White House Farm

White House Farm

You will ride by White House Farm at mile 27.3 of the Century ride.  The farm's owner, Curt Mason will be displaying his 1928 Ford Model A Roadster Pickup (pictured below) at the Jefferson County Elementary School rest stop (mile 28.1).  Take a moment to say hello to Mr. Mason and feel free to ask questions about his automobile and farm.

White House Farm is located in Jefferson County, WV, near the small town of Summit Point, WV, about 6 miles from Charles Town.  The farm consists of a circa 1742 farmhouse, a stone barn and springhouse of about the same age, a wooden smokehouse, and 60+ acres of pasture and woods. The farm has a rich history. On June 17, 1730, John and Isaac VanMeter petitioned the Virginia Colony Council for 40,000 acres in the Shenandoah Valley. In 1731 they transferred 30,000 acres to Jost Hite, a German immigrant, under a patent.

The land, then located in Orange County, Virginia, was surveyed by Robert Brooke on 26 March 1734. In May 1740, Mr. Hite sold 395 acres to Dr. John McCormick, a Scots-Irishman. for 8 pounds, 5 shillings. By 1742, Dr. McCormick had built a three-story, two-room farmhouse. Dr. McCormick was a prosperous and prominent country doctor, as evidenced by the inventory of his estate completed upon his death in 1768. His will and the admini- strations are found in the Frederick County archives in Winchester, VA, since Frederick County was formed in 1743. He and his wife Ann had 6 sons (James, Francis, John Jr., William, George, and Andrew) and two daughters (Mary, wife of Magnus Tate, and Jean, wife of James Byrn).

James McCormick served as the chain carrier and John Jr. as the pilot on several of George Washington's surveys (1), White House Farm was noted for the horses bred there during Dr. McCormick's lifetime.(2) References: (1) The George Washington Papers, Library of Congress (2) Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, published by the Virginia Historical Society Acknowledgement: Ann Shoemaker, Andrew McCormick's great- great-great-great-grand-daughter contributed information to this history. Note: Dr. McCormick's grandson, Province, whose father was Francis McCormick, established a nearby farm known as Lang Sine in the 1790's.