Washington Heritage Museums (WHM) is the new owner of the historic Mary Washington Monument and Lodge property in Fredericksburg.
The City of Fredericksburg donated the 1.36-acre property at 1500 Washington Avenue earlier this month to WHM, which plans a small museum about the monument at the Lodge. The building will also serve as WHM’s headquarters.
WHM currently manages and promotes four Fredericksburg properties that provide rich content and context to the lives of early Americans and the extraordinary Washington family, including Mary Washington’s home just a few blocks away. The tie-in between the Monument property and Mary Washington’s home will encourage visitors to trace her footsteps from her home to Meditation Rock, through one of the most beautiful sections of Fredericksburg, passing historic Kenmore, another Washington family treasure. The new interpretation will also help us interpret the lives of people about whom we are still learning – those who were enslaved.
City Council approved the conveyance to WHM in December. The conveyance included the grave of Mary Washington, the Mary Washington Monument, Meditation Rock, the Gordon Family Cemetery, the Lodge, and the sloping land leading down to Memorial Park below. Click here for details.
The vision shared by both the City and WHM for the property include:
- Developing the Monument Property as a tourism asset
- Placing a full-time occupant in the Caretaker’s Lodge
- Attracting private capital to provide for the preservation of the Monument Property
- Advancing the community’s goal to tell a more complete story of the history of Fredericksburg
- Fulfilling the City’s duty to preserve the property under the 1966 deed that led to the City taking ownership
We look forward to seeing what WHM does with this beautiful historic property. We couldn’t ask for a better partner.
