ABSTRACT
The birthplace of American historic preservation in the mid-19th century, George Washington’s Mount Vernon estate was at the forefront of another challenge to the stewardship of historic places in the mid-20th century. As suburbanization crept outwards from Washington, DC into Prince Georges County, Maryland, the view across the Potomac River from the piazza at Washington’s iconic home became threatened with the encroachment of incompatible land uses. Operation Overview was a decades-long campaign to ensure that the landscape visible from Mount Vernon would regain its ineffable and relatively unspoiled qualities. This goal required the cooperation of a number of conservation minded individuals and groups, adept bureaucratic maneuvering, and the eventual creation of a unique unit of the National Park System. Set within a context of Cold War imagery, threats to the integrity of this significant vista from the country’s most important front porch generated new tools for the protection of beautiful and historic landscapes, including the application of conservation easements and real estate tax abatement—techniques and tools that would see wide application across the country.
