Gristmill and Distillery at Mount Vernon

After George had served two terms as President; in l797, upon the advice of his farm manager; he decided to expand his operation and build a distillery next to the gristmill. It was completed in l798; the distillery boasted 5 copper stills, a 210-gallon boiler and other essential equipement for producing "a fine spirit".

Property that the distillery and gristmill are on

Outside of the gristmill

Inside the gristmill

They ground corn while we were there and you can buy it as well

George Washington was an entrepreneurial farmer and businessman. His whiskey distillery and gristmill utilized innovative technologies that were cutting-edge in the 18th century.

In 1770, after switching his main cash crop from tobacco to wheat, George built a large merchant mill and millrace downstream from the original mill site. It was fitted with two sets of millstones - one set for grinding corn for use on the plantation and other set for processing the wheat grown on his farms into superfine flour for export to foreign ports.