George Washington Masonic Cave
The so-called "George Washington Masonic Cave" is a located near Charles Town, West Virginia about 100 feet north of Old Cave Road. According to local oral tradition, an out of print Freemason history book, as well as a 1978 caving journal article, this cave has "G. Washington 1847" carved into a back alcove, suggesting that as a teenage surveyor, the future military general and first president of the United States visited here. Local legend has it that several years after making the engraving Washington, three of his brothers, and other freemasons used the cave to hold masonic meetings. Of note, the Washington brothers all went on to purchase large tracts of land in the immediate vicinity (George Washington's estate here was named Rock Hall), and Charles Town was in fact founded by and named after George Washington's youngest brother, Charles. According to masonic history books, the cave was later used one more time, in 1844, for a final reunion meeting to honor George Washington's connection to it. The cave has largely been abandoned since then, although briefly in the late 1920's a local opportunist tried to turn the cave into a tourist attraction. The cave (which to this day is situated on private property and requires permission to visit) remained abandoned, neglected, and forgotten to all but some of the locals who live around it. No photographic documentation of the cave's noteworthy signature was to be found in the public domain until May 26, 2018 when Jason Williams and Scott Carter entered deep into the cave, documented a very faint "G. Washington 1847" carved onto a slanted ceiling in the very back room, and posted their video on YouTube. First visual proof of the rumored signature
References[edit]
[1] Hayden, Sidney, Washington and His Masonic Compeers (Masonic Publishing and Manufacturing Co., 1869) [2] The Journal of Spelean History: George Washington Cave Vol. 11, No. 3 (American Spelean History Association, 1978) p. 45-48
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