Mount Vernon’s scenic vista will stay the same as it was in George Washington’s era

Update 7/5/28: Both Mount Vernon and Dominion Energy officials released statements that Dominion will search for a new site for the compressor station, the Washington Post reports, so that it’s not in the Mount Vernon estate’s sightline.

Mount Vernon boasts a view admired by George Washington, and the National Trust for Historic Preservation is concerned that vista could be altered in the very near future. The estate landed on the organization’s list of “America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places” yesterday, as Virginia power company Dominion Energy proposed building a gas compressor station across the river from Mount Vernon.

“The goal is to imagine you’re walking in the footsteps of George Washington . . . of all the Founding Fathers of the country,” Mount Vernon President Doug Bradburn told the Washington Post. “You could be easily taken out of that if your view from the estate was filled with development and smokestacks.”

Dominion’s execs say that the compressor would blend into the forest and there would be no “direct visibility” from any viewpoints at Mount Vernon, according to the Post.

• National Trust lists Mount Vernon as a most endangered landmark, citing planned Dominion Energy project [WBJ]
• Across from Washington’s estate, a fight between natural gas and a historic view [WaPo]
• America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places [National Trust]