On Saturday, the National Park Service is hosting a celebration honoring the 200th anniversary of Fort Washington in Maryland.
The free, family-friendly event takes place at Fort Washington Park from 9 a.m. till 4:30 p.m.
Visitors can expect fort tours, musical performances, historic lectures, watercolor classes, cannon firings, skilled reenactors and Victorian dance demonstrations.
“I may be participating in the demonstration,” said volunteer leader Cindy LaBarge.
The park ranger told WTOP that she typically dresses in World War II-era Women’s Army Corps uniform.
“I volunteered myself. Any excuse I can get to talk about women’s history I do so,” LaBarge said.
Food trucks will also be featured at the celebration along with the launch of a new kids program.
“Which is a ‘build and knock down’ a fort activity. They can build a fort out of Legos, and then knock it down with these tiny mini-cannons. Or, they can join a team and build a fort out of large cardboard bricks. We have a scale model of a cannon that is a couple of feet (high) and we are going to shoot their forts, and see who gets knocked down first,” said LaBarge.
The current Fort Washington is the second fort at that location. The original fort was destroyed by American soldiers during the War of 1812, after the British had taken Washington, D.C.
The site of Fort Washington was chosen by George Washington. The first president knew the area well — the location is across the Potomac River from Washington’s home at Mount Vernon.
LaBarge, a Maryland native, encourages people to visit Fort Washington for the celebration.
“I just think it’s a really great place to explore. It’s a really fun time to just wander around the fort and go behind the passageways and look behind the doors. It ignites that curiosity in everyone that visits,” said LaBarge.
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