Archaeologists Made 'Blockbuster Find' Under George Washington's Mount Vernon Floor
Supposedly, a young George Washington confessed to his dad that he had damaged a cherry tree with a hatchet. The story is used to stress the importance of honesty.
The legend, though, is a myth, invented by a Washington biographer, according to a history of the fable on the Mount Vernon website.
But archaeologists made a treasured finding underneath that very house's floor, and it relates to cherries.
Mount Vernon was the home of America's first president, and its website says it's one of the most-visited historic sites in the U.S.
A July 5 report by Popular Mechanics revisited how archaeologists found "once-forgotten" bottles under a brick floor at Mount Vernon.
The pre-Revolutionary War artifacts were "likely filled with cherries" in the mid-1770s and still bore the "scent of cherry blossoms," the magazine noted.
The discovery was made in 2024.
A news release from Mount Vernon at the time explained that, as "part of the landmark privately funded $40 million Mansion Revitalization Project at George Washington's Mount Vernon, archaeologists have made a significant discovery of two intact European-manufactured bottles in the Mansion cellar."
The dark green glass bottles "were found upright and sealed, each containing liquid. The bottle shapes are characteristic of styles from the 1740s - 1750s and were recovered from a pit where they may have been forgotten and eventually buried beneath a brick floor laid in the 1770s," the release says.
"Cherries, including stems and pits, were preserved within the liquid contents, which still bore the characteristic scent of cherry blossoms familiar to residents of the region during the spring season," the release notes.
'As we conduct a historic preservation effort at the iconic home of America's first President and revolutionary hero, we have been deliberate and intentional about carefully excavating areas of potential disruption,' said Mount Vernon President & CEO Doug Bradburn. 'Consequently, we have made a number of useful discoveries including this blockbuster find of two fully intact glass bottles containing liquid that have not been seen since before the war for American independence.'
That's not all. The revitalization project unearthed other treasures in the house.
Teams "working in the cellar of the Mansion have unearthed an astounding 35 glass bottles from the 18th century in five storage pits. Of the 35 bottles, 29 are intact and contain perfectly preserved cherries and berries, likely gooseberries or currants. The contents of each bottle have been carefully extracted, are under refrigeration at Mount Vernon, and will undergo scientific analysis," according to Mount Vernon.
"The bottle shapes are characteristic of styles from the 1740s – 1750s and were recovered from five pits where they may have been forgotten."
Jason Boroughs, Mount Vernon's principal archaeologist, told NBC 16, 'Finding what is essentially fresh fruit, 250 years later, is pretty spectacular. All the stars sort of have to align in the right manner for that to happen.
"Whole pieces of fruit, recognizable as cherries, were found in some of the bottles," the station reported.Archaeologists Made 'Blockbuster Find' Under George Washington's Mount Vernon Floor first appeared on Men's Journal on Jul 16, 2025
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