Rich in modern recreational facilities and historical significance, Fort Washington blossoms with flowering dogwood in the spring. The park takes its name from the temporary fort built by George Washington?s troops in the fall of 1777, before heading to Valley Forge. The park is popular with hikers and picnickers. Birders enjoy the seasonal migration of raptors from the Observation Deck.

Fort Washington State Park and the community of Fort Washington take their name from the temporary fort built here by soldiers of the American Revolution in the fall of 1777. Whitemarsh, as the area was called then, was the scene of the encampment of 12,000 soldiers of General Washington?s army from November 2 until December 11, 1777.

Following the unsuccessful battle of Germantown, Washington chose the heights of the Whitemarsh Valley as an easily defendable position. From here he pondered the possibility of launching an attack against General Howe?s British army in Philadelphia.

Although Washington decided against an attack, the British marched out from Philadelphia on December 5 to try to engage the Americans in battle. Because of Washington?s strong position, only local skirmishes took place. After much marching back and forth, Howe led his army back to Philadelphia on December 8.

Knowing his poorly clad men needed better quarters, and also to protect the iron forges and foundries in the Schuylkill Valley, Washington left Whitemarsh on December 11, 1777, and marched the Continental Army to Valley Forge. There the American spirit had its first rendezvous with destiny.

Although Fort Washington State Park is beyond the boundaries of Philadelphia, the city?s famous Fairmount Park Commission began acquiring land here in the early 1920s. The commission, with the assistance of the Secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Forests and Waters, administered the park until 1953 when an act by the state legislature turned the park over to the former Department of Forests and Waters, now the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.