The George Washington Masonic Memorial
Located on Shuter’s Hill in Alexandria Virgina, the memorial can be seen for miles in every direction.
How this all came to be is an interesting story.
Shuter’s Hill, or as it was named during the Civil War, Shooters Hill, because at that time there was a fort on this mound and it’s garrison regularly shot cannon and rifles on a regular basis.
Today, most call it Shuter’s Hill.
In 1669 the hill was the property of Robert Howson who sold it to John Alexander for six thousand pounds of tobacco. Eighty years later his great-grandson sold it to John Mills who built a large house on it.
In 1790, Col. Ludwell Lee, the son of Richard Henry Lee purchased it. Richard Henry Lee had served during the American Revolution and was present at the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown.
It then came under the ownership of Benjamin Dulaney a third generation Irish American and friend of George Washington. Dulaney was a member of Alexandria Lodge F&AM, he subsequently was present when the lodge elected Washington an honorary member and at the cornerstone ceremony of the US capitol in 1793.
During the civil war, the military built a series of forts the defend the Federal District and to protect the western front. No shots were ever fired and after Lee’s surrender, the forts were decommissioned.
The land eventually became transferred to the George Washington National Memorial Association, and ground was broken on June 4, 1922, construction began on November 5, 1923, with the laying of the cornerstone.
Today, even after thousands of years, the hill remains and now is dedicated to George Washington and the masonic order that did much to establish the United States as the beacon of light it is today.
The author has been a writer/photographer for over thirty years. Specializing in nature and landscape photography, as well as studying native cultures.
His travels have taken him to most of the United States, as well as Australia, Belize, Egypt and the Canary Islands.
He has studied the Mayan culture of Central America as well as the aborigines of Australia. Photography has given him the opportunity to observe life in various parts of the world.
He has published several books about his adventures.
For more information, please consult his website,www.journeysthrulife.com.
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Thinking Between the Lines 