Mount Vernon Memorial Highway (Historical Marker)
GPS Coordinates: 38.7461005, -77.0490522
Closest Address: 7800 West Boulevard Drive, Alexandria, VA 22308

Here follows the inscription written on this trailside historical marker:
Mount Vernon Memorial Highway
George Washington Memorial Parkway
Construction of the Mount Vernon Memorial Highway was the result of years of public support for a dignified memorial road connecting the nation’s capital with the home of its first president. The 15-mile roadway opened in 1932, to commemorate the 200th anniversary of George Washington’s birth.
As the first commemorative scenic highway built by the U.S. government, this roadway became a model for a new era of public roads. Designed to blend into natural landscape, and built with limited access points, the concept included panoramic vistas and historical attractions.
Today the Mount Vernon Memorial Highway is part of the George Washington Memorial Parkway, extending 25 miles along the Potomac River. The George Washington Memorial Parkway is a unit of the national park system and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
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Dedication ceremony at Mount Vernon Circle, November 15, 1932.
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Before the memorial highway was built, visitors to Mount Vernon had to travel the congested inland road, lined with refuse dumps, billboards, and commercial development.
The Mount Vernon Memorial Highway follows the Potomac shoreline, meandering past historic sites and through woodlands and marsh. Designed to preserve as many trees as possible, the road was also planted with several hundred thousand native trees and shrubs.
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Here follows an excerpt from the Virginia Department of Historic Resources website:
VLR Listing Date
03/17/1981
NRHP Listing Date
05/18/1981
NRHP Reference Number
81000079
Opened in 1932, the Mount Vernon Memorial Highway was the first parkway project of the U.S. government and the first such road with a commemorative function explicit in its name and alignment. Engineer Jay Downer, landscape architect Gilmore D. Clarke, and arborist Henry Nye served as design consultants. All three were employees of the Westchester County Park Authority where they gained experience in parkway design. With its stone-faced arch bridges, concrete slab base, beveled curbing, and lush landscaping the parkway affords fine views of the Potomac River and points of interest along the way. Approximately fifteen miles long, the route begins at Arlington Memorial Bridge and extends south along the Potomac from Arlington County, through the city of Alexandria and on through riverside woodlands and meadows to its namesake, Mount Vernon in Fairfax County. The Mount Vernon Memorial Highway, along with the George Washington Memorial Parkway, is part of an extensive parkway system serving the nation’s capital.