Dismal Swamp 1600s & 1700s
- Jul 30, 2024
- 1 min read
The 1600s
1665Â Â Â Lake discovered by William Drummond
1728Â Â Â Â Dismal Swamp Canal proposed by William Byrd
1763    Lake Drummond charted by George Washington’s surveyor
1764Â Â Â Â Dismal Swamp Land Company chartered
1787Â Â Â Â Dismal Swamp Canal authorized by Virginia Legislature
1790Â Â Â Â Dismal Swamp Canal authorized by North Carolina Legislature
1793Â Â Â Â Work on the Dismal Swamp Canal began
A Young George Washington. With no existing portraits of Washington before the age of 40, Mount Vernon convened a team of experts who used imaging, documents, clothing and likenesses of Washington to create life-size models of him as a 19-year-old surveyor, a 45-year-old general and a 57-year-old president. These life-size models are displayed in three of the 16 galleries of the Mount Vernon Education Center.