CORK STREET
Compiled and written by Jim Moyer updated as a separate page 2/23/2017
One more thought before you step inside the Washington Office museum.
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The street name Cork.
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Why Cork Street is named Cork Street
Braddock’s 44th and 48th Regiments embarked on the Atlantic Ocean to Virginia from the Cork area of Ireland particularly what was then called Cove of Cork, now called Cobh, Ireland.
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As Quarles points out this Cork Street “was named in 1759 when the Lord Fairfax Addition was laid off and the name assigned before patents were issued” as proof that no way could the name have arisen because Irish lived on the street because the street was named before anyone lived there.
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OUR THEORY:
The memory of Braddock and his army and its fate and where the army came from – Cork, Ireland, is the most powerful reason why the name was picked.
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Quarles Theories:
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That this Cork Street was a street in the West End of London. Quarles states it lacks the power of any personal associations or links to anyone in town, except Quarles points out one nagging juxtaposition:
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The West End London street of Cork Street connects to a Clifford Street. There is also a Clifford Street one block south of Cork Street in Winchester VA.
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How the 2 streets are related Quarles entertains no guess.
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But we do know Cork Ireland was the stationing and drafting point and departure point of Braddock’s troops:
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“…and on the 30th of September [1754] orders were issued for the Forty-fourth and Forty-eighth regiments, both of them on the Irish Establishment, to be embarked at Cork.”
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Source is Page 268 from A HISTORY OF THE BRITISH ARMY BY THE HON. J. W. FORTESCUE PART TO THE CLOSE OF THE SEVEN TEARS 1 WAR VOL. II MACMILLAN AND CO., LIMITED NEW YORK : THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 1899, link : https://archive.org/stream/historyofbritish02fortuoft#page/268/mode/2up
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OUR THEORY AGAIN:
And Cove of Cork near Cork was the naval launching point. Cobh is pronounced like “Cove”:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cobh
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http://www.kronoskaf.com/syw/index.php?title=1755_-_British_expedition_against_Fort_Duquesne
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Still, we propose: Cork Street is not named after that West London Street. Nor is it named for County Cork, but rather the Cork area, in particular Cove of Cork where Braddock’s Troops came from.
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And as Cork intersects with Braddock, a beautiful, fateful symmetry appears.
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And what better place for this Washington Place to situate itself , and thus this Braddock Memorial, the cannon, at the nexus of Cork and Braddock.
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Quarles book, page 61:
Winchester, Virginia, Streets, Churches, and Schools 1s6 Edition by Garland R. Quarles, published by Winchester-Frederick Historical Society, Winchester VA 1996, “Streets” portion originally published 1958.
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Side note: There were very short periods of time when maybe certain blocks of Braddock Street went by the name of Drury Lane in 1778 or Duffield Street before the McGuires took residence on 103 N Braddock states Garland Quarles.
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Oh, One more thing about Cove of Cork
Cove of Cork was not just the last port of call for the Titanic in 1913 but the Lusitania got torpedoed on 7 May 1915 nearby, twenty days before this Braddock Memorial Commemoration Event in Winchester VA.
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And on 26 May 1915, one day before the big event, the Winchester Evening Star reports The Nebraskan was torpedoed in the same area Lusitania was hit when heading towards Cove of Cork, aka Queensland and later called Cobh Ireland.
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To the right of that column is the article about the girls who hold the sash of Braddock whose 2 regiments the 44th and 48th departed from this harbor in January of 1755.
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Orme’s Journal, observes, “In about ten days, all the transports being arrived, orders were given for all the ships to proceed immediately to Alexandria ; but so little care had been taken at Corke, in the stowage of the cloathing, Arms, and camp necessaries belonging to the Regiments of Shirley and Pepperell, that some was put on board almost every ship ; they were removed into one Vessel, and dispatched immediately to New York and Boston, which caused a delay of four or five days.”
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Source: “The history of an expedition against Fort Du Quesne, in 1755; under Major-General Edward Braddock ..” by Sargent, Winthrop, 1825-1870, edtion 1856, page 290.
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Click on icons in map and a window will pop up with information . Zoom in or zoom out.
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Use this link:
to see where the Braddock Expedition boarded the ships to cross the Atlantic.
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See more about this corner:
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The George Washington Office Museum sits on this corner.
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A Model for decades sat inside that Washington Office Museum.
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The Braddock Cannon
Commemorated 27 May 1915. The cannon is even older – having been abandoned by Braddock in Alexandria in 1755.
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The Fort Loudoun Cannon
Sitting there since 1924. This is currently being researched. Report coming soon. Ben Ritter, local historian, has provided the information for this report.
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Young George Washington Statue
Commemorated 24 July 2004.
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The Pig
Commemorated 12 April 2014 with a skit performed on that date. The Pig brings attention to Washington’s only authored legislation in the House of Burgesses. Pigs were running around freely. This was a nuisance. And it wasn’t sanitary for Winchester. Most of what GW did in the House of Burgesses was constituent services and to make good on the government’s promise of land to his French and Indian War veterans.
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What was near this corner?
Quarles lists what was nearby:
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Click on picture to enlarge. Hit backspace to return back here.
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Page 27 of Winchester Frederick County Historical Society Volume XII published 2000, article by Robert Mallin, titled, “Washington’s Footsteps”
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Fort George –
a prisoner’s stockade on the hill back of present day Braddock Street Church
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Drill ground –
North of this corner of Braddock and Cork.
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Cocke’s Tavern 21 South Loudoun Street –
GW paid a year’s rent there on 2 December 1756.
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Military Hospital –
on Loudoun Street nearby
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Source is Page 11 from Garland R. Quarles, author of “George Washington and Winchester VA 1748-1758, A Decade of Preparation for Responsibilities to Come,” 1974, published by Winchester Frederick County Historical Society.
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Source of the Map?
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Often the historians, especially the ones mentioned in this website have big stories of their own, and should not go unrecorded.
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Robert Mallin, recognizable for his top hat, conducted walking tours shown in map above. “He developed several walking tours for the downtown area and Mount Hebron Cemetery. He co-authored the book Ashby Camp Revisited. Although a native of Long Island, New York, he was a “Virginian by Choice.” “ Robert Mallin died December 7, 1999. – Page 134 of Winchester Frederick County Historical Society Volume XII published 2000.
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