Category: President George Washington

Bowling Green, Virginia, Kilwinning Crosse Lodge, Kilwinning Crosse Lodge, No. 2-237, A. F. & A. M., President George Washington

George Washington Went To The Port Royal, Virginia Freemason Meetings

Hamilton Historical Records

In April 1754, a Port Royal FreeMason Fraternal chapter was established as the Kilwinning Port Royal Cross Lodge. Soon after the establishment of the lodge, within the 1750s, George Washington attended multiple Freemason meetings held at the homes of Captain John Micou, John Pearsons, Patrick Coutts, Robert Gilchrist, and William F. Gray. In addition, the lodge also met at Ann Fox’s Tavern, Dorthy Roy’s Tavern, Leonard George’s Tavern, and in the second floor room of William Hamilton Carter’s store, some of those locations which Washington is also believed to had been in attendance for. There was never a Masonic lodge building established in Port Royal and in the 1855 the Port Royal Masonic Chapter rented a room within a building that the newly formed Atlantic Lodge No. 2 was also using.

Portion of painted canvas taken from original Kilwinning Port Royal Cross lodge and housed in the current Kilwinning Crosse Lodge in Bowling Green.

In 1881, the Port Royal Chapter of the Freemasons stopped having their meetings in Port Royal, after the Kilwinning Crosse Lodge, No. 2-237, A. F. & A. M. built in Bowling Green, Virginia. All of the Port Royal Chapter meetings were held in Bowling Green, Virginia were they still continue to this day. The Kilwinning Crosse Lodge is the oldest Masonic lodge in Caroline County, Virginia.

Alexandria, Virginia, Allyn Cox, President George Washington, President John Calvin Coolidge Jr., President William Howard Taft, The George Washington Masonic National Memorial

The George Washington Masonic National Memorial

Hamilton Historical Records
Masonic mural of George Washington painted by Allyn Cox within the George Washington Masonic Memorial in the 1950s.

After George Washington joined the FreeMason Fraternal Order he became members of the Fredericksburg, Virginia and the Alexandria-Washington lodges.

President Calvin Coolidge and his wife at the cornerstone laying ceremony in 1922.

On June 5, 1922, the cornerstone of the George Washington Masonic National Memorial was established. The memorial was built to honor the time that President George Washington spent at the Fredericksburg and Alexandria lodges. President Calvin Coolidge and former President William H. Taft, performed the cornerstone ceremonies in front of thousands of Freemasons.

Presently the temple hosts hundreds of artifacts in relation to former President George Washington. The top tower has stained glass windows and a suit of armor.

Author’s Note:

There are two additional George Washington Monuments, in the D.C. Metro Area. The first noumena was built in Baltimore and the other wine was built by the National Mall in Washington, D.C.

President George Washington, The Ferry Farm

The Ferry Farm – The Childhood Home Of President George Washington

Hamilton Historical Records

George Washington’s parents moved from his birthplace home in Westmoreland County to the Ferry Farm In Stafford County, Virginia. In 1740, the Ferry Farm burnt down, and Washington’s other home in Westmoreland County burnt down in the 1770s.

In the 2000s, a 28 foot by 53 foot replica of the Ferry Farm was built on the original foundation of the home after archeologists excavated the original foundation.

Augustine Washington, Popes Creek Plantation, President George Washington, Wakefield, Virginia

Westmoreland County, Virginia – The Birthplace of President George Washington

Hamilton Historical Records
The “Colonial Gardens” in front of George Washington’s birthplace.

On Febuary 22, 1732, President George Washington was born at the Popes Creek Plantation, that his father Augustine Washington had built in 1720s, in Wakefield within Westmoreland County, Virginia.

Portrait of Augustine Washington with his son George Washington.

Fifty years after the plantation was built, it was burnt down by a fire. In present day, the grounds of George Washington’s birth place is a U.S. National Park.

A State of Virginia Historical Marker shows the location of the former Popes Creek Plantation.

CSS Virginia, Fort Norfolk, Norfolk, Virginia, President George Washington

Fort Norfolk – The Last Of 19 Harbor-front Forts Authorized By President George Washington That Is Remaining

Hamilton Historical Records

Fort Norfolk was one of 19 harbor front forts authorized to be constructed by General George Washington in 1794. Fort Norfolk was used to protect Virginia against the British in the War of 1812. In 1861, the Confederacy captured the fort to use it to supply the CSS Virginia (Merrimack) in a battle with the Union’s USS Monitor. In 1862, the Union recaptured Fort Norfolk. In the 1900s the Army Corps of Engineers obtained ownership of Fort Norfolk. In 1991, the Norfolk Historical Society restored Fort Norfolk and concerted the structure to a history musuem.

Independence Hall, President George Washington

Independence Hall – The Site Where The Declaration Of Independence And The U.S. Constitution Were Signed

Hamilton Historical Records

In 1732, the same year the first U.S. President George Washington was born, Independence Hall was constructed in downtown Philadelphia. Independence Hall was commissioned to be the Pennsylvania state house and served as the judicial, legislative and the executive branches of that colony’s government.

In the 1700s, Independence Hall generally served as a meeting place for politicians in a city that was growing to become becoming the largest city in the thirteen colonies.

The signing of the Declaration of Independence at Independence Hall.

During the course of the Revolutionary War the U.S. Declaration of Independence was debated and signed in Independence Hall and after the end of the war the U.S. Constitution was debated during the Constitutional Convention of 1787 and signed within the same building. In addition, Independence Hall served as the meeting place of the Second Continental Congress from 1775 to 1783.

Independence Hall in modern city of Philadelphia, Pennslyvania.

On June 28, 1948 the U.S. Congress granted the U.S. National Park Service ownership of Independence Hall after designating the building as a U.S. National Park. On October 15, 1966 the square mile around Independence Hall was designated as a U.S. National Historic Landmark District.

This is the U.S. National Park Service’s list of the multitude of historical landmarks and statues around Independence Hall.