Home of George Gilpin (Historical Marker)

Here follows the inscription written on this roadside historical marker:

Home of George Gilpin 1740-1813
Member, Fairfax Committee of Safety
Colonel, Virginia Regiment Fairfax Militia, Served with General George Washington in New Jersey campaign and Battle of Germantown
Surveyor of the Town of Alexandria 1798 then part of the District of Columbia
Member of the Alexandria Lodge of Masons
Vestryman of Christ Church
Honorary Pallbearer to General Washington

Erected 1979 by Kate Waller Barrett Chapter, National Society, Daughters of the American Revolution.


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Here follows an excerpt from the "Jaybird's Jottings" blog written by Jay Roberts:

George Gilpin
208 King Street

Silvio Bedini, historian emeritus at the Smithsonian, writes a short bio on Gilpin (Professional Surveyor magazine). Like Fitzgerald, he was a close friend and business associate of Washington.

In 1797, Gilpin completed the first draft of a map of Alexandria. As Smith and Miller note in their book (A Seaport Saga), the map shows that “much of the waterfront from Water Street (now Lee) east to Union had been filled in by this time.”

I’ve made a copy of Gilpin’s map, and drawn in the Beltway, GW Parkway and Route One. Gilpin was also an engineer and builder, so it’s fun to imagine him marveling at the new Wilson Bridge and National Harbor.