Remembering Washington

Remembering Washington. George Washington Birthplace National Monument. On December 14, 1799, George Washington passed away at his Mount Vernon home just up the Potomac River from here, the place he was born 67 years earlier. His death was a significant event that shook a young nation and sparked a shared sense of sorrow and admiration. , In the years that followed Washington’s passing, memorials to him began to dot the American landscape, including the place of his birth. Around 1815, George’s step-grandson, George Washington Parke Custis, laid an inscribed stone here and, by doing so, memorialized the birthplace of George Washington for the first time. Although the Custis Stone eventually disappeared, attempts to memorialize Washington at the place of his birth continued. , Shortly before the Civil War, the family burial ground and a small lot presumed to be the site of Washington’s birth home were donated to the state of Virginia for preservation. In 1896, the War Department erected a granite obelisk in Washington’s memory, and in 1906 the Colonial Dames sought to better preserve the family burial ground by constructing a wall around it. , Memorialization efforts here culminated in the creation of George Washington Birthplace National Monument by President Herbert Hoover in 1930. The park’s creation was one of the earliest national efforts to memorialize Washington for the bicentennial of his birth in 1932. , How do you think Washington should be memorialized for the tricentennial of his birth in 2032?