Washington's Headquarters (Valley Forge)

Washington's Headquarters at Valley Forge, also known as the Isaac Potts House, is a historic house that served as General George Washington's headquarters at Valley Forge during the American Revolutionary War. The building, which still stands, is one of the centerpieces of Valley Forge National Historical Park in Southeastern Pennsylvania.

Washington's Headquarters
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. National Historic Landmark
U.S. National Historic Landmark District Contributing Property
Washington's Headquarters at Valley Forge
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Location	Valley Forge National Historical Park
Nearest city	Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Coordinates	40°6′5″N 75°27′43″W
Architect	Potts, Isaac
Architectural style	Georgian
Part of	Valley Forge (ID66000657)
NRHP reference No.	73001655
Significant dates
Washington's home	1777
Added to NRHP	February 11, 1973[1]
Designated NHL	November 28, 1972[2]
Designated NHLDCP	January 20, 1961

The house was built about 1773, and Washington made it his headquarters during the Continental Army encampment between December 1777 and June 1778. The restored building is part of the Valley Forge National Historical Park and is open to the public. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1972.^[2][3]

The house is located in present-day Upper Merion Township, Pennsylvania.^[4][5]

Description and history

Further information: Valley Forge

Washington's Headquarters at Valley Forge are located between PA Route 23 and the Schuylkill River near the center of Valley Forge National Historical Park. It is a three-story stone structure with a full cellar, three bays wide, with a side gable roof. A single-story ell extends to the left. The main entrance is in the left-most bay, sheltered by a gabled hood. There is a secondary entrance on the right end wall. The gable ends have pent roofs below, and circular windows in the gable center.^[3] The interior is decorated with period 18th-century furnishings and artifacts related to George Washington.

The house was built 1768–70 by Isaac Potts, a Quaker who operated a grist mill nearby. George Washington, and later his wife Martha as well, occupied this house from Christmas Eve 1777 until June 18, 1778. Washington conducted the army's business in an office on the ground floor during that period.^[3] The house became part of a state park in 1893, which was given to the people of the United States by Pennsylvania in 1976.^[6]

The Centennial and Memorial Association of Valley Forge,^[7] led by Founding Regent Anna Morris Holstein,^[8] was incorporated in 1878 with the purpose of saving, acquiring, preserving General Washington's Headquarters^[9] and immediate surrounding acreage. A large Centennial event to create awareness and raise funds was held on June 19, 1878, the 100th anniversary of Washington's Army exiting Valley Forge.^[10]

See also

• List of National Historic Landmarks in Pennsylvania, a full list of National Historic Landmarks in Pennsylvania
• List of Washington's Headquarters during the Revolutionary War, a list of the various headquarters used by George Washington during the Revolutionary War
• National Register of Historic Places listings in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, a list of national historic places in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania
• Valley Forge, a description of the nine-month encampment of George Washington and the Continental Army from 1777 to 1778
• Valley Forge National Historical Park, the national historic park that presently commemorates the historical importance of Valley Forge in the Revolutionary War
• Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, the location of Valley Forge and the Valley Forge National Historical Park, in southeastern Pennsylvania

References

Media related to Washington's Headquarters, Valley Forge at Wikimedia Commons

1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. January 23, 2007.
2. "Washington's Headquarters". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. Retrieved July 3, 2008.
3. Charles W. Snell (March 2, 1972). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: Washington's Headquarters (Isaac Potts House)" (pdf). National Park Service. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help) and Accompanying 2 photos, exterior, from 1971, and one drawing (32 KB)
4. "Upper Merrion Township, PA" (PDF). U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved September 2, 2019.
5. "Township Zoning Map". Upper Merion Township. September 2, 2019. // Compare with "Valley Forge National Historic Park Map" (PDF). National Park Service. Retrieved September 2, 2019.
6. "NHL nomination for Valley Forge" (PDF). National Park Service. Retrieved April 15, 2017.
7. "Backstory of Washington's Headquarters". King of Prussia Historical Society. June 23, 2018.
8. Homan, Wayne. "The Woman Who Saved The Shrine". King of Prussia Historical Society.^{[permanent dead link]}
9. Treese, Lorett. "Valley Forge: Making and Remaking a National Symbol - he Centennial and Memorial Association of Valley Forge". United States National Park Service (NPS). PSU Press.
10. Brown, Henry Armitt (1911). "Oration at Valley Forge: The One Hundredth Anniversary of the Departure of the Army of the Revolution From Winter Quarters at That Place". Classics in the Grades - Google. Christopher Sower Company - Phila, PA.