George Washington

George Washington was influential not only in the birth and growth of the nation, but of Alexandria as well. In 1743, Washington went to live with his half-brother Lawrence, who owned Mount Vernon. Through Lawrence and his wife, Ann Fairfax of Belvoir, George became acquainted with the influential Fairfax family, who ushered him into the highest levels of Colonial society.

In July 1774, George Washington presided over a meeting in Alexandria to elect delegates to the first Virginia Convention and to protest the new taxes levied by the British Parliament. The Fairfax Resolves, written by Washington's close friend and neighbor, George Mason of Gunston Hall, were adopted at this meeting and later presented to the Convention in Williamsburg by Washington.

After leading the Colonial army to victory in the Revolutionary War, Washington resigned his commission and returned home to Martha at Mount Vernon. His days as a quiet gentleman farmer were few, however, as he was chosen as a delegate to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in 1787. Following the convention, Washington was elected the nation's first president, serving two terms before resigning.

Throughout his life, Washington was a constant in Alexandria, where he owned property, worshiped at Christ Church, and attended social gatherings at Gadsby's Tavern.