Trip Report - George Washington's Birthplace Memorial Monument

October 18, 2002

I just got a wild hair to get away from some of things I had been doing, grab my camera and wander off to the wilderness of Northern Hook region of Virginia along the Potomac River. I have been in that area many times since we returned from Europe and had seen the signs for George Washington's Birthplace National Memorial many times but never had taken the time to visit. Admittedly I didn't think of it as anything much, probably an old house or two but I was in for a very interesting and pleasant surprise.

This had been the week of the sniper and all tongues were wagging at great length about the situation and all sorts of solutions being recommended and all manner of conspiracies contemplated. I was also anxious to try Tiny out on a longer trip to see if the gauges continued to work properly. I had also been working too many hours scanning slides for the park and my eyes were hurting a little bit from the strain. It was a beautiful warm Fall day and just great to get away for a while.

Finding the park on the mapping program was daunting, it just wasn't in the system. The zip code given was for a town on the river and seemed logical so I struck out as the intrepid explorer that I am. Of course going down I 95 was a piece of cake, handled even by me and even with the threats of the "sniper", dove into the target zone of a gas station in Fredericksburg to get gas and then continued east on Route 3 toward the Potomac River and ultimate destination. Route 3 is four lane with few lights until one reaches Route 301.

I had turned off Route 3 onto State Route 207 heading for the town indicated by the zip code on the park's information site on the Internet. We all know the National Park System, being a government activity, would never allow a mistake to be made. I reached the town the zip indicated and no park. Despite many myths perpetuated by the females of the species, I do not feel that ask for directions is a threat to my masculinity. The directions were somewhat interesting: "drive yon the street fur a while till the light, hang left and sort of bear to the right. Go a piece to the light and turn sort of left. Watch out for the sheriff, he is usually in the coffee shop watching fur dawgs pushing the lite."

If I remember correctly the Sheriff's Department and the Justice Of The Peace get to split revenue generated by fines. This practice had lead to some serious problems in other states but I think is still common in the Southeast.

It scares me, I understood the directions and found they were quite accurate. And sure enough, there was deputy dawg with a pickup truck stopped that mutt have pushed the lite. I also found myself back on Route 3 headed East. As it turns out that zip code is the post office, not the park.
In reality the park was well marked but would have benefitted a little bit by having a local map on their web site. After a couple of miles on two lane road bordered by tall trees just starting into their Fall plumage, I spotted the memorial stele or obelisk indicating the gate and familiar entrance sign.,

The parking is good with a great view of Pope's Creek which gave the site it's name. The Visitors Center is spacious and relatively new with room for displays of the genealogy of the Washington family in the area. From the rear deck one can seen where the sand bars are located that mark the confluence of the creek and the Potomac River. The Potomac is quite wide at that point and it is easy to visualize the sailing ships of the era having little difficulty negotiating the river heading for Washington D.C. even if they had to tack to take advantage of the winds.

I watched the film which I thought was fairly good. The film was shot on site with many of the interpretive guides in period costume and using some of the livestock that is maintained at the park to assure authenticity. The interpretive guide on duty and I have mutual acquaintances and we had to talk shop for a while before heading out to the rest of the farm. The mean ground level seems to be about twelve feet above water level which I think assures of it not being flooded even under the worst of circumstances. I saw nothing to indicate that flooding was ever a factor. The farm at one time was approximately 20,000 acres, huge even for that era.
The original house burnt down in the 17^th century and no pictures, plans or drawings of it were ever found. The current house is loosely patterned after the home built by George Mason - Mr. Virginia - very close to where we live at Mason Neck just below Mount Vernon. The foundation of the original house was discovered only recently and is located in the immediate area of the current house. The current house is modest by contemporary standards, four rooms down stairs and dormer rooms in the half floor garret. As was the custom of the era, the cook house was another building so the heat and odors were not noticed in the main house and in the event the kitchen caught on fire, the conflagration would not lead to the destruction of the main house. It also kept the heat down during the summer when the heat and the humidity would be its most oppressive. I fear no central air conditioning in those days.

The house was built from brick fired on the farm, all of the wood came from trees also on the farm. Craftsmen for the ornate woodwork and carved mantels and lintels were hired from Williamsburg and perhaps the glass came from Jamestown which had one of the largest glass producing industries in Virginia during that period of the Colonial era. 
The result was a very attractive home with two sitting rooms and two bedrooms on the first floor with sleeping space upstairs for the children. The house has a vast lawn with fantastic view of the river. The Interpretive Ranger made note that it was not unusual to have Bald Eagles walking about on the lawn, somewhat appropriate I guess.
I noticed all sorts of wildlife in the area with some of the fattest woodchuck I have ever seen. They didn't run, they waddled rapidly only when they had to. Deer are thick in the area, consuming any attempt to grow flowers and shrubs. There are sufficient fox in the area to present a problem to park personnel attempting to keep the flocks of chickens and ducks at a reasonable level. Fox are normally nocturnal but have adapted to hunting during the day since the ducks and chickens are sequestered at night in huts. It is amazing just how much wildlife has modified its normal behavior in order to coexist with the great polluter. I do not think people can adjust that much, we get to set in our ways and we are the species that is given credit for thinking. I tend to doubt that but this is not the forum to discuss inherited versus acquired knowledge. I have probably upset enough people already as it is a ticklish subject.

Records indicate about 1000 slaves were used and strangely enough a hierarchal peeking order rapidly established itself. Highest in the order were the house workers who all spoke English and the most apt to be freed as they became older. Next were the crafts workers who frequently were allowed to earn money by performing their work for other plantations and many of these gained their freedom with this money. The lowest on the peeking order were the field hands and these were also the most apt to be sold or acquired as the needs changed.
It dawned on me to see if there has ever been an investigation to compare the life of the typical slave into that of the typical worker during the industrial revolution of the 19^th century There is an interesting dichotomy where as the slave worked in a sense under a strict socialist society meaning they received their three hots and a cot, a modicum of medical care and frequently "old age" benefits and were expensive to replace, unemployment was virtually nil. During the Industrial Revolution workers, including "African-Americans" received virtually nothing of anything including wages as the unemployment rate was so high that replacement could be accomplished immediately despite discrimination against just about any of the ethnic groups recently immigrating to the United States. It would be interesting to know under which system the most starved to death directly or which malnutrition lead to fatal illnesses. This is perhaps politically incorrect so I will cease.

I walked through the areas where the crafts workers performed their efforts and by the barns where there is still tobacco hanging from the rafters. Then, as now, tobacco was a major cash crop and was exported to England in return for hard goods and textiles. If I remember correctly the importation of raw material such as iron, steel and cotton was illegal, only finished goods were permitted. Even rum and sugar had to come from England as trading with the "Indies" was prohibited. Yankee traders violated this of course leading to a flourishing trade but of course upsetting England no end and eventually leading to the War of Independence and according to many historians set up the parameters for the Civil War by having a heavily industrialized and commercial North and a primarily agricultural South.

From the house I walked back to Tiny, bypassing the bookstore for once, and drove to the grave sites a few miles further up river. These grave sites are not the original graves of course but the collection of head stones and bodily remains from several sites re-interred during the early 20^th Century. It does contain the head stones of George's two sisters both of whom died very early, one at six months, the other at the age of six I believe. From there it was a two minute jaunt down to the river for a short walk. From here one can see the power plant, the Highway 301 bridge over the Potomac River, the last river crossing before Washington D.C. and the infamous Woodrow Wilson bridge.

The drive back was uneventful, no "long cuts" to slow things down and I was home by mid-afternoon much happier for the experience. I have developed a list of state and national parks not represented in my collection of images - and in the Park's collection. I guess I will attempt to photograph as many of them as possible. It is doubtful that many more will be done this year as it is late in the season and soon there will be no more leaves on the trees. I might make a shot at Harper's Ferry next month but if not I just might have to make a swing down south.

I have put out a number of applications for positions for next year, most are east of the Great Plains but also several in the South East. One of the reasons for this is that somehow the pictures I took on one of my first trips after returning to the United States have disappeared and going back down there for a month or two would allow me to re-photograph them. I may also consider applying at some of the National Forests. That might be change of pace. Of course before I consider any long term assignment I have to finish these digitizing tasks I am being offered; I do not think I will finish Prince William Forest's collection for several months yet and with a new Chief Interpreter coming on board in the Spring I suspect that might hamper progress even more. I guess I am very close to burn out as well, I know that when I finished my collection I didn't want to see another slide for a year.