Fairfax County Change on U.S. 1 1960-2010

Fairfax County Channel 16 has come out with a new video featuring some historical highlights of the U.S. 1 Corridor 1960-2000's. 

The video features discussion of change on U.S. 1 through the years has some nice segments on Gum Springs, Mount Vernon High School, Montebello, and Woodlawn.

Great cameos by area history buff Michael Bohn, Gum Springs History Curator Ron Chase, SFDC Executive Director Edyhe Kelleher, Pamela Hess Executive Director of Arcadia Center for Food and Sustainable Agriculture which is about to launch a major initiative at Woodlawn, and a few clips of me.

Great production which summarizes our local history.  You can watch below.

Weekly Column: Gerry Hyland, the Epitome of Public Service

The following is my column that will appear in the Mt. Vernon Gazette and The Mt. Vernon Voice in the week of February 3, 2015.

Gerry Hyland, the Epitome of Public Service

At Saturday’s town hall meeting, we learned that we are losing another 28-years of public policy wisdom, seniority and experience. 

In 1987, Mount Vernon was a different place. In 1987, we had just emerged from a divisive high school merger battle driven by a decline in the number of students. Mount Vernon had seen a tsunami of homes built between 1955 and 1970 and about ten years after the construction stopped, the area found itself with thousands of aging empty nesters, fewer children and vacant schools.

U.S. 1 was blighted by over a dozen old motels, a reputation for its hard knocks and crime, two strip clubs and curiosities like Northern Virginia’s last duck pin bowling alley and the Thieves’ Market. Lorton was known for its prison, from which inmates escaped periodically, a landfill and not much else.  

In 1987 when I got my driver’s license, Mount Vernon elected a local PTA activist, former President of United Community Ministries, 30-year Air Force officer, farmer and lawyer to the Board of Supervisors on a campaign focused on nourishing schools  and closing prisons, landfills, and incinerators and bringing our area a better quality of life. That was Gerry Hyland.

Newly Released - Mount Vernon History Revisited!

Waynewood resident Michael Bohn and former Patch Reporter Jessie Biele have come out with a new book that focuses on local history called, Mount Vernon - Revisited.

I picked up a copy a few weeks ago at the Village Hardware.  It's a good primer into the early 44th District and provides some perspective as to how we got to where we are today in the 44th District.

Over the past two decades, Mike has written several series in the Mount Vernon Gazette focused on the Mount Vernon Trolley, old prominent homes in the Mt. Vernon area, and old Mount Vernon schools.  I published a series of them on this blog:

The Dixie Pig: Local History Articles

My favorite pictures are the old shots of U.S. 1 before it was four-laned and straightened out in the 1930's.

It's a quick must read for anyone whose zip code is between 22306 and 22309!

The text of the press release from the publisher is below the fold.

Gum Springs Pride Circa 1966

The 44th District is home to Gum Springs - the oldest historically black neighborhood in Fairfax County tracing its roots back to its found Wes Ford - a freed slave of George Washington.

Gum Springs has endured many challenges through the years and often had to fight for its fair share of resources from the federal, state, and local government.  My grandparents were involved in many of these fights starting when they moved to Mt. Vernon in 1941.

The President of the New Gum Springs Civic Association has forwarded me a link to this fascinating movie made in Gum Springs nearly fifty years ago when Fairfax County was first beginning to confront the effects of desegregation in 1966.

It is a fascinating glimpse into Mt. Vernon's past including a great cameo from then-Mt. Vernon District Supervisor and future Eighth District Congressman Herb Harris.

Weekly Column: U.S. 1 Version 2.0: Reducing Congestion

The following is my column that will appear in the Mt. Vernon Gazette, The Mt. Vernon Voice and Patch in the week of November 12, 2013.

U.S. 1 Version 2.0: Reducing Congestion

 

This  is the third article in my weekly series examining the U.S. 1 Multimodal Alternatives Analysis, our transit choices and why extending the Metro subway Yellow Line is the best alternative. Last week, I focused on how our transit choice for the highway will improve outcomes in our schools. This week I focus on traffic.

 

U.S. 1 has a long history. The road’s current alignment through the 44^th District is a consolidation of three or four local roads realigned between 1915 and 1935 into U.S. 1 and widened in the early 1970s. Before the Shirley Highway (now I-395) in 1941, it was the major north-south road in the eastern U.S.. Afterwards, it just became a major north-south road. Today, it remains the primary way in, out and through the 44^th District.  

U.S. 1’s current configuration presents many problems. First, there are only two ways for the 120,000 people between Fort Belvoir, Huntley Meadows and Alexandria, plus commuters to cross Little Hunting Creek – U.S. 1 and the George Washington Memorial Parkway (GWP) – and no route west between Lockheed Boulevard and the Fairfax County Parkway (or Woodlawn after Mulligan Road opens in about six months ). This creates numerous choke points, like those at Kings Crossing and Buckman Road and at Woodlawn Plantation when U.S. 1 is widened through Fort Belvoir in about four years.

Demolish Woodlawn Elementary School?

Woodlawn Elementary School Today

The Mt. Vernon-Lee part of Fairfax County has always been known for its history.  The Mt. Vernon Estate is our crown jewel.  The Woodlawn Mansion is a National Historic Landmark and the entire estate is subject to a historic zoning district.  The Grist Mill is growing in popularity.  Gunston Hall was the home of founding father George Mason.

U.S. 1 was renamed "Historic Route One" by the Commonwealth of Virginia in 2010 with an amendment by Governor McDonnell to HB530 that I requested honoring Route 1 for its trove of historic assets.  One other asset along the road is Woodlawn Elementary School, but it is threatened.

History of U.S. 1: Early Schools along Route One, Part 3

In 2006, the Mount Vernon Gazette ran a series of articles by local author Michael K. Bohn on the history of U.S. 1. They provide some interesting history on U.S. 1.
The following was written by Michael K. Bohn and ran in the Mt. Vernon Gazette, in 2006.

Early Schools along Route One, Part 3

Michael K. Bohn
Mount Vernon Gazette, 2006

This is the final part of the schools segment in the Route One history series. It describes the remaining historic elementary schools and early high schools near Route One.

Potter’s Hill offere a few high school courses, but
was primarily an elementary school.

Potter’s Hill. Telegraph and Accotink Roads (now approximately Telegraph and Beulah Roads). Built prior to1879, the school was replaced by a new structure in 1917 that offered both elementary grades as well as a few high school subjects. Not deeded to the county until 1918, Potter’s Hill burned in 1934.

History of U.S. 1: Early Schools Along Route One, Part II

In 2006, the Mount Vernon Gazette ran a series of articles by local author Michael K. Bohn on the history of U.S. 1. They provide some interesting history on U.S. 1.  Part I can be be found here:

History of U.S. 1: Early Schools on U.S. 1, Part I (Mar. 26, 2013)

The following was written by Michael K. Bohn and ran in the Mt. Vernon Gazette, in 2006.

Early Schools along Route One, Part 2

Michael K. Bohn
Mount Vernon Gazette, 2006

This is the second of a three-part schools segment in the Route One history series. The first reviewed the development of education in Fairfax County from colonial times through desegregation in the 1960s, and described elementary schools at Accotink, Cameron, Colchester, Groveton and Gum Springs. This section addresses five historic schools in the Mason Neck area. The third and final schools article will survey the remaining historic elementary schools along Route One, as well as area high schools.

History of U.S. 1: Early Schools on U.S. 1, Part I

In 2006, the Mount Vernon Gazette ran a series of articles by local author Michael K. Bohn on the history of U.S. 1. They provide some interesting history on U.S. 1.

The following was written by Michael K. Bohn and ran in the Mt. Vernon Gazette, in 2006.

Early Schools along Route One, Part 1
Michael K. Bohn
Mount Vernon Gazette, 2006

This is another segment in the continuing series about the history of Route One in the Mount Vernon area.

Route One, and its predecessor, the Potomac Path, has been at the center of economic, residential, and religious development in southeast Fairfax County for hundreds of years. Just as settlers built their homes and churches along the road, they created schools near the route for their children. The population was sparse enough until the middle of the 20th century that transportation to and from school drove the selection of school sites.

History of U.S. 1: Potomac Path Churches Part II

Back in 2005, the Mount Vernon Gazette ran a series of articles by local author Michael K. Bohn on the history of U.S. 1. They provide some interesting history on U.S. 1.

The following was written by Michael K. Bohn and ran in the Mt. Vernon Gazette, in June 2005:

Potomac Path Churches, Part 2

Michael K. Bohn

Mount Vernon Gazette, June 2005

This is the second section of the historic churches installment in the Route One series.  The previous section highlighted Pohick Church, while this one features six other churches whose beginnings predate 1900.

 

History of U.S. 1: Historic Churches of the Potomac Path, Part I

Back in 2005, the Mount Vernon Gazette ran a series of articles by local author Michael K. Bohn on the history of U.S. 1. They provide some interesting history on U.S. 1.

The following was written by Michael K. Bohn and ran in the Mt. Vernon Gazette, in June 2005:

Historic Churches of the Potomac Path

Michael K. Bohn

Mount Vernon Gazette, June 2005

As the population of colonial Virginia expanded beyond its Tidewater origins, the settlers built roads into the frontier to serve social and commercial needs.  One of the most important travel needs—one sanctioned by the colonial government—was getting to church on Sundays.  Before the Revolution, that mostly meant traveling to the King’s church, but as Virginia’s society became more diverse, other denominations built their churches along the Potomac Path.

Integral to the history of Route One is the history of religion along the road.  There are seven historic churches on or near the current highway, each with abundant and interesting lineages—Pohick Episcopal, Woodlawn Friends Meeting, Cranford Methodist, Woodlawn Baptist, Bethlehem Baptist, Woodlawn Methodist, and Accotink Methodist.  There are many more houses of worship along the highway, but space permits addressing only the most venerable.

 

This is the second installment in the Route One history series and it will appear in two parts—first Pohick, then the other churches.

History of U.S. 1: The Potomac Path

This is article #2 of a series that originally appeared in the Mt. Vernon Gazette.

The Origins of Route One.

Michael K. Bohn

Mount Vernon Gazette, April 2005

In early 1772, George Washington traveled to Williamsburg to attend a session of the Virginia General Assembly. At the beginning of the trip, he made the following entries in his diary:

January 25. Set of for Williamsburg but not being able to cross Accatink (which was much Swelled by the late Rains) I was obliged to return home again.

January 26. Sett off again and reached Colchester by nine Oclock where I was detained all day by high winds & low tide.

The route that he followed from Mount Vernon on the first leg of his journey south was the Potomac Path. During Washington’s time, it was a wagon road, but sections of it followed an old trail that Indians had used for hundreds of years. Almost all of the Potomac Path between Alexandria and Woodbridge still exists, but today we call most of it Route One. The current road smoothes out many of the Potomac Path’s twists and turns, but there’s still plenty of history left to see.

(On right - U.S. 1 at Accotink, 1915)

History of U.S. 1: Introduction

Back in 2005, the Mount Vernon Gazette ran a series of articles by local author Michael K. Bohn on the history of U.S. 1.  They provide some interesting history and context to why U.S. 1 runs where it is today.

The following was written by Michael K. Bohn and ran in the Mt. Vernon Gazette in April, 2005:

Introduction to the Route One Series
Michael K. Bohn
Mount Vernon Gazette, April 2005  

Route One. To some, it’s just a road, a way to get home after work. Residents close by, however, view it as their Main Street, the commercial center of their community. Others use “Route One” as a pejorative term to describe an area that has been down on its heels—a place of strip malls, fast food joints, and yellow crime-scene tape.

However widely impressions vary of Route One in Mount Vernon, there is one perception of the highway that is rarely acknowledged—the history of Route One is the history of southeast Fairfax County. Travelers along what started as an Indian path have witnessed the spread of English settlements north from Jamestown, the construction of colonial churches and court houses, and the creation of the grand plantations owned by Virginia’s first families—Mason, Fairfax, and Washington. Known in Colonial times as the Potomac Path, the route served General Washington and his French ally, Comte de Rochambeau, during their march to destiny at Yorktown, just as the route carried both Federals and Johhny Rebs during the Civil War. The road’s ford at Little Hunting Creek--Gum Springs--became not only a key intersection on the way to post-war Mount Vernon, but also a growing refuge for African-Americans living in segregated Fairfax County. World War I saw the opening of Fort Belvoir, with the Army paving the section of the highway between the new installation and Alexandria. The onset of the automobile, and later the motel, made Route One a prominent feature of the county during the middle of the 20th century. The route is a four-hundred-year timeline, one that began when the forest knew only the Dogue Indians.