In late fall 1777-1778, Gen. George Washington and the rest of the Continental Army made their winter encampment at Valley Forge, about 20 miles west of Philadelphia, PA. The army's headquarters were in a small stone farmhouse owned by Isaac Potts, and contained not only the offices of the army, but the lodgings for the General, Mrs. Washington, their servants, and his staff - including a young lieutenant colonel and aide-de-camp named Alexander Hamilton.
I've written before about the headquarters - now part of Valley Forge Historic Park - in this blog post here, but I also wanted to share this photograph from the house. This is the railing to the house's original (and only) staircase that leads to the second-floor bedrooms and the attic. Humbly designed and well-worn over the centuries, it's the same railing smoothed by countless hands that included those of George and Martha Washington, John Laurens, and, of course, Alexander Hamilton. So if you visit (the entire park is free and open to the public), you can run your fingers along the same wooden railing as they did - it's like touching their hands. Guaranteed history chills!
Photograph ©2017 Susan Holloway Scott.
Read more about Eliza Schuyler and Alexander Hamilton in my latest historical novel, I, Eliza Hamilton, now available everywhere.