Fort Washington, Maryland

Fort Washington is at the mouth of Piscataway Creek overlooking the Potomac River.  The river makes almost a complete right angle turn with Fort Washington being at that corner.  Directly to the north is Washington DC and to the West is Mount Vernon. Both are easily visible from the top of the Fort's battery. The first fort on the site was Fort Warburton which was built from 1809 to 1814.  During the War of 1812 it was destroyed and then the British were able to continue their movement to burn Washington in August of 1814.  The new fort built on the site became Fort Washington. At the time of the fort's completion, it was the only defense for the Nation’s Capital until the Civil War.  During the Civil War a circle of temporary forts was built around the city. It was used throughout all of the subsequent American wars. During World War II an attachment of the Women's Army Corps was stationed at the fort. Then in 1946 the fort and grounds was turned over to the National Park Service. I am happily teaching Owen the importance of national park passport stamp collecting.  Owen and Milton even have their own books. Owen loved seeing all of the cannons i.e. "boom"