SILENT GROUNDS COLLECTIVE · NONPROFIT EDUCATIONAL ARCHIVE
SGC-102 · Research edition September 24, 2026
A photographic history with cited opening dates, collection history and individually credited images. Historic views, later photographs and illustrations are dated separately. This is a selected collection, not an exhaustive inventory.
The bronze markers in Wallingford and Durham remember a road traveled on two very different missions. On June 29, 1775, Washington passed through on his way to take command of the Continental Army near Boston. On October 19, 1789, he returned as president, traveling through the new nation he now led. A familiar road had become a route between two stages of the American Revolution’s outcome. [SGC102-S1]
His diary gives the journey the texture of a day’s travel: departure from New Haven, breakfast at Wallingford and observations made along the way. Roads connected inns and settlements at a pace set by horses. Reading those entries beside the modern landscape makes clear how much has changed, including reservoirs and altered road alignments that now interrupt the older route. [SGC102-S2]
For Washington’s 200th birthday in 1932, a local committee erected seventeen bronze markers. They are commemorative objects, not eighteenth-century road signs. Durham’s history lists their locations and explains the route’s relationship to present roads. The local Washington Trail should also be distinguished from the national Washington–Rochambeau trail, which commemorates the allied armies’ 1781 campaign. Both tell Revolutionary history, but they do not trace the same journey. [SGC102-S1]
Includes source text where acquired. Source websites require an internet connection. OCR may contain errors; verify names and dates against the scan.
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SGC102-S1 · Historical sources · Source dates described in record
Municipal history of the 1775 and 1789 visits and seventeen markers erected in 1932.
Linked source. Photographs and documents at the publisher retain their individual rights.
Credit: Town of Durham: George Washington Trail. Cite SGC SGC-102, SGC102-S1, source title, page and URL; accessed 2026-09-24.SGC102-S2 · Historical sources · Source dates described in record
Primary diary account of travel from New Haven through Wallingford and onward.
Linked source. Photographs and documents at the publisher retain their individual rights.
Credit: George Washington: published diary, 1789–1791. Cite SGC SGC-102, SGC102-S2, source title, page and URL; accessed 2026-09-24.SGC102-S3 · Historical sources · Source dates described in record
The separate national trail follows the allied armies’ 1781 march toward Yorktown.
Linked source. Photographs and documents at the publisher retain their individual rights.
Credit: National Park Service: Washington–Rochambeau Revolutionary Route. Cite SGC SGC-102, SGC102-S3, source title, page and URL; accessed 2026-09-24.SGC-PHOTO-LINK-008 · Photograph collections · Dates stated by source
Conrad Ward photographed the Washington route marker on June 8, 2024. Two views show the marker and its setting, with the inscription honoring Washington’s 1775 and 1789 journeys.
Linked photo collection. Copyright and reuse terms remain with the photographer or publisher. Images have not been copied into this archive.
Credit: Conrad Ward / Historical Marker Database. Cite SGC SGC-102, SGC-PHOTO-LINK-008, source title, page and URL; accessed 2026-09-24.SGC-PHOTO-LINK-009 · Photograph collections · Dates stated by source
A photographed walk along the ridge reaches the Washington Trail marker post. The account distinguishes the surviving post from its missing plaque.
Linked photo collection. Copyright and reuse terms remain with the photographer or publisher. Images have not been copied into this archive.
Credit: Carol Crump Bryner, On Whirlwind Hill. Cite SGC SGC-102, SGC-PHOTO-LINK-009, source title, page and URL; accessed 2026-09-24.