Did George Washington Really Sleep Here? It’s Time to Come Clean & Show the Marker

For generations, inns, houses, taverns, towns, and historic sites have proudly claimed that “George Washington Slept Here.” Some can prove it. Some can show Washington was there, but not that he spent the night. Others rely on stories repeated so often they eventually became accepted as fact.

So it’s time to come clean.

The Mr. Local History Project set out to separate the documented Washington overnight stays and headquarters from the probable, possible, and downright questionable claims. And nowhere is the challenge more interesting than New Jersey, where Washington spent an extraordinary amount of time during the American Revolution.

Did George Washington really sleep here? Let’s find out.

Washington Slept Here For Sure?

We started with what we thought we knew. Over the years, the Mr. Local History Project has compiled two working lists tracing George Washington’s movements during the American Revolution: 25 locations identified as Washington’s headquarters and 10 major Continental Army winter encampments. At first, these seemed like the safest places to start looking for where George Washington actually slept.

But even here, we quickly discovered a problem.

A building identified as Washington’s headquarters doesn’t necessarily prove that Washington slept there. An Army encampment tells us where troops spent the winter, but not necessarily where Washington himself spent each night. Dates can conflict, buildings can disappear, names can change, and some claims can be repeated for generations without anyone returning to the original evidence.

And, frankly, some of our own assumptions may be wrong. So these two tables aren’t our final answer. They’re our starting point. We’re going back through the evidence, location by location, asking one deceptively simple question: Did George Washington really sleep here?

Here’s Your Chance to Be a Historian

Now it’s your turn. Think you know a house, tavern, inn, battlefield, farm, church, headquarters, or campsite where George Washington actually spent the night? We want to hear about it. Post in the Comments Section at the bottom of this post.

The Mr. Local History Project is building a living “George Washington Slept Here” map, and we’re inviting readers, local historians, historical societies, librarians, researchers, and anyone with a good Washington story to help us fill in the blanks.

Here’s your chance for fame, fortune, and historical immortality. Okay, probably not the fortune part. But if you can document a location we’ve missed, we’ll investigate it and consider adding a new marker to the map. And we’re looking for more than “everybody around here knows Washington slept there.” Give us the evidence. A diary. A letter. A newspaper account. A historic-site record. A Washington correspondence entry. Even an old family story can give us a lead to investigate.

Find a missing Washington overnight stay. Make your case. Help us put another marker on the map.

Who knows? You might uncover the next place where we can finally say: Yep. George Washington slept here.

Know of a “Washington Slept Here” Plaque or Historic Marker?

If you have a “Washington Slept Here” Plaque or Historic Marker, we’d love to add it to this unique collection – Click Here to send it in.

Our Readers’ Top 10 MLH Posts this Week

New Jersey’s America 250 Commemorative Magazine

George Washington Slept Here Map Initial Reference List

George Washington Headquarters — 25

#	Location	City / State	Dates
1	Richmond Hill	New York, NY	Apr–May 1776
2	Mortier House / Roger Morris Mansion (Morris-Jumel Mansion)	New York, NY	Sept 1776
3	Elijah Miller House	White Plains, NY	Oct 1776
4	Hackensack Headquarters Area	Hackensack, NJ	Nov 18–21, 1776
5	Eagle Tavern Headquarters Area	Newark, NJ	Nov 23–28, 1776
6	Thomas Barclay’s Summerseat	Morrisville, PA	Dec 8–13, 1776
7	William Keith House Headquarters Site	Upper Makefield Twp., PA	Dec 14–24, 1776
8	Trenton Headquarters Area	Trenton, NJ	Dec 26–30, 1776
9	Arnold Tavern Headquarters Site	Morristown, NJ	Jan–May 1777
10	Moland House	Warwick Twp., PA	Aug 10–23, 1777
11	Benjamin Ring House	Chadds Ford, PA	Sept 1777
12	Peter Wentz Farmstead	Worcester, PA	Oct 2–4 & Oct 16–21, 1777
13	Isaac Potts House — Valley Forge Headquarters	Valley Forge, PA	Dec 1777–June 1778
14	John Kane House	Pawling, NY	1778, multiple stays
15	Holcombe House	Lambertville, NJ	June 1778
16	Hunt House	Hopewell Twp., NJ	June 1778
17	Wallace House	Somerville, NJ	December 11, 1778–June 3, 1779
18	Ford Mansion	Morristown, NJ	Dec 1779–June 1780
19	Dey Mansion	Wayne, NJ	July–Nov 1780, intermittent
20	Zabriskie–Steuben House	River Edge, NJ	Sept 1780
21	DeWint House	Tappan, NY	Sept–Oct 1780; May 1783
22	Moore House	Yorktown, VA	Oct 1781
23	Hasbrouck House — Washington’s Headquarters	Newburgh, NY	Apr 1782–Aug 1783
24	Rockingham / Berrien Mansion	Rocky Hill, NJ	August 23–November 10, 1783
25	Longfellow House	Cambridge, MA	July 1775–Apr 1776

Continental Army Winter Encampments — 10

#	Encampment	Location	Winter
1	Cambridge Winter Encampment	Cambridge/Roxbury, MA	1775–1776
2	First Morristown Winter Encampment	Morristown, NJ	1777
3	Valley Forge Winter Encampment	Valley Forge, PA	1777–1778
4	Middlebrook Winter Encampment	Somerset County, NJ	1778–1779
5	Pluckemin Artillery Cantonment	Pluckemin, NJ	1778–1779
6	Redding Winter Encampment	Redding, CT	1778–1779
7	Morristown–Jockey Hollow Winter Encampment	Morristown, NJ	1779–1780
8	Hudson Highlands Winter Encampment	New Windsor/West Point, NY	1780–1781
9	Hudson Highlands & Morristown-Area Winter Quarters	NY / Northern NJ	1781–1782
10	New Windsor Cantonment	New Windsor, NY	1782–1783