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Where did George Washington stay on his only trip abroad?

By Rekke Editorial

Picture of George Washington House

In this article we explore George Washington House, one of Barbados’ historic great houses and a place closely connected to the island’s role in the wider Atlantic world.

Located in Bridgetown, the house marks the only place outside the United States where George Washington is known to have stayed. In 1751, at just 19 years old, George accompanied his older half-brother Lawrence Washington, who travelled to the island seeking relief from tuberculosis, then commonly called “consumption.”

At the time, Barbados was widely believed to offer health benefits for sufferers of the disease, with physicians recommending the island’s warm climate and sea air as a possible treatment. What began as a hopeful medical journey for Lawrence would become the only international trip of George Washington’s life.

During his stay, the young Washington experienced a world far beyond the plantations of Virginia. He observed the bustling port of Bridgetown, British naval activity, and the island’s powerful plantation economy. He also contracted smallpox but survived, gaining lifelong immunity — a factor that would later prove critical during the American Revolutionary War.

Today the restored house offers visitors a glimpse into 18th-century Barbados and the brief but historically significant visit of the young man who would later become the first President of the United States.


Lawrence Washington

Lawrence Washington: A Brother and Mentor

Though often overshadowed by his famous sibling, Lawrence Washington played a formative role in George’s early life.

The eldest son of George’s father Augustine and his first wife, Lawrence was educated in England at Appleby Grammar School before returning to Virginia to oversee the family plantation. Following their father’s death, Lawrence became a mentor and father figure to the young George.

Lawrence also served as a military officer and was elected to Virginia’s colonial legislature, the Virginia House of Burgesses. His experiences introduced George to leadership, military life, and the responsibilities of landownership.

In 1751 Lawrence was diagnosed with tuberculosis, prompting the journey to Barbados in hopes that the island’s climate might aid his recovery. George accompanied him both out of duty and curiosity, gaining his first exposure to the wider Atlantic world of trade, empire, and colonial society.

Sadly, the treatment proved unsuccessful. After leaving Barbados, Lawrence travelled to Bermuda seeking a cooler climate closer to home but died the following year in 1752.


The voyage

The Voyage to Barbados

The Washington brothers’ journey across the Atlantic took approximately six weeks. Their ship sailed north of Bermuda before turning south to catch the Atlantic tradewinds that carried vessels toward the Caribbean.

The voyage was not without danger. Approaching Barbados, the ship nearly ran aground on the coral reefs that surround the island — reefs that protected the colony from invasion but posed a constant hazard to sailors.

The vessel ultimately anchored safely in Carlisle Bay, the main harbour for Barbados and one of the busiest ports in the Caribbean at the time.


The Garrison

Life in Bridgetown and Its Influence

During their stay in Bridgetown, George Washington observed the island’s bustling commercial and social life. He saw firsthand the strategic importance of Barbados in British trade and military operations, as well as the workings of plantation economies that powered the island’s extraordinary wealth.

At the time of Washington’s visit, Barbados was among the richest English colonies in the Atlantic world, and Bridgetown one of its busiest ports. For the young Virginian, the scale of trade and military presence offered a striking glimpse of Britain’s Caribbean empire.

Washington also kept a brief journal during his stay — the only surviving travel diary of his life — recording visits to plantations, dinners with local elites, and his impressions of the busy harbour at Carlisle Bay. His entries also hint at the island’s lively social life; within days of arriving he noted attending gatherings and even wrote of going to the theater, a glimpse of Bridgetown’s vibrant cultural scene in the 1750s.1

For the young Virginian, the bustling port, crowded streets, and thriving commercial life of Bridgetown were likely unlike anything he had previously experienced. Yet the wealth and activity that impressed visitors to Bridgetown were built upon a far harsher reality — the plantation economy and enslaved labour that sustained the island’s prosperity.

Slave trade panel

Slavery and the Washingtons

During their stay on the island, George Washington and his half-brother Lawrence Washington encountered a society profoundly shaped by slavery. Although Washington came from a slave-holding family in Virginia, the scale and intensity of the system in Barbados were striking.

By the mid-18th century, roughly eighty percent of the island’s population were enslaved people of West African descent, while the remaining population consisted largely of white colonists of English, Scottish, Welsh, and Irish ancestry. Barbados had developed into one of the most profitable sugar colonies in the British Atlantic world, and its wealth depended almost entirely on enslaved labour.

For Washington, the experience revealed a society where slavery shaped nearly every aspect of economic and social life. Enslaved people performed the arduous work of cultivating and processing sugar cane on plantations that generated immense wealth for colonial landowners while subjecting thousands of men, women, and children to brutal conditions. The scale of this plantation economy would have been striking even for someone raised in a slave-holding household.2

Perhaps the most profound impression on Washington was seeing a society so completely structured around enslaved labour — economically, socially, and politically — in a way he had not encountered at home. Historians have often pointed to this visit as one of the early experiences that shaped his later relationship with slavery. Washington would go on to become a slave owner himself, yet in later life he also expressed growing unease with the institution and ultimately arranged for the emancipation of the enslaved people he owned upon his death.

Today the museum at George Washington House helps visitors understand this history through artifacts, visual displays, and interactive exhibits that explore the realities of slavery in both Barbados and colonial Virginia. Among the voices presented is that of Olaudah Equiano, whose powerful narrative offers one of the most important firsthand accounts of capture, enslavement, and the Middle Passage. These exhibits provide visitors with a deeper understanding of the enslaved majority who lived and laboured in Barbados during Washington’s visit and whose experiences formed a crucial part of the island’s history.


The tunnel

Exploring George Washington House Today

Visitors to George Washington House can explore the carefully restored 18th-century residence where Washington stayed during part of his 1751 visit. An audio guide, available in multiple languages, leads guests through the rooms, telling the story of George and Lawrence’s visit while offering insight into daily life in colonial Barbados.

Beneath the house, a network of underground Garrison tunnels reveals another layer of the island’s history. Constructed in the 1820s under Governor Stapleton Cotton, these tunnels formed part of the defensive infrastructure of the Barbados Garrison.

After the Garrison was decommissioned in 1905, the tunnels were largely forgotten until their rediscovery in 2011. Since then, around two-thirds of the 3,200-foot network has been explored, and approximately 70 metres have been opened to visitors.

Today the house and tunnels form part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site Historic Bridgetown and its Garrison, offering a fascinating window into Barbados’ colonial past and the brief but remarkable visit of a young traveller who would one day help shape a nation.


Visit George Washington House


Sources

  1. Washington, George. The Barbados Diary, 1751–52. University of Virginia Press.
  2. Flexner, James Thomas. George Washington: The Forge of Experience (1732–1775). Little, Brown and Company, 1965.





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