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By George, Home Of Washington Found

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By ADAM EMERSON

The Tampa Tribune

Published: July 4, 2008

TAMPA - Philip Levy spent a decade excavating sites that held signs of early American history, including a plantation in the nation's first permanent English settlement, Jamestown.

But when he and a research associate were chosen to find George Washington's home, "we knew we had an exciting project," Levy said in a phone interview Thursday, a day after the University of South Florida associate professor announced they had found the site.

The task wasn't easy.

The work began in 2002, when Levy and David Muraca, archeology director for the George Washington Foundation, were picked to conduct the search - around the time Levy was hired at USF.

The site where the foundations of Washington's home were discovered was dated to the first part of the 18th century.

Levy and Muraca, however, first spent two seasons excavating a site that turned up a building constructed in the late 17th century.

"This was not going to be the building we wanted it to be," he said.

They spent two more seasons digging another location that turned up 19th century buildings.

"It's a necessary part of searching that you swing and miss," Levy said. "But this is what archeologists like: You follow the lead, and you can't really stop."

The third try at Ferry Farm, a National Historic Landmark, brought pay dirt.

They found artifacts that, Levy said, "started to look great right away." One was a broken-off bowl of a pipe bearing a Masonic crest. Washington was a member of the Fredericksburg Lodge of the Masons, and the pipe was typical of the mid-18th century.

They also found pieces of the house's ceilings and painted walls, fragments of 18th century pottery and toothbrush handles made of bone.

Ferry Farm was known as the former home of the Washington family, but previous attempts to locate the house itself had been unsuccessful.

Although the story of Washington confessing to chopping down the cherry tree has "been treated as gospel for a long time," Levy said, the excavation unearthed no evidence of the rusty hatchet.

What they found, however, were the family's kitchen and slave quarters. Their goal is to piece together what the entire farmstead would look like.

Levy's students continue to accompany him at the historic site, and have developed their own research projects based on the work.

Meanwhile, Levy is on sabbatical for the year from USF, and he plans to keep digging and chronicle his research in a book.

"We're at the stage where we're confident beyond challenge that we have the Washington home," Levy said.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report. Reporter Adam Emerson can be reached at (813) 259-8285 or aemerson@tampatrib.com.

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