The money, aside from the amounts spent to buy land, was expended in erecting a house that is as nearly a replica of the original birth house as could be planned on the basis of available data, in restoring the gardens, and in protecting the ancient graveyard where lie the remains of 31 members of the Washington family, including his great-grandfather, grandfather, father, and brother, and to build a resthouse at the site. The original house was built between 1717 and 1720, and was burned Christmas, 1780. From pieces of china found in the ruins the celebrated Lenox china, showing the Washington coat of arms, has been reproduced and made available to the public by the Wakefield National Memorial Association. In the work of restoration the association was led by its president, the late Mrs. Harry Lee Rust, of Washington, D. C., who was a native of Westmoreland County, Va., and spent her childhood days in the vicinity of the Washington estate. She was a most indefatigable worker toward the realization of this project.
Wakefield was dedicated on February 11, 1932, the birthday of George Washington (old style), which month marked the beginning of the George Washington bicentennial celebration. Wakefield is known to-day as the George Washington Birthplace National Monument.
THE LINCOLN MEMORIAL AND APPROACHES
THE LINCOLN MEMORIAL
Chapter XVIII
THE LINCOLN MEMORIAL
THE ARLINGTON MEMORIAL BRIDGE
THE LINCOLN MEMORIAL
At the west end of the Mall is the Lincoln Memorial. The site was fixed by the McMillan Park Commission in 1901, which extended the Mall area of the original L’Enfant plan west three-fourths of a mile to the Potomac River. The site and surrounding area is known as Potomac Park. The reclaimed land, about 640 acres, comprises West Potomac Park and East Potomac Park (the island park).
Congress provided for the construction of the memorial to Abraham Lincoln by an act approved February 9, 1911, following the centennial year of the birth of Lincoln. The corner stone was laid February 12, 1915. The memorial is built of Colorado marble and cost $2,940,000. It was dedicated May 30, 1922. Lincoln died in 1865, so that it was 57 years later that this memorial to him in the National Capital was built. Henry Bacon, who died February 16, 1924, was the architect.