A history buff bought a piece of a tent from Goodwill for $1,700. It really did belong to George Washington

By Kaila Nichols, CNN
4 minute read
Published 6:58 AM EDT, Sun July 21, 2024

CNN - As a collector of artifacts, Richard “Dana” Moore makes a habit of scrolling through Goodwill’s online thrift store, and one day in 2022, the history buff came across an item that piqued his interest.

A post in the historical documents section featured the image of a framed item purporting to contain a fragment of George Washington’s tent. It came with a written note saying the tent had been displayed at an exposition commemorating the 300th anniversary of the founding of Jamestown in the Virginia Colony.



The tent fragment came with a note saying it was taken from George Washington's tent that was on display in 1907. Courtesy Museum of the American Revolution

Moore was skeptical of the posting so he initially held off on bidding for two weeks.

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Moore told CNN that he bid a little over $1,700 on the artifact and won. He initially didn’t tell his wife, Susan Bowen, and hid it in their home. Now, he said, she agrees that he hit it out of the park: The artifact was confirmed to be a piece of Washington’s dining tent, and Moore estimates it to be worth tens of thousands of dollars.

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