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Farmer Larry Muse and his dog Lucy get ready for a ride in the truck. Muse is the latest co-owner of more than 100 acres along the Potomac that have been in his family's possession since 1668. He wants to sell all but his house, barns and four acres.
Land on the back section of the Muse family's Popes Creek tract has not been farmed in a decade. Deer and turkey frequently roam the property.
Larry Muse's grandfather James Harry Muse built a small pier on Popes Creek at the corner of the family's property. The picnic area of George Washington Birthplace National Monument is on the point at the right.
Old outbuildings dot the Muse family property next to George Washington's birthplace. The land is on the market and park service officials worry that its sale could bring development.
An isolated cottage overlooks the Potomac River at the edge of the 44-acre tract now for sale next to George Washington's birthplace.
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HE WEB SITE advertising the properties tells much but not all.
It says the two adjacent waterfront parcels for sale in Westmoreland County are virtually surrounded by the George Washington Birthplace National Monument.
It says now is the "absolutely unique, historic opportunity" to buy the land that has been handed down in the Muse family since 1668.
It tells you of the properties' vast Potomac River vistas, the intricate tracery of Popes Creek and the mallards in Digwood Swamp.
It says for $995,000 you can snap up 44 acres with 2,000 feet of Potomac frontage. The same money will buy 63.5 acres of fields, woods and vistas on Popes Creek.
The combined county assessment of the two parcels is $287,000, but the Web site does not mention that.
Nor does it mention a 1983 discovery by the Virginia Institute of Marine Science: The river tract's Potomac shoreline is receding at a rate of 31/2 feet per year. So one of those acres now for sale at $22,613.64 per acre might be washed away in about six years.
Margaret W. Lewis of King George County, who worked at Washington's birthplace for eight years as a National Park Service ranger, is not happy about the listing.
"I find it appalling that this historical land would be allowed for sale," Lewis wrote in a letter to Birthplace Superintendent Vidal Martinez. "I cannot imagine a housing development, or even a single new home, built on land that has such historical significance,"
The Web site is "extremely misleading," she said. "It reads as though the buyer would become part of our nation's heritage, when they would really be desecrating historical land."
It suggests a purchaser "be a hero" by donating scenic or conservation easements, which also would bring tax benefits.
Real-estate agent Alex Long said the sellers will not accept contracts on the properties that are contingent upon zoning changes or other land-use rulings by Westmoreland County.
"It's the Hope Diamond of waterfront properties," Long said. "There are plenty of two- or three-acre lots, but not many of them have viewsheds like these."
The Web site and ads have generated "considerable interest," the agent said.
Birthplace Superintendent Martinez said the Muse land is "crucial property that the National Park Service hopes to acquire."
But it's a slow process. The House of Representatives passed a bill last week allowing the national monument to expand its boundaries by purchasing the Muse land. Appropriations to buy the property, however, are not on the horizon, Martinez said.
The park service owns 550 acres surrounding the Muse land, which Martinez likens to "the hole in the middle of the doughnut."
The nonprofit Trust for Public Land has been talking to the owners, he said. The trust moves faster than the federal government and might be able to buy and hold the Muse land until the government is ready to purchase it.
But the trust's initial offer for the Muse property was "insufficient," "ridiculous" and "laughable," according to Long and others familiar with it.
Larry A. Muse, a Westmoreland farmer, and his sister Janice M. Frye own the property. They inherited it from their grandfather.
Muse would not discuss why his ancestral land is now for sale.
Frye hinted at the reason.
"Farming and fishing are gone," she said. "You work so hard and all you get is bills. Each year, you hope, will be a better year, but the economy, weather and everything is against you. It breaks my heart. A way of life is dying out."
Muse lives on the property and wants to reserve his house, barns and four acres from the sale. His main farming operation is at Leedstown.
Frye, who lives in Fredericksburg, is the president of the 250-member Muse Reunion Association. The group owns a 400-foot square of land next door to Larry Muse's house. The square, with a family monument in the middle, will not be sold.
The monument commemorates John Muse, who was born in Soldrup, England, in 1633. He moved to Westmoreland in 1668 and died in 1723.
The Washingtons lived across Dancing Marsh. George was born in 1732. The Muses next door no doubt bounced baby George on their knees before the Washingtons moved away in 1735.
Muses from across the country will gather in Westmoreland next month for a reunion.
Mary B. Whitaker of Carthage, N.C., will be among them.
Whitaker, treasurer of the Muse Reunion Association, said the family association would love to purchase the ancestral ground. But with only "$751 and change" in the bank, she said, the association must be content with the little monument lot it already owns.
But Whitaker, who said her ancestors moved from Westmoreland to North Carolina "a long, long time ago," loves the land that is now for sale.
"Oh, it's beautiful," she said. "Sometimes, I wonder why my ancestors ever left that place."
