Valley Forge - Part 2

As previously noted in Part 1, as I followed the driving tour's route around Valley Forge National Historical Park, I turned right just before the Knox covered bridge.  This put me on PA Route 252, which ended at PA Route 23.  After again turning right, I arrived at a parking lot for General George Washington's headquarters.  A path leads from the parking lot to the huts which housed Washington's guards, a special detachment created to protect him, his family, his equipment, his supplies, and his papers.

The path continues to a statue of Washington.

This large house once belonged to David Potts, who with some relatives operated a forge in the area.  To the right but outside the picture is PA Route 23.

This shot includes two buildings, lots of trees, and a few visitors.  The closer building on the left was a forge, possibly the one operated by David Potts and his partners.  This forge and nearby Valley Creek might be the reasons why the place is called Valley Forge.  The more distant building on the right is the Isaac Potts House, which became General Washington's headquarters.

The Isaac Potts house is open to visitors.  From what the ranger there told me, Washington rented the house from Isaac Potts.  After looking around on the inside, I took another pic of the sunlit sides of the exterior.  I think that Isaac and David Potts were members of the same family, but I don't know what their precise relationship was.

PA Route 23 continues eastward from the Washington headquarters area to a statue of Baron Friedrich von Steuben, a veteran of the Prussian army who was brought in to train the Continental soldiers and boost their morale and discipline.  On a personal note, when I was a Littlefoot growing up in western New York state, my family would occasionally spend some time in a county named after von Steuben.

A short walk from the statue of von Steuben is the headquarters of Brigadier General James Varnum, a Massachusetts native who moved to Rhode Island, where he became a lawyer.  During his time in the Continental Army, he advocated for black Americans to be admitted into its ranks.  This resulted in the creation of the all-black 1st Rhode Island Regiment.  Varnum would later serve in the Continental Congress and become one of the founders of the Ohio Company of the Northwest Territory.  This picture shows the south side of his Valley Forge headquarters.

The last stop in the park for my rented car was at the Washington Memorial Chapel, which includes a bell tower topped by a flagpole.  It is an active Episcopal parish.

A short walk from the chapel is the Patriots of African Descent Monument, which was erected in 1993 by the Valley Forge Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.  This is the south side of the monument, on which is engraved its relevant information.

On the north side is a bas relief depicting three black American soldiers.  Unfortunately, it is in shadow, so my photo doesn't do it justice, but I think that there are better pics at the above link.

This brings my report of Valley Forge to its conclusion.  I still have some time left in Pennsylvania, so if I see anything else interesting, I'll be sure to let you see it, too.