This was the main approach, in olden times, from the much-traveled highway to the homestead, which can be faintly discerned through a vista cleared by Washington. A carriage road winds through intervening valleys to the Mansion, nearly a mile distant. Extending from this gateway to the Potomac River is the part of the estate purchased in 1858 by the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association.

In 1890 Mrs. Martha Mitchell, late Vice-Regent for Wisconsin, provided funds for renovating these ancient lodges which once sheltered Washington’s gatekeepers.