Dig at Valley Forge Unearths Washington 'War Room'

by KYW's Brad Segall

A team of archaeologists is wrapping up a six week dig outside George Washington's headquarters at Valley Forge National Park, and they say they've found evidence of a dining hall the general may have used as a "war room."

The only documentation of the dining hall is contained in a letter that Martha Washington wrote to a friend in 1778 telling of the log cabin. Historians believe the building was constructed to ease overcrowding in the cramped headquarters where Washington stayed with his wife, his aides, and servants.

They call it the first "Pentagon" because Washington is believed to have held high level meetings with his top commanders. Project head Joe Blondino says they've unearthed a number of artifacts:

"Ceramics, lots of broken pottery, we've got a musket ball and a couple other pieces of military hardware and just other detritus of daily life that would have been used in the 18th century."

Volunteers have helped sift through the soil and the relics will be catalogued and at some point may be displayed in the park's buildings.

(photo by Zara Neifield)