions]

LC survey, missing lower right quadrant, has negative photocopy of original belonging to the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association of the Union.

This map, covering the area immediately north of Mount Vernon that Washington purchased from William Clifton in 1760, includes courses and distances of survey and a list of tenants with the "leases and number of lives on each lease." The "T.H." in the title may refer to Thomas Harrison, who owned land on Great Hunting Creek, or his son, Thomas Harrison Jr., who owned land along Four Mile Run.
 

G3882.M7 1766 .W3 Vault
Washington, George, 1732-1799.
A Plan of my farm on Little Huntg. Creek & Potmk. R. G.W. 1766.
Scale not given.
1 col. map: ms., 46 x 44 cm.
Mounted on linen covered cardboard, matted.
Accompanied by two manuscript notes.

George Washington prepared this manuscript map of his farm adjacent to the Mount Vernon estate in 1766. Known as River Farm, it was one of five tracts that made up the eight thousand acres he owned in the vicinity of Little Hunting Creek, less than ten miles south of Alexandria, Virginia. The map is also one of the few examples of American colonial plantation or "estate" maps in the Library of Congress's collections.
 

G3882.M7 1793 .W34 Vault
Washington, George, 1732-1799.
A Map of General Washington's Farm from a Drawing Transmitted by the General.
Scale 1:6,336.
1 map: 37 x 52 cm.
Date and imprint from verso.

Removed from Letters from His Excellency General Washington to Arthur Young (London: W. J. & J. Richardson, 1801).

Between 1786 and 1794 George Washington and Arthur Young exchanged nearly thirty letters, mainly on the subject of agriculture. Washington enclosed a map of his farm in a letter to Young dated December 12, 1793, and this printed map is based upon it. Originally prepared for an 1801 publication concerning the correspondence, this map describes land under cultivation on the Union, Dogue Run, Muddy Hole, Mansion House, and River Farms. The map also shows land unsuitable for agriculture because of marshes, woodlands, or topography. It was not drawn or annotated by Washington.

Survey Plats

G3883.F8B5 1750 .W3 Vault
Washington, George.
Plat of George Washington for John Lindsey of 223 acres of land in Frederick County, Virginia, November 17, 1750.
Scale [1: 18,097].
1 map: ms., 31 x 19 cm.

A survey plat dated November 17, 1750, for 223 acres of "certain waste and ungranted lands" in Frederick County, Virginia. Although this map was executed after Washington left the position of Surveyor of Culpeper County, he continued to serve as a licensed surveyor in the Northern Neck with the permission of Lord Fairfax.
 

G3893.H2G46 1750 .W3 Vault
[Plat of a survey for William Hughes of 460 acres in Frederick, County, Va., on the Cacapon River.]
Scale not given.
1 map: ms., 18 x 16 cm, on sheet 31 x 26 cm.
 

Handwritten on verso: "William Hughes Junr., plat for 460 acres, 1753 deed drawn." Accompanied by handwritten surveying notes dated April 4, 1750, signed by George Washington. The survey plot is located in what is now either Hampshire County or Morgan County, West Virginia.
 

G3883.F8 1769 .M6 Vault
Moffet, J.
Map of the County of Frederick, 1769. Drawn by J. Moffet.
Scale 1:900,000
1 col. map: ms., 13 x 19 cm on sheet 38 x 32 cm.
 

Title from manuscript annotations by George Washington on verso.

This small scale map of Frederick County, Virginia, was made by James Moffet in 1769. Map annotated by Washington on verso "Map of the County of Frederick, 1769."

Western Lands

G3893.W6G46 1771 .C7 Vault
[Crawford, William.]
Plat of a survey for 2,314 acres of land being the first large bottom on the east side of the Ohio River.]
Scale 100 poles to the inch.
1 map: ms., 35 x 57 cm.

Map of land on the east bank of the Ohio River in what is now Wood County, West Virginia. George Washington has added the annotation "Patented in the name of George Washington" and noted river courses and distances. The map is accompanied by a typewritten and autographed letter on White House stationery, dated September 26, 1921, from President Warren G. Harding to Mr. David G. Joyce of Chicago, Illinois, thanking Mr. Joyce for donating the map on behalf of William Crawford, a relative of President Harding's grandmother.
 

G3892.K3G46 1774 .L4 Vault
Lewis, Samuel, 1753-1822.
Two Plats of Land upon the Kanawha, One adjoining to, the other partly Opposite it the Pokitellico Surveys of 21, 941 acres made in 1773.
Scale not given.
1 map: ms., 31 cm x 31cm. on sheet 51 x 32 cm.
 

Includes separate manuscript text by Samuel Lewis: "Copy of a Survey return'd by Mr Samuel Lewis, surveyor of Botetourt County. Surveyed for George Washington 2950 acres of land (by virtue of warrant for 5,000 acres of land granted by His Excellency the Governor to said Washington agreeable to His Majesty's proclamation issued in the year 1763) lying in the county of Botetourt on the NE side of the Great Kanaway about a mile and a half above the mouth of Cole River, joining the upper end of Pocetillico survey, Novemr 6th, 1774. Signed Saml Lewis, S.B. 1774." Annotated in the hand of George Washington on the recto: "This tract of 2,982 (which in a copy taken by Mr. Geo. Young is called 2950) acres, was surveyed by Mr. Samuel Lewis, Surveyor of Botetourt for George Washington on part of his warrant from Lord Dunmore for 5,000 acres as a colonel's R[ight] under the Kings Proclamation of 1763," and "the Above copy taken by Mr. Geo. Young." Also annotated on the verso: "Saml Lewis for George Washington Survey 2950 acres 6th November 1774," and "Plat of Land upon the Kanahwa . . . adjoining to the other [p]artly opposite to the Pokitellico Survey of 21,941 acres made in 1773."

G3884.K3G46 1774 .W3 Vault
[Washington, George.]
[Eight survey tracts along the Kanawha River in West Virginia showing land granted to George Washington, George Muse, Dr. James Craik, William Bronaugh, John Savage, Thomas Bullet, William Wright, John David Woelpert, Adam Stephen, Andrew Lewis, Peter Hogg, and the heirs of Colonel Joshua Fry.]
Scale 1:40,000.
1 map: ms., 166 x 75 cm.
 

This manuscript map is a compilation of eight individual surveys made between 1771 and 1774 by Samuel Lewis, William Crawford, and William Preston under George Washington's direction. The map also shows the names of veterans of the Virginia Regiment who were granted land for military service during the French and Indian War and the acreage allotted to them.

Following the cessation of hostilities in 1763, Washington began to argue for the land grants promised to the veterans in exchange for military service. Unfortunately for the men of the Virginia Regiment, they could not begin the process of patenting the land until 1770. In the meantime Washington set out to patent his own lands in the region, assisted by the Pennsylvania surveyor William Crawford and Dr. James Craik. This map is a product of those explorations.

In December 1787 Washington wrote to Thomas Lewis, then settled in Point Pleasant at the confluence of the Ohio and Kanhawa Rivers, to ask him to act as his agent. Washington was interested in renting out the land but since he lived three hundred miles away he could not find tenants himself. Lewis responded that he was having enough trouble finding tenants for his own land and declined Washington's offer. Undeterred, Washington attempted twice more in 1788 to persuade Lewis to act as his agent, and in each of his three letters to Lewis Washington enclosed copies of maps. Consequently this map may date from 1787 rather than 1774.

Maps Annotated by Washington

G3820 1780 .W3
[Washington, George.]
A map of the land abt. Red Stone and Fort Pitt, given to me by Cap. Crawford.
Scale 1:600,000.
1 manuscript; pen and ink on sheet 60 x 42 cm.
 

The title, land tract boundaries with owners' initials, and some place names on this map have been identified as annotations by Washington, circa 1780. Although the map's maker and date are unknown, other sources suggest that it was probably made between 1758 and 1771. The "Capt Crawford" referred to on this map is William Crawford, a Pennsylvania land surveyor who assisted Washington in patenting land in western Virginia (now West Virginia) and Pennsylvania.

George Washington: Surveyor and Mapmaker

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