Memorial House at George Washington Birthplace National Monument

The idea behind the Memorial House was hatched in 1923 by a group of women who formed the Wakefield National Memorial Association (WNMA). Their plan was to build a replica of George Washington’s birth house on the original house site as a memorial to him, all in time for his 200th birthday celebration in 1932. It didn’t seem to concern anyone that there were no drawings or written descriptions of the original house and that the supposed birth house location had been identified from memory by Washington’s adopted grandson back in 1815, nearly thirty years after the house burned down on Christmas day 1779.

Despite the controversy, construction on the Memorial House began in 1930 and was completed a year later. History has since proven that the entire project was an administrative and archaeological debacle. See the Washington Birth Site web page for the fascinating story behind the Memorial House and the discovery of what most historians and archeologists consider to the actual birth site.

While the house has nothing to do with George Washington, it is a nice, Colonial-era reproduction home in its own right. It was constructed using techniques of the 1700s, even down to using bricks that were made on site from local clay. The women of WNMA furnished it with antiques, and there is one table in the house that belonged to William Augustine, the owner when the Washington birth house burned down. The table is the only piece of furniture rescued from the burning building that still survives today.

Tours of the Memorial House are given multiple times each day (as staffing allows) when the park is open, typically Wednesdays through Sundays. The only way into the house is on a tour. For the latest schedule, visit the National Park Service’s official Operating Hours and Seasons web page for George Washington Birthplace National Monument, or call the park at (804) 224-1732. There is no charge for the tour.