Near Popes Creek Road. Reported permanently removed.
Most of what we know about George Washington's birthplace has come to us thanks to the archeologist's trowel.
After generations of uncertainty about the location of the main plantation house, archeologists excavated its foundations in 1936. . . . — — Map (db m158346) HM
Near Popes Creek Road. Reported permanently removed.
Sailing ships and the rivers they travelled were vital to the tidewater plantations of Virginia and Maryland. They were the colonial counterpart to our vehicles, highways, and railroads.
In front of you is Popes Creek; beyond is the Potomac . . . — — Map (db m34201) HM
The Chesapeake Bay continues to be a generous provider of food, industry, and income. Millions of people are now drawn to the Bay in pursuit of leisure and tranquility.
Recreational uses have increased since Washington's time, when the . . . — — Map (db m34138) HM
On James Monroe Highway (Virginia Route 205), on the left when traveling south.
Fifth president of the United States, 1817- 1825. Governor of Virginia, 1799 and 1811. Proclaimed the Monroe Doctrine, December 2, 1823.
Declares the Americas no longer subject to European colonization. — — Map (db m11940) HM
On James Monroe Highway (Virginia Route 205), on the left when traveling south.
In this vicinity stood the Monroe home where James Monroe, fifth president of the United States, was born, April 28, 1758. His father was Spence Monroe and his mother, Elizabeth Jones. He left home at the age of sixteen to enter William and Mary . . . — — Map (db m11585) HM
Near James Monroe Highway (Virginia Route 205) 0.2 miles south of Ferry Landing ( Route 638), on the left when traveling south.
Born in Westmoreland County, Charles Bernard Smith (1917-1991) is one of more than 140,000 African Americans who served in the racially segregated U.S. Army Air Force during World War II. Trained at Chanute Field, Illinois, in aircraft ground . . . — — Map (db m22255) HM
On Beach Terrace at Boundary Street, on the right when traveling south on Beach Terrace.
In reverent tribute to the men and women of Colonial Beach, VA. who have served our country.
Left Column:
World War II
Stanley G. Adams •
James W. Allison •
William D. Bankett •
James R. Barnes •
William S. Barnes •
James B. . . . — — Map (db m20870) HM
Near Popes Creek Road (Route 204) 1.9 miles east of Kings Highway ( Route 3).
George Washington was born a British subject into the Atlantic World—a world that was globally linked by trade networks and intense international competition for land, resources, labor, and profit. Seemingly remote and isolated by today’s . . . — — Map (db m306024) HM
Near Popes Creek Road (Virginia Route 204) 1.9 miles east of Kings Highway ( Route 3).
The Wakefield National Memorial Association (WNMA) built
the brick house before you in 1932 as a memorial to George
Washington. Because no records existed regarding the
original appearance of the birth house, they built it based on
an ideal the . . . — — Map (db m306022) HM
Site of eighteenth-century dairy used by the Washingtons for storage of milk, cheese and other dairy products. The original brick floor is still in tact.
Please leave undisturbed. — — Map (db m34081) HM
Near James Monroe Highway (Virginia Route 205) 0.3 miles north of Old Road, on the right when traveling north.
I should be destitute of feeling I was not deeply affected by the strong proof which my fellow citizens have given me of their confidence in calling me to the high office whose functions I am about to assume. (James Monroe, . . . — — Map (db m176523) HM
Here at George Washington Birthplace National Monument, discover the land that began Washington’s journey from English citizen to the first President of the United States. Today, visitors can follow in Washington’s footsteps on the Potomac Heritage . . . — — Map (db m97039)
Near Popes Creek Road (Virginia Route 204) 1.9 miles east of Kings Highway ( Route 3).
Long before the first Europeans set foot on this continent,
American Indians moved through the area hunting and
gathering food. With the Introduction of corn (about 900
CE), they increasingly formed settlements and began
farming.
Seasonal . . . — — Map (db m305956) HM
Near Popes Creek Road (Virginia Route 204) at Bridges Creek Road, on the right when traveling north.
To weaken the American economy, the British took tobacco and lured the enslaved labor force from plantations along the Potomac River. Physically fit males also provided the British with a valuable source of new recruits.
The British offered . . . — — Map (db m97035) HM
On Popes Creek Road. Reported permanently removed.
On the ground before you once stood the Tidewater plantation home where, on February 22, 1732, George Washington was born, the son of Augustine Washington and his second wife, Mary Ball Washington. — — Map (db m100726) HM
At the distant end of the field in front of you stood the home of Henry Brooks, the first owner of much of what would become Popes Creek Plantation.
As you look toward the house site, perhaps you can sense the isolation Henry Brooks must have . . . — — Map (db m34080) HM
Near Popes Creek Road. Reported permanently removed.
At Popes Creek Plantation, George Washington was born into the plantation culture he would know his entire life. Today, no visible vestiges of the plantation remain. Instead, exhibits, buildings, and interpreters on the site give a sense of the . . . — — Map (db m34139) HM
On James Monroe Highway (Virginia Route 205) 0.3 miles north of Old Road, on the right when traveling north.
The James Monroe Building is a nationally-significant historic site attributed to our nation's 5th President, James Monroe. The property's significance dates to the inheritance and active agricultural employ of these lands by Monroe's father, . . . — — Map (db m176509) HM
On James Monroe Highway (Virginia Route 205), on the left when traveling south.
This marks the birthplace of James Monroe, April 28, 1758
Westmoreland County, Virginia
Attended college of William & Mary; Officer, Continental Army, American Revolution; Married Elizabeth Kortright, 1786; US Senator; Minister . . . — — Map (db m11941) HM
On James Monroe Highway (Virginia Route 205) 0.2 miles north of Old Road, on the right when traveling north.
President James Monroe was born here on April 28, 1758 to Spence and Eliza Jones Monroe. He lived on this farm until he left to attend the College of William and Mary. He sold the farm to 1783 following his father's death.
The 500 acre farm, . . . — — Map (db m176501) HM
Near James Monroe Highway (Virginia Route 205) 0.3 miles north of Old Road, on the right when traveling north.
He has in every instance, maintained the reputation of a brave, active, and sensible officer. (George Washington, 1779)
Turn his soul wrong out side outwards and there is not a speck on it. (Thomas Jefferson, 1787)
There . . . — — Map (db m176526) HM
On James Monroe Highway (Virginia Route 205) 0.2 miles north of Old Road, on the right when traveling north.
James Monroe's public service career, the most extensive of any President of the United States, took him far from his Westmoreland County birthplace.
As a student at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Monroe was inspired to . . . — — Map (db m176506) HM
In 1664, John Washington, the great-grandfather of George Washington, built a small house on this site. From these modest beginnings, a powerful and prominent Virginia family would arise.
During his thirteen years here, John Washington . . . — — Map (db m34079) HM
Near James Monroe Highway (Virginia Route 205) 0.3 miles north of Old Road, on the right when traveling north.
Having commenced my service in early youth, and continued it since with few and short intervals. I have witnessed the great difficulties to which our union has been exposed, and admired by the virtue and intelligence with which they . . . — — Map (db m176529) HM
On Kings Highway (Virginia Route 3) at Trigger Lane (County Route 683), on the right when traveling west on Kings Highway.
King George County. Area 180 Square Miles. Formed in 1720 from Richmond, and named for King George I. James Madison, "Father of the American Constitution" and President of the United States, was born in this county. . . . — — Map (db m22268) HM
On Leedstown Road (Route 637) just west of Drakes Marsh Drive, on the left when traveling east.
Here at the then thriving port of Leedstown on February 27, 1766, ten years before the Declaration of Independence, the Leedstown Resolutions (or Westmoreland Association) were drawn. This association, a protest against the Stamp Act and a pledge of . . . — — Map (db m22085) HM
While the essentials of life could be had from the waters, fields, gardens, and forests of Popes Creek Plantation, true economic prosperity depended on the plantation's link to the world; the Potomac River.
The boat landing for Popes Creek . . . — — Map (db m34067) HM
On Irving Avenue near Monroe Bay Avenue, in the median.
Named for Martin Lunsford, who in 1947 developed the first Yacht Center in
Colonial Beach on the Point to your right. This area had previously been infamously
known as a secret burial ground for shanghaied watermen. Human bones are . . . — — Map (db m305867) HM
Near Popes Creek Road. Reported permanently removed.
Generations of Americans have expressed their reverence for George Washington at his birth site. The park is the cumulative result of a century of memorial efforts.
In 1923, on the eve of the bicentennial of Washington's birth, interested . . . — — Map (db m34203) HM
Near James Monroe Highway (Virginia Route 205) 0.3 miles north of Old Road, on the right when traveling north.
Monroe Creek is one of many tributaries of the Potomac River contributing to the form and character of Virginia's Northern Neck region.
Context
The creek owes its name to descendants of Andrew Monroe, the first Monroe to settle here in . . . — — Map (db m176552) HM
Near James Monroe Highway (Virginia Route 205) 0.3 miles north of Old Road, on the right when traveling north.
The occasion has been judged proper for asserting as a principle in which the rights and interests of the United States are involved that the American continents by the free and independent condition which they have assumed and maintain, are . . . — — Map (db m176524) HM
Near James Monroe Highway (Virginia Route 205) 0.3 miles north of Old Road, on the right when traveling north.
As one of five children, James Monroe spent the better part of his youth on these lands.
The Home Site
His father, Spence Monroe, was a middling farmer of modest but respectable means and a trained joiner, or cabinet maker. The family . . . — — Map (db m176514) HM
Near Popes Creek Road (Virginia Route 204) 1.9 miles east of Kings Highway ( Route 3).
Romanticized versions of colonial gardens became popular in
America as a result of the Colonial Revival Movement. These
gardens typically had a symmetrical layout with square or
rectangular beds, a defined perimeter like a picket fence . . . — — Map (db m306020) HM
The generous resources of the Chesapeake Bay invited Englsih exploration and settlement of Virginia, Maryland, and Delaware.
With Native American assistance, English settlers developed a cash crop industry. Tobacco cultivation and export was . . . — — Map (db m34136) HM
The Star-Spangled Banner National Historic Trail traces the War of 1812 in the Chesapeake. Along the trail you’ll encounter tangible evidence of the war and stories that bring the people and events to life. Discover the far-reaching impacts of . . . — — Map (db m97038) HM
The ...inhabitants of the Chesapeake Bay Region made ...its bountiful resources. The large pristine bay and its waterways including the Potomac River before ... sustained nearly 27,000 Native Americans.
...around...creeks... of the watershed. . . . — — Map (db m34070) HM
On Leedstown Road (County Route 637) just east of Drakes Marsh Drive, on the left when traveling east.
The Pissaseck Indians lived along the Rappahannock River, here at Leedstown and in a few other villages in Westmoreland County. They spoke a language derived from the Virginia Algonquian family and were hunters and farmers. The Pissasecks were . . . — — Map (db m22106) HM
Near Popes Creek Road. Reported permanently removed.
Look at the landscape around you. Augustine Washington's reasons for settling here in 1718 are apparent. The ground to your left is slightly elevated and well drained - perfect for farming. Before you, Popes Creek teems with life: fish, crabs, and . . . — — Map (db m34192) HM
On Irving Avenue at Monroe Bay Avenue, in the median on Irving Avenue.
Disputes over harvesting oysters in the Potomac
River fueled violence between local watermen and
Maryland’s fisheries police for many decades.
Conflicts escalated after World War II as watermen
violated Maryland law by dredging, rather . . . — — Map (db m305861) HM
Near James Monroe Highway (Virginia Route 205) 0.3 miles north of Old Road, on the right when traveling north.
It is only when the people become ignorant and corrupt, when they degenerate into a populace, that they are incapable of exercising their sovereignty. (James Monroe, 1801)
Near Popes Creek Road (Virginia Route 204) 1.9 miles Kings Highway ( Route 3).
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 . . . — — Map (db m306013) HM
Near Popes Creek Road (Virginia Route 204) 1.9 miles east of Kings Highway ( Route 3).
George Washington’s father, Augustine Washington, purchased this land
in 1718. Augustine, his second wife Mary, and their children lived here
with British indentured servants and enslaved individuals of African
descent.
In addition to . . . — — Map (db m306017) HM
On Hawthorn Street at Washington Avenue, on the right when traveling east on Hawthorn Street.
This skiff was built by Clarence Stanford for James A. "Billy" Powell in the early 1950s. Billy, a well-known local waterman and owner of the Colonial Beach Oyster Packing Plant, used the skiff for fishing and haul seining for several decades. . . . — — Map (db m176553) HM
Near James Monroe Highway (Virginia Route 205) 0.3 miles north of Old Road, on the left when traveling south.
On the morning of December 26, 1776, a small detachment of American Light Infantry, led by Lieutenant James Monroe, aged 19, breached the Hessian defenses at Trenton. This gallant action, in which Monroe was severely wounded, enabled the . . . — — Map (db m11942) HM
Near James Monroe Highway (Virginia Route 205) 0.3 miles north of Old Road, on the right when traveling north.
As a friend of humanity, I rejoice in the French Revolution, but as a citizen of America, the gratification is a greatly increased.
(James Monroe, 1791)
1794: Commissioned Minister to France by President . . . — — Map (db m176520) HM
Near Popes Creek Road (Virginia Route 204) 1.9 miles east of Kings Highway ( Route 3).
This area of Virginia is part of what is known as the
Tidewater region, so named for its numerous tidal creeks and
rivers.
The Tidewater region developed a distinct culture based on a
plantation economy that gave rise to the gentry, a . . . — — Map (db m306014) HM
On James Monroe Highway (Virginia Route 205) north of Old Road, on the right when traveling north.
"The Birthplace of a Nation"
Lying between the Rappahannock and Potomac rivers, the Northern Neck provided fertile land that supported production of tobacco, the first great cash crop of the Virginia colony.
Six counties were formed . . . — — Map (db m176507) HM
During the War of 1812 the young United States was embroiled in conflict with Great Britain. From 1812 to 1815 Americans fought to protect their rights and economic independence. They faced superior enemy forces on the homefront and the high seas. . . . — — Map (db m97037) HM
