Virginia

Walter Reed Birthplace, Gloucester, Virginia (37.388472, -76.588118)

Main House Felling Dates: Winter 1819/20 and Summer 1821

Stud (0/4); Joist (1/2) 1820 (½C); Brace (1/1) 1819 (C); Wallplate (1/1) 1813 h/w only; Corner Post (1/1) 1813 h/w only; Site Master 1745-1820 (pine) WRBVx2 (t = 7.02 BAC; 6.31 FSQx2; 6.22 VAPINE2B).

This small house, comprising a single room with a later lean-to on the back and a loft above the main room, is the birthplace of Dr. Walter Reed, the famous U. S. Army physician and medical hero of the Spanish-American War. Reed was born here on September 13, 1851, after his father, a Methodist minister, was transferred to Gloucester. The Reed family briefly lived here until a new parsonage was completed in 1852. The house is now operated as a museum by the Joseph Bryan Branch of Preservation Virginia (Preservation Virginia 2015).

Dendrochronological analysis has shown that the original structure was built in the summer of 1821 or shortly thereafter.

Worthington, M J and Seiter, J I 2015 "The Tree-Ring Dating of the Walter Reed Birthplace, Gloucester, Virginia" unpublished Oxford Tree-Ring Laboratory archive report 2015/04.

Oxford

Tree-Ring

Laboratory

The Oxford Tree-Ring Laboratory provides cutting-edge commercial dendrochronological services to homeowners, architectural historians, and cultural resource managers. READ MORE

Contact Information

Oxford Tree-Ring Laboratory

25 E. Montgomery St.
Baltimore, MD 21230

410-929-1520