‘Blockbuster discovery’ at George Washington’s Mount Vernon estate

Archaeologists have found dozens of glass bottles of fruit preserves dating back more than 200 years in the basement of George Washington’s Mount Vernon mansion.

The 29 intact bottles, which contain “perfectly preserved” cherries along with gooseberries or currants, “probably haven’t seen the light of day since before the American Revolution,” said Doug Bradburn, president and CEO of Mount Vernon.

The bottles were recovered from five underground storage pits beneath the mansion and moved to Mount Vernon’s archeology laboratory before being sent to another site for safekeeping. The contents of each bottle are also scientifically examined.

“Never in our wildest dreams could we have imagined this spectacular archaeological discovery,” Bradburn said in a statement.

‘Nothing of this magnitude and significance has ever been excavated in North America. We now have an abundance of artifacts and matter to analyze that can provide a powerful glimpse into the origins of our nation, and we keep our fingers crossed that the discovered cherry stones will be viable for future germination.”

This comes just two months after an archaeological dig yielded the first two bottles discovered at Mount Vernon, which were manufactured in Europe and contained cherries and stones.

George Washington was an American founding father and was its first president

‘We were delighted last month to discover two fully intact 18th century bottles containing biological material. Now we know that these bottles were just the beginning of this successful discovery,” said Bradburn.

So far, 54 cherry stones and 23 stems have been identified, meaning the bottles were likely once full of cherries.

All these amazing revelations were made possible thanks to a $40 million Mount Vernon revitalization project which is expected to be completed in 2026, the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776.

A key part of this project to preserve Washington’s 18th-century home is maintaining the foundation by restoring the cellar, exactly where these bottles were found.

In April, archaeologist Nick Beard, the person who found the first two bottles, spoke to them FOX 5 DC to explain the true meaning of finding food, persists hundreds of years after it was abandoned.

‘Just the fact that there was any liquid at all. That immediately sets off alarm bells,” Beard said. “If there is water or liquid in it, that means it is very intact, it is in very good condition.”

“It’s something you only experience once in a lifetime,” he added.

The discovery of the pre-Revolutionary War-era fruit preserve bottles was made possible thanks to a $40 million Mount Vernon revitalization project expected to be completed in 2026.

Nick Beard, pictured, made the discovery of the first two bottles in April, calling it a ‘once in a lifetime’ thing

Jason Boroughs, Mount Vernon’s lead archaeologist, provided some more insight into why and how these bottles were placed in the cellar.

‘One of the best ways to store these kinds of fruits and vegetables was underground, so sometime after 1758 but before 1776 someone dug a kind of rectangular pit about three feet deep through one of the floors in the cellar. It collapsed and then it was filled with a dense clay,” he told FOX.

Given this timeline, Bradburn thinks the bottles may have been forgotten during the chaotic time when Washington left home to lead the Continental Army against the British in the Revolutionary War.

During Washington’s lifetime, hundreds of slaves lived at Mount Vernon, and historians say they were the ones who handled the food preparation and storage.

Bradburn thinks the bottles may have been forgotten during the chaotic time when Washington left home to lead the Continental Army against the British in the Revolutionary War

“The bottles and their contents are a testament to the knowledge and skill of the enslaved people who tended the food preparations from tree to table, including Doll, the cook brought to Mount Vernon by Martha Washington in 1759 and charged with overseeing on the estate’s kitchen. Boroughs told FOX.

Washington, who moved to the home in northern Virginia after his marriage in 1759, was the only Founding Father who had written in his will that he would free all his slaves after the death of his wife Martha.

She finally freed them on January 1, 1801, just over a year before her death.

Washington was the first American president from 1789 to 1797. He died in 1799 and was buried at Mount Vernon.