Preserving the Viewshed (Historical Marker)

Here follows the inscription written on this trailside historical marker:

Preserving the Viewshed
George Washington recognized and celebrated the beauty of the Potomac River and its connection to his life here, once describing it in a 1793 letter to Arthur Young as "one of the finest Rivers in the world."

When discussing his return to private life with the Marquis de Lafayette following the American Revolution (1775-1783), he explained that he had "become a private citizen on the banks of the Potomac, and under the shadow of my own Vine and my own Fig-tree, free from the bustle of a camp and the busy scenes of public life…solacing myself with those tranquil enjoyments…"

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In 1853, Ann Pamela Cunningham rallied women from around the country to form the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association and raise the funds necessary to buy Mount Vernon from the Washington family. In 1858, John Augustine Washington III, great-grandnephew of George Washington, agreed to sell the Mansion, outbuildings, and 200 acres of land to the Association for $200,000. The purchase price was paid in full by 1860, and the estate opened to the public that year, while the process of repairing the Mansion continued.

In 1955, rumors that oil storage tanks were scheduled to be constructed on the banks of the Potomac River opposite Mount Vernon prompted Congresswoman Francis Payne Bolton, the Association's Vice Regent for Ohio, to purchase nearly 500 acres on the Maryland shore. This created one of the nation's earliest land trusts and stopped the planned construction, but the battle to save the majestic view was far from over.

A new threat surfaced in 1960, when the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission (WSSC) announced plans to build a water treatment plant on the shores of the Potomac facing Mount Vernon. Citizens and concerned groups went to Congress for help. On October 4, 1961, President Kennedy authorized the creation of Piscataway National Park and saved the Mount Vernon vista. The government, with the critical help of the Association, continued to purchase land along the riverbank, and the park now encompasses 4,650 acres and stretches 6 miles along the Maryland shoreline.

Over the next decades, more battles were fought and won to preserve Washington's view. Mount Vernon continues, in partnership with the National Park Service, the Conservation Fund, The Trust for Public land, the Accokeek Foundation, and Maryland Neighbors, to protect additional acreage and uphold the charge put forward by Ann Pamela Cunningham in 1874, stating "Ladies, the home of Washington is in your charge…Let no irreverent hand change it; no vandal hands desecrate it with the fingers of progress!"