GEORGE WASHINGTON BIRTHPLACE Guidebook 1941

George Washington Birthplace National Monument

Wakefield

IN TIDEWATER VIRGINIA, a land known for its many places of serene and enchanting beauty, few spots impress the senses and the mind as does Wakefield, the birthplace of George Washington. Called the "Athens of America," Westmoreland County at the place of Washington's birth meets the majestic Potomac, The River of Swans, where the stream is 6 miles wide and has a tide of about 2 feet. Popes Creek curving gracefully from the right of the birthsite expands suddenly into an estuary as the water reluctantly moves to join the river, a half mile away. Dancing Marsh, a small stream situated to the north and flowing into Popes Creek, completes the agents of nature which have sculptured the birthplace spot into a gently elevated promontory. From here a vista of lawn, trees, marsh, and water reaches to the distant blue line of the Maryland shore. The place is a haven for wildlife; ducks and geese are afforded a delightful refuge by Popes Creek, and birds find a natural habitat in the trees and shrubs that grace the landscape. Domesticated turkeys roam the woods and fields of the old place, and horses and sheep enliven the rural scene of green fields enclosed by old Virginia worm and post rail fences.

At Wakefield the restful scene induces a feeling of peace and tranquility. Memories grip the mind, as if time itself has stood still, and ancient trees with their canopies of whispering leaves offer sanctuary to reverie.

Aerial view of a portion of the Augustine Washington plantation with the granite shaft and entrance road in the central foreground and the memorial mansion in the center

The bottle seal shown at the top was found at the Bridges Creek home site of Col. John Washington, great-grandfather of George washington. Three others with the initials JW have been found there. These four seals, in addition to authenticating the site, constitute probably the only objects now in existence which can be said to have belonged to the first Washington in America. The bottle seal shown at the bottom is one of the eleven found at the birthplace site on Popes Creek and bears the letters AW, the monogram of Augustine Washington, the father of George Washington

A tilt-top table, the only existing piece of furniture known to have been in the original house at Wakefield. William Augustine Washington, oldest nephew of George Washington, and last owner and occupant of the birthplace house, saved the table at the time of the fire in 1779. According to family tradition, this table descended to the father of George Washington from an ancestor who came from England

The Washington Family and the Bridges Creek-Popes Creek Plantation

GENEALOGISTS and students, of the subject claim that the name of Washington was derived from that of de Wessyngton, a Saxon name known in England in the twelfth century when it was applied to the village of Wessyngton in Palatine Durham, an area under the control of William the Conquerer following his conquest of England in 1066. In 1183 a Norman Knight, named William de Hertburn, exchanged the Village of Hertburn for that of Wessyngton, and at the same time took the latter name. As a result of many changes and transmutations in spelling, one version finally took form in the name of Washington. Thus it is that the Virginia Washingtons have been traced back to a Norman Knight named de Hertburn, who took the Saxon name of de Wessyngton, and that one of the most noted names in American history is related directly in its origin to the Norman Conquest of England.

On February 28, 1656, during a storm, a ship owned by Edward Prescott of England, and named the Seahorse of London, ran aground in the Potomac River near the mouth of Mattox Creek. The evidence indicates that John Washington, great grandfather of George, had been agent for Prescott in "Dansike" (Danzig), Lübeck, and Copenhagen, and had negotiated for him the sale of a cargo of tobacco in Elsinore, Denmark. Following this he had shipped with Prescott as second officer to Virginia where a cargo of tobacco was taken aboard the vessel. In the weeks following the foundering of the ship, difficulties arose between Prescott and John Washington which led to the court proceedings, preserved in the Westmoreland County records, that give us our first information of the Washington family in America. Col. Nathaniel Pope, an early land baron living on the Potomac River, near Mattox Creek, who is said to have had the only tobacco warehouse in Westmoreland County at the time, championed young John Washington's cause. In the end, John Washington remained in Virginia.

Within a short time John Washington had married Ann, daughter of Nathaniel Pope as is proved by a Westmoreland record dated May 11, 1659, conveying land to "my daughter Ann Pope alias Washington," and by Col. Pope's will dated May 16, 1659, which speaks of "My son in law John Washington."

John Washington soon was made a Lieutenant Colonel of Virginia Militia. He became a leader in public affairs, and took a prominent part in a campaign against the Indians. During the time of Bacon's Rebellion, Col. John Washington was believed to have aided Governor Berkeley. Bacon ordered the Washington plantation confiscated, and it was raided by Bacon's supporters. In August 1677, Col. John Washington was awarded 9,950 pounds of tobacco for his part in raising forces to aid in the suppression of Bacon's Rebellion. Some time between July 25, 1677, and September 26, 1677, Col. John Washington died, as is proved by Westmoreland County records, and he was buried at his own request on his plantation at Bridges Creek.

Occupancy and use of, if not full legal title to the Washington ancestral lands in Virginia began as early as 1655-1657, within 50 years after the founding of the settlement at Jamestown. The first title to land now included within the George Washington Birthplace National Monument was for a tract of 1,020 acres of land granted to Henry Brooke by patent, October 14, 1657, which was renewed and confirmed March 18, 1662. In a series of four indentures extending from February 18, 1717, to September 5, 1718, Joseph Abbington conveyed to Augustine Washington, grandson of John Washington, the 150 acres bounded by Dancing Marsh, Popes Creek, and Nathaniel Washington's holding, and on this land his son, George, subsequently was born.

It is not known at precisely what time Augustine moved on this land. All that is known with certainty is that 9 years after its purchase, on February 23, 726, a deed of uses, executed by Augustine Washington and his wife, mentions owning the land in fee simple "where he now lives which land he ... purchased of one Joseph Abbington." In 1723, Augustine Washington contracted with David Jones to build what he termed "my house" for 5,000 pounds of tobacco with extra amounts in cash for incidentals, On March 30, 1726, Augustine Washington entered a claim against the estate of a David Jones in which he asked the sum of 500 pounds of tobacco "To the not finishing my house" and credited the estate with 500 pounds of tobacco "By my house when finished." The entries in the bill of particulars date from 1722 to 1725, which would imply that the building referred to was not completed by the latter date. It may be inferred, therefore, that Augustine Washington's house on the Abbington tract at Popes Creek was built by himself and was occupied some time around 1725-1726.

Photographic copy of a portion of the entry page in the Mary Ball Washington Bible recording George Washington's birth. These entries were made on a detached sheet of paper which was carefully affixed to a page of the Bible by some unknown person and at some unrevealed but early date. Courtesy Mount Vernon Ladies Association of the Union

This shaft of Vermont granite weighing about 50 tons and nearly one-tenth the size of the Washington Monument in the Nation's Capital, and of the same relative proportions, was first erected in 1896 by the Federal Government on the site now occupied by the memorial mansion. In 1930 it was moved to its present location where it is encircled by the entrance road near the western boundary of the birthplace reservation

Between that time and 1732, the year of George's birth, Augustine Washington purchased from John Pope and others a total of 590 acres of land adjoining his original Popes Creek farm. Included in his purchases in 1728 was a mill at the head of Popes Creek. Therefore, 6 years before the birth of his illustrious son, Augustine is known to have been living in a house on Popes Creek and in the succeeding years to have increased rapidly the size of his land holdings in the immediate vicinity.

On November 4, 1728, Jane Butler, Augustine,Washington's first wife, died and was buried in the family vault at Bridges Creek. Augustine married his second wife, Mary Ball, a daughter of Col. Joseph Ball, of Virginia, on March 6, 1730. The child George was born on February 11, 1731.

The present generation, and many before it, has known Washington's birthday as February 22. In the English-speaking world there are two dates, the Old Style and the New Style, for events prior to 1752. It had long been known to scholars that the old calendar was not accurate and that a revision was necessary. In 1582 Pope Gregory sanctioned a revision, but then anti-Catholic England did not accept the Gregorian correction until 1752, by which time it was necessary to add 11 days to all Old Style dates to bring them up to the Gregorian Calendar. Among the changes made by the Gregorian Calendar was that of moving New Years Day from March 25, the Day of the Annunciation, to January 1. For this reason one sometimes finds the double numeral 1731/2 given as the date of Washington's birth. The old style date of Washington's birth would be February 11, 1731; the new, February 22, 1732. While it is known that during his lifetime Washington attended some celebrations given on February 22 in honor of his birthday, it is interesting to observe that in the last 2 years of his life his diaries show entries on February 11 in connection with birthday balls given in his honor.

The first 3 years of Washington's life were spent at his birthplace on the farm at Popes Creek. County and parish records show that at some unknown date between March 25, 1735, and November 18, 1735, Augustine Washington moved to the farm on Hunting Creek, known today as Mount Vernon. In 1738 he bought from the estate of William Strother a 28B-acre farm situated on the Rappahannock River across from and below Fredericksburg. Augustine Washington, together with his family, moved to this place in 1739. Here he died April 12, 1743, but he was buried in the Bridges Creek family burial ground beside his ancestors, in accordance with his own wish. On December 3, 1742, only a few months before his death, Augustine acquired the one hundred acres at Bridges Creek on which John Washington had settled in 1664 and which included the family graveyard. Now, for the first time, this tract of land became a part of the plantation which subsequently became known as Wakefield.

In addition to George, Augustine and his second wife, Mary Ball, had the following children: Elizabeth, born 1733; Samuel, 1734; John Augusine, 1735; Charles, 1738; and Mildred, 1739. George also had three half brothers and a half sister, of whom Lawrence, the eldest to survive infancy, is the best known. It was he, 14 years older than George, who developed the Hunting Creek plantation into Mount Vernon.

The memorial mansion, colonial type kitchen, and part of the grounds at Wakefield

Augustine's will, dated April 11, 1743, only 1 day before his death, left the Westmoreland County farm to Augustine, Jr. From 1743 until 1748, it is not known conclusively where George lived, although it appears that during this time he resided variously at the birthplace on Popes Creek, then in the possession of his half brother, Augustine, Jr.; at Mount Vernon with his half brother, Lawrence; and at Chotank with other relatives. After inheriting the place Augustine, Jr., presumably lived at Popes Creek in the birthplace house until his death in 1762. The farm then passed to William Augustine, son of Augustine Washington, Jr., who took title in full when his mother, Ann, who had a dower life interest in the estate, died in 1774. William Augustine Washington was living in the birthplace house when it burned accidentally during the Revolutionary War. Indirect evidence and tradition give some basis for believing that the house was destroyed on Christmas Day, 1779.

The name "Wakefield" apparently was given to the Popes Creek-Bridges Creek plantation in the 1770's, or earlier, by William Augustine Washington, and is said to have been suggested by Oliver Goldsmith's Vicar of Wakefield. The name is known to have been in current use by 1773 as a designation for the Washington birthplace plantation. It appears in a legal document of 1796 and apparently quickly gained general acceptance as the designation for the Washington birthplace farm on Popes Creek.

Upon the death of William Augustine in 1810, Wakefield, as the "Burnt house plantation," passed to his son, George Corbin Washington, who in 1813-1814 was assessed on 1,300 acres of land. On October 13, 1813, George Corbin Washington sold his Westmoreland land to John Gray. Among the pieces of land itemized in this document was Wakefield, 981.5 acres. In this deed George Corbin Washington reserved the family Burying Ground and also "sixty feet square of ground on which the home stood in which General Washington was born." During the next 30 years the plantation passed through the hands of several owners. In 1846 the estate was sold to John F. Wilson, and on July 30, 1867, the last transfer of the Wakefield farm as a unit occurred when John F. Wilson gave the property to his son, John E. Wilson, who married a grand-daughter of William Augustine Washington, and whose descendants today own most of the old Wakefield plantation.

GEORGE WASHINGTON BIRTHPLACE NATIONAL MONUMENT (click on image for a PDF version)

This map shows the approximate boundaries of the Washington Family Plantation, commonly known as "Bridges Creek," in Westmoreland County, Va. One section of this plantation became known as "Wakefield" in the 18th century. (click on image for a PDF version)

Public Ownership of the Birthplace Site

PUBLIC ownership of any of the land or sites connected with George Washington's birthplace began September 18, 1858, when Lewis W. Washington, son of George Corbin Washington, deeded the family cemetery and the 60 feet square at the house site to the State of Virginia upon the condition that the State would enclose these places by iron fences based on stone foundations and mark the sites by suitable and substantial tablets. In 1859 the Virginia legislature appropriated $5,000 to comply with the terms of Lewis Washington's deed, but expended only about $200 of the amount in checking title to the sites. Soon thereafter the War between the States began and all further work on the sites by the State came to a halt.

Within less than a year after Lewis Washington had deeded the two sites to the State, John E. Wilson, on August 1, 1859, gave to the State of Virginia a right-of-way through his farm to the Washington family cemetery and the birthsite, together with one-half acre of land at the former and one acre of land or less at the latter site.

In 1882 the State of Virginia and the Washington heir vested title to their holdings at the birthsite in the United States of America. By an act approved January 14, 1879, and amended February 26, 1881, Congress had authorized the construction of a monument to mark the site and the acquisition of the necessary ground and right-of-way. On July 10, 1883, John E. Wilson and Bettie W. Wilson sold to the United States nearly 12 acres of land surrounding the birthsite and 9.85 acres constituting a right-of-way 50 feet wide and approximately 1.6 miles long, connecting the birthsite, the burial grounds, and the Potomac River at the mouth of Bridges Creek. In 1896 the granite shaft marking the birthsite was completed by the Federal Government.

The brick used in constructing the memorial mansion were hand-made from clay taken from a pit near the house site and were burned in an old-fashioned up-draft Dutch kiln fired by oak and chestnut cordwood cut on the place

Nothing further of note occurred concerning the birthsite until the organization in Washington, D. C., on Washington's birthday in 1923, of the Wakefield National Memorial Association under the leadership of Mrs. Josephine Wheelwright Rust. The Association was incorporated the following year, on January 18, 1924, under the laws of Virginia. The stated object of this Association was to recover the long neglected birthplace of George Washington, restore it, and make it a shrine for all the people. On January 26, 1924, within a few days after its incorporation, the Association purchased the 70 acres of the "Duck Hall" property which adjoined the Government reservation on the north.

By Act of Congress, approved June 7, 1926, the Wakefield National Memorial Association was given the authority to erect a building on the Government-owned land as nearly similar to the Augustine Washington house as was possible, with the provision that the plans would be approved by the National Fine Arts Commission and the Secretary of War, and that when the work was completed it would be turned over to the United States Government.

The parlor of the memorial mansion. This room, as well as the other seven in the house, is being furnished to show the living conditions of the early eighteenth century for moderately successful Virginia planters, a class to which the Washingtons belonged

In a number of purchases made in 1929, Mr. John D. Rockefeller, Jr., through the River Holding Corporation organized for that purpose, acquired 273.56 acres of the old Wakefieid plantation extending along the Government road between the birthsite and the Potomac River at Bridges Creek. Mr. Rockefeller had been interested by the Wakefield National Memorial Association in performing this public service. On December 12, 1930, Mr. Rockefeller transferred this land to the United States Government, and by Presidential Proclamation, March 30, 1931, it became a part of the George Washington Birthplace National Monument.

In 1929 the Association purchased an additional 30 acres of land to round out the area acquired by Mr. Rockefeller. On June 22, 1931, the Association deeded its lands at Wakefield, approximately 100 acres, to the United States of America. This brought the holding of the Government at the old Augustine Washington plantation to 394.47 acres, which it remains today.

By Act of Congress, January 23, 1930, the land owned by the Government at the birthplace was transferred from the War Department to the Department of the Interior, and the area was designated the George Washington Birthplace National Monument. This Act also confirmed the right of the Wakefield National Memorial Association to construct a house and to restore the grounds, and appropriated funds to assist in this purpose.

On May 14, 1932, the Secretary of the Interior on behalf of the United States Government, in ceremonies at Wakefield, formally accepted from the Wakefield National Memorial Association the Colonial type memorial mansion and the appropriately landscaped grounds, together with all the lands that had been purchased and presented to the United States by Mr. John D. Rockefeller, Jr., and the Wakefield National Memorial Association.

These three views show various phases of the limited farming activity carried on at Wakefield by the National Park Service in an effort to retain an atmosphere of plantation life. The young colt was foaled on the place from registered black Morgans donated by Mr. John D. Rockefeller, Jr. The turkeys are domesticated bird that have nested and reared their young on and near the birthplace grounds for the past several years

Marking of Washington Birthsite

THE FIRST marker commemorating the site of Washington's birth, and one of the first if not the first monumental stone to his memory anywhere in the country, was transported by George Washington Parke Custis, a grandson of Martha Washington and a ward of George, from Arlington House where he lived on the Potomac opposite the city of Washington to Wakefield in June 1815. The stone bore the inscription, "Here, the 17th of February, 1732, George Washington was born." Writing of the event 36 years later, Custis describes how he sailed his own vessel, The Lady of the Lake, from Alexandria to Wakefield and amid a rather colorful ceremony "gathered together bricks of the ancient chimney that once formed the hearth around which Washington in his infancy had played, and constructed a rude kind of pedestal, on which we reverently placed the First Stone, commending it to the respect and protection of the American people in general, and the citizens of Westmoreland in particular." This stone in time became the object of souvenir hunters and pieces were chipped off and carried away. After a time it disappeared, eventually to be found broken in two and used as a hearthstone in a Negro's cabin. It was reclaimed and placed on its old site at Wakefield.

In the October 14, 1851, issue of The Richmond Whig and Public Advertiser an anonymous writer describes a visit to Wakefield. Of the birthsite he related that it was "in the midst of a two hundred acre corn field, marked only by an old brick chimney, a mammoth fig tree, and a freestone slab." The writer describes the slab as being "three feet long by one foot and a half wide and is broken in two" and inscribed with cut letters barely discernible. Pieces of this stone were last seen at the birthsite about 1879.

An unsigned article in The North American Magazine, July 1833, written undoubtedly by one who had visited the site, in referring to the birthplace house, states that "The cellar over which it stood, now mostly filled up, is about fifty feet in length from east to west, having what seems to have been a wine vault in the corner." The article continues with the remark that "An orchard of apple trees of modern growth interspersed with other fruit trees, surrounds the old cellar; westerly of which are scattered some apple trees of a very ancient growth, with fruit of a delicious flavor. These trees are monuments of older times; contemporaries probably with the childhood of the Great Statesman."

In 1896, in excavating for the base of the 51-foot Vermont granite shaft which was to be erected on the site marked by Custis in 1815, building foundations were uncovered and drawings of them made. Under the supervision of the War Department the Wakefield National Memorial Association in 1926 caused further excavations to be made at the site in order to obtain additional information. The granite shaft was moved from the site now occupied by the memorial mansion to its present location in 1930.

The Memorial Mansion

IN ORDER to authenticate the land acquisition program, and in preparation for the construction and development phase of the work at Wakefield, the Association obtained the services of Mr. Charles A. Hoppin, Examiner of Ancient Records of Persons and Property, who conducted extensive researches in this country and in England regarding the Washington family and the Wakefield estate. Mr. Edward W. Donn, Jr., an architect of Washington, D. C., who had specialized in Virginia Colonial architecture, was retained by the Association to prepare the plans for the house to be constructed at Wakefield.

The most painstaking research in this country and in England failed to produce any reliable evidence concerning the appearance, size, and shape of the house on Popes Creek in which Augustine and Mary Ball Washington lived and in which their son, George, was born. The present house, therefore, is not a replica of it. The only evidence available for use as a guide in designing the structure consisted of the remaining typical modest Virginia plantation houses of the first half of the eighteenth century, the evidence discovered in making excavations at the site, and the personal property inventory of Augustine Washington II who was living in the house at the time of his death in 1762. This inventory and that of his widow in 1773 indicate that the house probably had about eight rooms. The 1762 inventory lists 9 beds, 55 chairs, 14 tables and stands, 8 mirrors, 8 chests and a corresponding number of household effects in use at that time. The 1773 inventory gives approximately the same items as the inventory of 1762. Lacking evidence that the house of 1732 was changed or enlarged between that date and 1762, it was considered reasonable to suppose that it remained unaltered during this period and that the furnishings of 1762 were for the same house that existed in 1732 at the time of Washington's birth. Accordingly, a house of eight rooms, four downstairs and four in the half story upstairs, with a central hallway on each floor, was erected. No more can be claimed for this newly constructed house than that it represents generally a type of modest Virginia plantation house of the first half of the eighteenth century, and that it is possible it may resemble in some respects the type of house in which Washington was born.

The bricks used in the construction of the memorial mansion at Wakefield were made by hand, in much the same manner as they were prior to the birth and during the boyhood of George Washington, in a field adjoining the birthsite, from clay obtained in the same enclosure, and were patterned after samples found during the excavation at Wakefield.

The memorial mansion house was opened to the public in July 1931. Since that time, the Wakefield National Memorial Association has been active in furnishing the house with suitable pieces of household effects representative of the Colonial Virginia life of the early eighteenth century. Over 300 antique articles of the period already have been placed in the memorial structure. Only one item of the furnishings, a small tilt-top table, saved by William Augustine Washington at the time the birthplace house burned in 1779, is known to have been in the original house. Mrs. Rust, the president of the Association during the period of its great achievement, died in 1931 just before the memorial mansion was completed. She was succeeded in the presidency by Mrs. Alice Rice Worthington, who, retiring in 1935, was in turn succeeded by Mrs. Francis B. Crowninshield, the present active and able president of the Association.

The Kitchen and Temporary Museum

THE LAST brickwork above ground at Wakefield of any of the original buildings apparently belonged to the old kitchen chimney, which, in a sketch made on the ground in 1872, is shown standing. This chimney had fallen by 1878, as it is so shown in a sketch made in that year by a Mr. Perkins of Boston at the time he accompanied Edward Everett and Gen. William T. Sherman to the site. Most of the bricks eventually were carried away by souvenir hunters. In 1930 the foundations of the kitchen were uncovered, and subsequently a typical colonial kitchen building was constructed on the site. Eventually, it is planned to furnish the kitchen in period style. At the present time this building is used as a temporary museum for the display of objects recovered from the Bridges Creek house site and the Popes Creek birthplace grounds. Thousands of artifacts were recovered from the soil, there being about 10,000 hand wrought nails alone. The relics on display include brick, mortar, plaster, charred wood, nails, hardware, such as hinges, locks, a key, latches and hooks, an andiron, a pothook, eating utensils, much broken glassware, earthenware, chinaware, brassware, slipware and stoneware, clay pipe stems and bowls, metal buttons, thimbles, buckles, coins, an engraved jewel, beads, pins, gun and pistol flints, tools, a brass skillet, and several glass bottle seals.

Five old brick foundations at the Popes Creek site, and two at the earlier ancestral home site on Bridges Creek, have been located. It appears probable that still others would be found at both places if careful and exhausting archeological excavation of the grounds were undertaken.

The Garden

SITUATED south of the memorial mansion is a Colonial type garden enclosed by a hand split picket fence. The garden is about 100 by 200 feet in size and is connected with the memorial mansion by a boxwood lined brick walk. The boxwood at Wakefield is well over 100 years old and was transplanted from the home of Sarah Tayloe Washington, 8 miles to the west. This boxwood may have grown from cuttings originally taken from Wakefield. As a background, the garden has the deep green of a magnificent cedar grove that covers a water-encircled point of land.

In this quiet, old-fashioned garden will be found only those plants, flowers, vines, herbs, and berries that were common to Virginia gardens during the period of Washington's youth. Here are old herbs such as sage, thyme, hyssop, wormwood, southernwood, marjoram, rue, tanset, pennyroyal, basil, horehound, rosemary, costmary, elecampane, clary, snakeroot, sweet myrrh, sweet lavender. carroway, ambrosia, and others.

Among the flowers are many old roses, hollyhocks, lilies, candytuft, bleeding hearts, honesty, heartsease, forget-me-not, love-in-a-mist, garden heliotrope, narcissi, iris, and gas plant. The garden is at its best during the middle of May. A dovecot, beehives, and a sundial are in the garden.

The father, grandfather, and great-grandfather of George Washington, together with twenty-nine other early members of the Washington family, are interred in this old burial plot

Burial Ground

IN HIS will John Washington asked "to be buried on ye plantation where I now live, by the side of my wife yt is already buried." Following the precedent set by his father, John Washington II in his will, proved February 23, 1697, commended his body to the earth "to be buried in a Christian like manner in the Burying Place on the Plantation where i now live, by my Father, Mother and Brothers."

In the years that followed, members of succeeding generations of Washingtons found final resting place in the ancient family burial ground. Among those whose remains today rest here may be mentioned Col. John Washington, the emigrant from England, together with his wife Ann Pope; his brother Lawrence; his sons Maj. Lawrence Washington and Capt. John Washington and a portion of the latter's family; Augustine Washington, the father of George, together with his first wife, Jane Butler; and Augustine Washington II, half brother of George.

In 1906 the Colonial Dames of Virginia provided funds for the improvement of the burial grounds. A wall of concrete blocks was built around the site and a cement slab, with two old gravestones set in it, was placed in the ground within the enclosure. While still wet, the names of 17 persons known to have been buried here were impressed into the concrete.

In 1930 the concrete-block wall and the cement slab of 1906 were removed and the burial ground subjected to detailed study. Twelve burials were found in the old vault, and twenty adjoining graves were discovered in the immediate vicinity. Old brick from the original vault together with others from an old colonial structure were used in building a reconstructed vault. The reinterment of the remains of the members of the Washington family who had been buried here took place on April 28, 1930, under the auspices or the Wakefield National Memorial Association.

The burial ground, an area 70 feet square, is enclosed by a wall of hand-made bricks with iron gates. There are two original gravestones, one with the dates 1690 and 1696 to the memory of John and Mildred Washington, an uncle and aunt of George Washington, who died as children; and the other dated 1729 to the memory of Jane Butler, the first wife of Augustine Washington, George's father. Five new tablestones were erected within the enclosure in 1930.

The old family burial ground is reached from a parking area by an old-fashioned footpath running between rows of stately cedars and native shrubbery.

At "The Log House," built and equipped by the Wakefield National Memorial Association and donated to the Federal Government, meals and refreshments as well as overnight lodging are available

How to Reach the Monument

WASHINGTON'S BIRTHPLACE is reached by automobile from Washington, D. C., by following United States Highway No. 1 to Fredericksburg, Va., and thence east on Virginia State Highway No. 3, "The Kings Highway"; or over Maryland State Highways Nos. 5 and 3 to Morgantown and then by ferry across the Potomac to the Virginia shore at Potomac Beach, 12 miles distant from the birthplace. These alternate routes provide an interesting loop drive from the National Capital.

Visitor Hours and Service

THE AREA is open to visitors every day in the year from 8 a. m. until dark. A fee of 10 cents is charged visitors over 16 years of age for admission to the memorial mansion grounds and buildings, with the exception of school groups who are admitted free up to 18 years of age. Organizations or groups will be given special service if arrangements are made in advance with the Superintendent.

A picnic area and a lodge (The Log House Tea Room) have been provided for the convenience of visitors. In the lodge meals are served, and overnight accommodations may be obtained by arrangement with the hostess, except during the months of December, January, and February of each year, when the lodge is closed.

>All communications relating to the birthplace should be addressed to the Superintendent George Washington Birthplace National Monument, Washington's Birthplace, Westrmoreland County, Va.