Countless times he must have walked along the high banks of Popes Creek and the sandy shore of the Potomac River, and stalked game in the nearby forest. Wakefield is a monument to the growing boy who returned to the place of his birth when he was 11 years old and learned his first lessons in surveying. The impressions which the peaceful farm made on his mind were lasting ones, and as he grew from youth into manhood and assumed greater responsibilities, the happy memories of days spent on his father’s plantation were never forgotten.
The memorial house.
Guide To The Area
The information which follows, supplements that contained in the narrative of this handbook. It has been arranged to enable you to make your own tour of the area. The numbers given correspond to the numbers on the map of the national monument on pages [34]-35.
1. Granite shaft.
This shaft, of Vermont granite, weighs about 50 tons. It is nearly one-tenth the size of the Washington Monument in the Nation’s capital, and of the same relative proportions. First erected in 1896 by the War Department (at or near the foundations of the home in which George Washington was born), it was moved to its present location near the entrance to the national monument in 1930.
GEORGE WASHINGTON BIRTHPLACE NATIONAL MONUMENT—Westmoreland County, Va.
Points of interest within the National Monument area: 1 GRANITE MONUMENT 2 SUPERINTENDENT’S OFFICE 3 MAIN PARKING AREA 4 POST OFFICE 5 SITE OF BUILDING “X“ 6 MEMORIAL HOUSE 7 COLONIAL STYLE GARDEN 8 GROVE OF NATIVE “CEDARS” 9 KITCHEN & HISTORICAL MUSEUM 10 SITE OF SMOKE HOUSE 11 DUCK HALL PICNIC AREA. (Parking) 12 SITE OF ANCIENT BUILDING FOUNDATION 13 WASHINGTON FAMILY BURIAL GROUND 14 POTOMAC RIVER VIEW