Phone: (804) 224-1732 x227
Website: https://www.nps.gov/gewa/index.htm
Hours: The park is open seven days a week from 9:00-5:00. The park will be closed on Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day.
Ticket Price: Free
Homeschool discount? N/A
Visited: Friday, 2/3/17, 11:45 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.
The George Washington Birthplace National Monument is in Westmoreland County on Popes Creek, just off the Potomac River. It isn't far from Westmoreland State Park.
The site was originally established in the 17th century as a colonial plantation by John Washington, George Washington's great-grandfather. George Washington was born on February 22, 1732 and lived there until age three, returning later to live there as a teenager. The grounds are now maintained and operated by the National Park Service.
When driving in, we came upon a roundabout with a one tenth scale replica of the Washington Monument (55 feet tall vs 550 feet tall). Turn to the right to go to the Visitor’s Center and historic area.
We started in the Visitor’s Center and grabbed a copy of the Junior Ranger Handbook for this site. It’s filled with on-site activities for ages 5 – 12. At the end of your visit, if all the activities have been completed, your child will be “sworn in” as a Junior Ranger and will receive a super cool patch and pin.
The Visitor’s Center also has a 14-minute movie that provides some background for the site.
We then walked to the historic area. Most of the tour is self-led, but the Memorial House has guided tours.
We visited on a slower day and tours were offered each hour on the hour. In the historic area, we were able to visit pigs, horses, and sheep, who were all surprisingly friendly.
The sheep were out roaming the grounds and most kept their distance, but the resident ram came up to us and let us pet him and touch his horns.
These sheep are Hog Island Sheep, a breed that is preserved by various organizations because of its relevance to American history and its resemblance to historical American sheep.
There were many lambs and their moms roaming, and the little lambs were very playful and enjoyed jumping around a couple of mulch piles.
The site has been set up as a mid-sized working tobacco plantation would have been in Colonial Virginia.
The workshop, barn, weaving room, and memorial house have all been placed where they might have been located when George Washington was born on February 22, 1732, but the colonial kitchen building was built in its original place.
Two artifacts original to the Washington family can be found in the Memorial House – a glass wine bottle and a tea table.
The actual home where Washington was born burned on Christmas Day, 1779. The Memorial House was built in 1931 and represents a typical upper-class colonial house. However, it’s probably larger and finer than the actual house in which he was born.
In 1936, the original home’s foundation was excavated and outlined with oyster shells. The outline is visible today so that visitors can see where the actual house was located. Washington lived at this site until he was nearly 4, but he still spent periods of time there throughout his life.
A short drive from the visitor’s center will take you to the Washington family graveyard. 32 burials have been found there, including Washington’s half-brother, father, grandfather, and great-grandfather.
Adjacent to that you’ll find a sandy beach on the Potomac River.
In the distance you can see the Potomac River bridge for Route 301. You can occasionally see shark’s teeth on the beach, but it’s illegal to collect them from National Park Service property.
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