George Washington's Birthplace National Monument
We were pretty
excited to go to George Washington’s Birthplace. Unfortunately, when we got
there we found out the house had burned down when he was three years old. So,
he only lived there until he was three, then he moved because his parents
decided not to rebuild. His family moved six miles away in a log cabin. We did
learn some interesting facts though!
This is the view upon arriving! It looks like a mini- DC Monument! |
Family arriving at George Washington's Birthplace. |
- They showed us the Washington Coat of Arms and how there
were specific items from the coat of arms on the Washington DC license plates.
We were especially interested in his coat of arms because we had recently
learned about our coat of arms in our schooling. :)
Beautiful view from the homestead. |
George and Martha Washington's Coat of Arms! |
The white outline represents the original Washington home- stead. The white building in the back is the separate kitchen dwelling with the home in the back. |
Candle Making! |
- George Washington never had his own children. He only adopted Martha’s grandchild.
- He inherited ten slaves & some land from his dad when he
passed away (George was only 11 years old.
- Brad noticed that the buildings weren't true to their
times/originals because they had plug-ins and air conditioning!
- He inherited more than half his slaves (he had approx.
300) when he married Martha.
- I was amazed that any of this was here because everywhere
I look I hear about him at Mt. Vernon. Well, he eventually inherited Mt. Vernon
from his brother (where he wanted to be buried and was).
- We also learned about guinea foals! They look like they
are part turkey and part quail but were around a lot back then.
We've read many
books about the great George Washington so we are always interested in learning
more. We were a little let down to hear about him owning slaves. When we were
in the kitchen and saw a very small bed that 5 slaves were expected to live in,
the kids asked the reenactor if they knew when slavery started and a few other
questions and unfortunately she was new and didn't have any idea. We were
reminded that was how things were back then. (We kind of wondered if slavery
started when colonists arrived in Jamestown or if it predated Jamestown.) It did
bring about a class in learning more about slavery and lack of civil rights
from that time. I’m glad that we have evolved in humanity since that time! :) Overall, we are continually reminded what a
strong and courageous man the first president of the United States is in all he
did throughout his life.
We are also
loving that there is sooooo much history on the east coast! There is so much to
see and do and learn here! Hopefully Stacey’s back will hold up (we usually
take a little time off in between or explore a little while she rests back up) and
we can continue to explore the east coast and learn all we can while we are
here! Look for more blog posts! :)
Kristi having fun taking our picture! |
Beautiful view from the homestead (right outside the back door). |
A view from the backside of the home. |
Good picture of us from our budding photographer Kristi! |
Guinea foals! |
An interesting bedroom with sewing wheel. |
Information about George's Dad. |
Information about George's Great Grandfather. |
Various items found through archaeological finds! |
Us playing around in the visitor center! Kristi had to try out this George Washington setup! :) |