The walk from the colonial-style garden to the memorial house.
By an act of Congress on January 23, 1930, the 394.47 acres owned by the Federal Government was designated as George Washington Birthplace National Monument, to be administered by the National Park Service of the United States Department of the Interior.
In 1930-31 the Wakefield National Memorial Association, under its authority from Congress, built an early 18th-century style brick home as a memorial to mark the approximate site of the home in which George Washington was born. (The granite shaft which had marked the site since 1896 was moved to a new location.) As intensive research had produced very little reliable evidence concerning the appearance of the original Popes Creek home, the memorial house erected could not be a replica. It is, however, in keeping with the Virginia plantation scene at the time of Washington’s association with the place.
The new memorial house was opened to the public in July 1931, and a special open house was held on February 22, 1932, the 200th anniversary of George Washington’s birth. Since then the Wakefield National Memorial Association has been active in furnishing the home with suitable pieces of the 1700-50 period. In many instances 18th-century artifacts unearthed near the site of the original home have served as guides in selecting certain items. The objects excavated were surprisingly varied and revealed the nature of many furnishings which were in the original home between the time it was completed in 1726 and the time of the disastrous fire in 1779. Only a few types of the more important artifacts unearthed can be described:
Wine bottles, glasses, seals, and bronze spigot of 1700-80 period found at Wakefield.
Fragments of kettle and spoons unearthed at Wakefield.