1930s Virtual Tour of the Birthplace

The Wakefield National Memorial Association sought to honor George Washington through a commemorative landscape. The National Park Service sought to convey accurate information about the historical conditions surrounding and informing Washington’s life. The goals of both the Association and the NPS played out on the landscape during the 1930s, which created a unique visitor experience.

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The 1930s visitor experience began as a transition from the relative busy Route 3 to the rural calm of the birthplace.

The granite obelisk loomed in the distance as visitors traveled down Route 204 to the entrance of the park.

Learn more as well as view modern images of the Birthplace Monument.

After visitors traveled around the obelisk, they went another quarter mile to a dirt parking lot.

Visitors entered the Memorial Area on foot, often accompanied by Superintendent Hough who would give them a site tour.


Read about the history of the Memorial Area.

Hough would lead visitors to the entrance hall of the Memorial House Museum where a tour commenced by another ranger or costumed interpreters. Most visitors did not linger in the house during the early years as bugs made the visit uncomfortable. In July 1932, the park installed screens on the Memorial House Museum windows and doors to keep the biting flies and mosquitoes out.

Learn more about the Memorial House.

The tour then proceeded to the Colonial Revival Kitchen. The kitchen served a variety of purposes. Hough displayed prized artifacts such as Native American arrowheads, fossils and sharks teeth, and items found during archeological excavations. Various artifacts and reproductions were arranged around the fireplace to suggest a working kitchen. Hough’s clerk also had an office in this area. Upstairs was a living quarters for park staff.

After the Colonial Revival Kitchen was viewed, Rangers pointed visitors towards the Colonial Revival Garden.

The colonial revival garden plots were mostly uncultivated in the early 1930s. A 1933 visitors guide promised a view “of many old-fashioned herbs and plants such as were cultivated 200 years ago.”

Planning disagreements between the Wakefield National Memorial Association and the National Park Service delayed the creation of an accurate garden.

The garden views improved after the plants had grown for a few years.


Learn more about the Colonial Revival Garden.

The Burnt House Trail extended past the Colonial Revival Garden, through a stand of red cedars, along Pope’s Creek.

A waterside trail extended past the Memorial House Museum toward the 300-foot long Dancing Marsh footbridge.

The scenic walk across Dancing Marsh Creek joined the Historic Area with Duck Hall Point where the Log House stood.

The Log House operated as a Tea Room and Lodge.

Learn more about the Log House.

Most vistors bypassed the Log House and likely drove a little over a mile to the Washington Family Burial Ground.

A 300 foot tree-lined gravel path led to the family burial ground.

Remains of Washington family members were interred within a stone vault at the Washington Family Burial Ground.

Learn more about the Washington Family Burial Ground.

Leaving the Washington Family Burial Ground and continuing a half-mile down the road, visitors encountered a turnaround where they could enjoy a picnic on the sandy Potomac River Beach.

This was a much livelier area of the park as tourists and residents swam in the river and relaxed on the beach.

View modern images of the Potomac River Beach.