George Washington Birthplace National Monument, VirginiaHudson, J. Paul
History
George Washington Birthplace National Monument, Virginia
Hudson, J. Paul
George Washington Birthplace National Monument (Va.)
South of the memorial house is a colonial-type garden enclosed by a
handsplit picket fence. It is connected with the memorial house by a
boxwood-lined brick walk. The English boxwood is well over a century
old, and was transplanted from the home, 8 miles away, of Sarah Tayloe
Washington (a daughter of the last occupant and owner of the home in
which George Washington was born.) It is believed to have grown from
cuttings originally taken from Wakefield. In this fragrant,
old-fashioned garden, will be found many plants that were common to
Virginia gardens during the period of George Washington’s youth. Here
are sweet-scented herbs such as sage, thyme, hyssop, wormwood, marjoram,
rue, tansy, pennyroyal, basil, hoarhound, snakeroot, true lavender,
caraway, and others used for cooking and medicinal purposes. Among the
colorful flowers are old roses, hollyhocks, lilies, bleedinghearts,
forget-me-nots, love-in-a-mist, narcissi, iris, and heliotrope.
[Illustration: _A part of the parlor._]
[Illustration: _Master bedroom._]
[Illustration: _The children’s room._]
[Illustration: _Interior of reconstructed colonial kitchen._]
8. Grove of eastern redcedars.
South of the colonial garden is a magnificent grove of eastern
redcedars, _Juniperus virginiana_. The grove covers Burnt House Point,
which juts out into Popes Creek.
9. The kitchen and historical museum.
The colonial-style kitchen building is located about 50 feet west of the
memorial house. Its old chimney was the last above-ground brickwork of
the original buildings at Wakefield owned by George Washington’s father.
Still standing in 1872, when it was sketched by a visiting artist, it
finally collapsed and fell to the ground the following year. In 1930 the
foundations of the old kitchen were uncovered, and subsequently a
colonial-style building was constructed on the site. The east room in
the building has been furnished with cooking utensils, kitchen
accessories, fireplace equipment, and furniture of the 1700-50 period.
The west room is used for the display of colonial artifacts which were
unearthed at Bridges Creek and from various foundations found near the
site of the original home on Popes Creek. The exhibits relate to the
history of the Bridges Creek and Popes Creek plantations as well as to
the activities of the early Washingtons who lived there.
[Illustration: _Colonial-type kitchen. One room is furnished as an
18th century kitchen; another room houses excavated objects and
exhibits relating to the early Washingtons who lived at Bridges
Creek and Popes Creek._]
10. Site of smokehouse.
The boxwood plants mark the site of an old building foundation believed
to be that of an early 18th-century smokehouse. Excavated in 1936, the
building had brick foundations as well as a brick floor. The foundations
were located about 65 feet west of the kitchen building.
11. Duck Hall parking and picnic area.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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