Take the Washington Avenue walking tour

The Fredericksburg Visitor Center is offering a newly revised, self-guided walking tour of the Historic Washington Avenue District. For anyone interested in Fredericksburg’s history, this is the perfect activity to try. The brochure is filled with so much information about the area, and is formatted in a way that people can learn and experience the sites at their own pace.

The brochure starts by explaining how Washington Avenue came to be, and why it is so important to us today. It then dives into the history of many of the avenue’s landmarks, including the historic Kenmore House, George Rogers Clark Memorial, General Hugh Mercer Monument, Christian Church, Thomas Jefferson Religious Freedom Monument, Mary Washington Monument, Meditation Rock, City Cemetery, and Confederate Cemetery. All of these places are within walking distance of each other, so it’s easy to visit them all while reading the brochure. The inside reveals a map of Washington Avenue, with drawings of the landmarks and houses in the area. Around the map are pictures and tidbits of each of the houses, which can be best appreciated by those knowledgeable on the architecture and prominent people of Fredericksburg.

I’ve lived near Washington Avenue for a few years now, yet I learned many new things on the tour. There’s so much more about the area than I knew, and it has made my appreciation for my house and city grow greater than it had been before. I’d recommend this tour to to locals just as much as I would visitors. The history is not only important to Fredericksburg, but also to Virginia and the United States, which can be seen through the Thomas Jefferson Religious Freedom Monument and Confederate Cemetery.

If you want to learn more about Washington Avenue, head over to the Fredericksburg Visitor Center (706 Caroline Street) anytime between 9 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. and pick up a self-guided tour. The lower Caroline Street walking tour is currently being revised, so keep an eye out for a post about it once it is finished.