Virginia Rambler: Blink and You'll Miss It

In the late 1800s, the village of Accotink was a thriving northern Virginia hamlet. Situated adjacent to Route 1, Accotink and the nearby Woodlawn area were founded by the growing local Quaker community. The Accotink Mill, a grist mill, was built on the Accotink Creek, probably by Zachariah Gardner after 1804. It was situated on land that is now the lower part of Davison Army Airfield, Accotink village, and the area around Tulley Gate at Fort Belvoir.

Here's an 1857 ad from the Alexandria Gazette, for the land that is now Accotink Village:

Today all that remains of the village is one street, which runs for about two blocks; the rest has been swallowed up by the mammoth Fort Belvoir and the high-volume Route 1 corridor. If you turn onto Backlick Road from Route 1, you'll find what's left of the village. The street boasts some early-20th-century houses and a Methodist church that dates to the late 1800s. But the days are numbered for this quaint little slice of the past; the county has approved the plans to build a mixed apartment/retail complex here (283 multifamily dwellings [read: "apartments"] and 24,825 square feet of "secondary uses"--on land that's currently occupied by just 8 single-family houses). The rest of the street probably won't last long either; the "Statement of Justification" by the developer assures us that "the consolidation and design does not preclude any of the other parcels in the Village of Accotink from redevelopment to their highest and best use." (emphasis added)

Here's a map showing the location of Accotink village. The yellow rectangle shows the entirety of what's left of the village. Note the red oval on the left side of the map. This is more or less the terminus of the old Accotink Road. The train tracks there were part of a spur of the Richmond-Fredericksburg-Potomac Railroad that split off at Long Branch Station and ran to Fort Belvoir (originally Camp A. A. Humphreys). See my blog post Ghost Roads for more about this train route and about Accotink Road.

Because this region was settled in the 1800s, I wonder what artifacts lie beneath the surface in what's left of Accotink village. The 2013 Fairfax County Comprehensive Plan says that "Large portions of the Mount Vernon Planning District have not been surveyed to determine the presence or absence of heritage resources. It is important that these areas be examined before they are developed and appropriate action taken to record, preserve and/or recover the significant resources." I've read almost nothing about this in the plans to repurpose the village of Accotink.


Click on any of the photos to see a larger version.

Accotink United Methodist Church, founded 1880. (This church is a local landmark
as identified on the Fairfax County Inventory of Historic Sites.)

Above and below: interior of the Methodist church. Below, there's an upright piano

 in the foreground and a very old pump organ at rear.

Bell tower. The bell used to call children to the school that once stood next door.

Cemetery at Accotink United Methodist. (For a complete list of graves, see http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gsr&GScid=2182249)

Graves of Jane and John Cawman

Grave of George B. Fairfax, husband of June Fairfax; Fairfax is a 

rather famous surname in these parts. Since this church is on property adjacent to Fort Belvoir, and the army purchased the land for the fort from William Fairfax in 1741, I'd wager that this gent was related to that family. (Note the Confederate flag, a common fixture
at cemeteries in this area.)

Does anyone know what this metal plaque represents?

"In loving remembrance of Ralph A. Stout (Oct. 26, 1898 - June 27, 1911):
A beautiful bud taken from Earth to blossom in heaven."

 And next door to the Methoidst church we have Chua Hoa Nghiem Pagoda: 

Buddhist Association of America, a shiny new addition to the block, circa 2009.

9108 Backlick Road: the house is across the street from the Buddhist Pagoda and
appears to be owned by the same organization; this house was built in 1925.

9121 Backlick Road: the oldest house on the street. It was built in 1900. In the 2011 Fairfax County Comprehensive Plan, they recommended that this house be documented and evaluated for inclusion in the Fairfax Co. Inventory of Historic Sites. It's was foreclosure and was for sale for $239,000. (See http://tinyurl.com/m6nnz53.) UPDATE: It's no longer for sale, and it has new siding; you wouldn't recognize it.

Words fail me.

Ditto.

The same house, from the street view of Google Earth, before it fell on hard times 

(it's now boarded up and the bay window is broken).

This 1903 house is a time capsule; beneath the white siding, there is brick, stone, and wood,
evidence of various owners' efforts to remodel.

Magnus Masonic Lodge, built in 1925. It's at 9012 Backlick Road. The county is looking into the possibility of granting historic status to this structure. The lodge is home to a local chapter of the Ancient Egyptian Arabic Order Nobles Mystic Shrine of North and South America and Its Jurisdictions, Inc. (more commonly known as "Shriners). The Ancient Egyptian Arabic Order is a historically black order of the Shriners, organized in Boston in 1784.

 Maybe if you have to ask, you don't need to know.

Reserved parking for the Elected Imperial Officer

Parking reserved for the Illustrious Potentate

Looking toward the end of the road, which dead-ends at the border of Fort Belvoir
and curves to the left to take you to the Fairfax County Parkway.

Looking toward Route 1

The end of the road: Backlick dead-ends here. The overpass was used as part of a spur that went from the Long Branch station to Fort Belvoir, a story in itself.

Beyond the overpass is a gate to Fort Belvoir; the road used to continue on to Beulah St. here.

The original grist mill, on a survey map made in 1859:

And a look back at the village in 1862:

And the village in its heyday (circa 1900):

The proposed mixed-use development that's going to swallow up a corner of Accotink Village:

The tiny, remaining slice of Accotink Village is virtually surrounded by Fort Belvoir (in fact, its mailing address is Fort Belvoir, Virginia). The families who live on this street have no other neighbors. The children have no one to play with, no nearby parks. This kind of situation is ripe for demolition and replacement by a subdivision or commercial development. I've seen it before--well-kept, tidy homes and mature trees are bulldozed, and residents are displaced. Land in Fairfax County is very dear, and I acknowledge the need to maximize the available space. But there are only so many houses left from the turn of the twentieth century. When all the old houses are gone, it's going to be a long time until there are old houses again. Today, if you blink, you'll miss the village of Accotink. Soon, even if you keep your eyes peeled, it won't be there to see.


Sources:

• 2011 Fairfax County Comprehensive Plan: http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/dpz/comprehensiveplan/adoptedtext/2011-04.pdf
• Zillow.com: http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/9121-Backlick-Rd-Fort-Belvoir-VA-22060/51989590_zpid/
• Northern Virginia History group on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/groups/199423696893155/)
• South County Federation Land Use Committee: http://tinyurl.com/nr9oe8r
• Mills and Mill Sites in Fairfax County, Virginia, and Washington, DC: http://tinyurl.com/nudbxda
• Belvoir in the Antebellum Period: https://www.belvoir.army.mil/history/Antebellum.asp 
• Ancient Egyptian Arabic Order Nobles Mystic Shrine of North and South American and Its Jursdictions: http://www.aeaonms.org/ 
• ANCIENT EGYPTIAN ARABIC ORDER OF NOBLES OF THE MYSTIC SHRINE et al. v. MICHAUX et al.: http://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/279/737 
• "Narrative Statement of Justification for Village of Accotink Mixed-Use Project": http://www.mvcca.org/pz/2012-09_Accotink-SOJ.pdf 
• Belvoir Enters the Twentieth Century: https://www.belvoir.army.mil/history/20C.asp
• Realtor's blog: http://activerain.com/blogsview/3378032/village-of-accotink-if-you-blink-you-will-miss-a-piece-of-fairfax-county-history
• Find a Grave: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=cr&CRid=2182249

Note: Information in this article is accurate, to the best of my knowledge. Please contact me via the comments if you see any errors or omissions. Thanks!

Copyright 2013. All rights reserved.

Chicago Revisited: Part 2

So, clearly I took way too many photos on this short trip to Chicago. Here's the second part of my "Chicago Revisited" post. (Check out Part 1, too! http://hired-pen-blog.blogspot.com/2013/05/chicago-revisited.html)

Day 4, continued

Here's our daughter at Indian Boundary Park. This is the only Chicago park that has a zoo. (A small one, but a zoo nevertheless.) We lived across the street from this park from the time our daughter was born until we moved out of state. What a boon to have a place like this in your neighborhood!

In addition to the zoo, this park has a lagoon, a community garden, and tennis courts (the very same courts on which the aforementioned daughter learned how to splash in puddles). On two sides there are lovely condo buildings, one of which was designed by Jens Jensen, landscape architect who designed many of the Chicago city parks, as well as the Garfield Conservatory.

After driving hither and yon in the suburbs, visiting former apartments and houses, we met friends for dinner. Here's our daughter and an old friend from her preschool class at Tot Learning Center. We also were able to get together with another friend from that preschool class, who is now a talented artist and a student at Columbia College. It was very gratifying to see how these former playmates have grown to be charming, smart, and talented adults.

Day 5

We splurged on the architectural river tour sponsored by the Archicenter. Well worth the price of admission! (Caveat: when you go, bring sunscreen.) On the river, you get a cool breeze and a fresh perspective on the great buildings. This one is at 35 E. Wacker. It's known informally as the Jeweler's Building. It was built between 1925 and 1927. Originally, a jeweler could drive into the building, and then into an elevator that would take him and his car to the floor that his office was on. This allowed safe and secure transfer of goods. The top floor of this building (where you see the dome) at one time housed a speakeasy (??? not much of a secret location, is it?). It later housed the offices of architect Helmut Jahn. Oh, and if it looks familiar, perhaps it's because it was the Gotham City Courthouse in "Batman Begins."

This is one of our favorite Chicago buildings. It's called River Center and is at 111 N. Canal, about a block from the Merchandise Mart. Daniel Burnham designed it, and it was completed in 1913. Currently, each side of the clock tower bears the name of a tenant in the building, among them Encyclopedia Britannica. This building will look familiar to fans of the TV show "The Good Wife." The law firm where the leading character works is supposed to be in this building. (P.S. Don't worry, the building isn't really listing, as it appears here; that's an artifact of our perspective on the river.)

A very slender (and green) bridge tender's tower. (Sorry a little crooked; remember, we were on a moving boat.)

More interesting reflections.

Once again, my old office building, at Monroe and Canal Streets. 

Our tour boat, reflected in windows of a building near Wacker Drive.

The warmer weather was a welcome change from the bone-chilling 38 degrees when we arrived.

River City apartments/condos, on the river at Wells Street. The area is called Printer's Row or the South Loop. (Random factoid: for a time, I lived a few blocks from here. I could have taken a boat to work--if I'd had a boat--since my office was also along this river.) This was designed by the same architect who created Marina City. This building was supposed to be the first installment in a series of buildings that lined the river in an S-shaped configuration. For whatever reason, the subsequent buildings live only as a twinkle in the architect's eye. The Fates haven't been kind to either Marina City or River City; the latter has fared worse, I think. I hope their fortunes change.

River City, up close.

River City on the right; 311 S. Wacker in mid-ground, and the Sears (not Willis) tower behind, with the tall white antennas.

The building in the mid-ground with the statue atop it is the Board of Exchange. The statue is Ceres, the goddess of grain. For more on Ceres, see Part 1 of this blog post.

Another view of River Center. The building at left is Two North Riverside Plaza, an Art Deco gem.

Here's the matching pair of buildings that make up Marina City (our daughter's favorite buildings). Most people say these buildings remind them of corn cobs. The architect has said that he envisioned them as tree trunks, with the balconies representing the branches. Tree trunks?? Maybe he grew up in the desert.

     The center core of each building houses the mechanicals. But even so, you end up with wedge-shaped apartments. It's hard to furnish a place that's shaped like a piece of pie, since furniture isn't generally pie-shaped.

Along the river walk, across the river from the Wrigley building. The river walk is one of the things that's been expanded since we lived in Chicago. All buildings built along the river now have to have public access along the water. In theory, you should be able to walk along the river all the way to the lakefront. (In practice, that's a long distance, and it's tough on the feet. But if your feet don't fail you, at least you have the option.)

The venerable Marshall Field's department store, on State Street. It's now called Macy's, but who are we kidding? It will always be Marshall Field's. (This shot was taken while standing on the ground floor, looking up.)

Day 6 (departure day)

The view from our hotel window (Madison St.). On the weekend there wasn't a soul in sight; during the week, there was a steady stream of pedestrians.

Another view from our hotel room.

The Tribune Tower.

The Wrigley Building at left, Tribune Tower in center. This was taken from the boat, docked along the river.

Yet another tour! This was a river/lake tour on the Wendella (boat). Tours were the best way to cover a lot of ground (or, in our case, a lot of water) in an hour or two. Which was just about all the time we had.

This is a view of the parking lot at Marina City. The lowest floors are parking floors, with the apartments above. Me, I'd be worried about misjudging and backing right out beyond the edge of the garage and landing in the drink. (I guess I'm not the only one who's thought of this; in at least one movie, there's a scene of a car driving off the edge and into the river.) But I'm told that all the parking is via valet service. Presumably they've had a lot of experience judging where the edge of the garage is.

A bonus! There were several bridge-raisings while we were out on the river. Along the river, many pedestrians stopped to watch. No matter how long you live in Chicago, it's still fun to watch the bridges go up (and back down).

View of the shoreline, from Lake Michigan. Just look at all those beautiful tall buildings. What I love most is that despite the variety of styles, the overall look is harmonious. Instead of competing for attention, the buildings provide a contrast and thus spotlight each other.

Auditorium at the end of Navy Pier. The pier is the #1 tourist attraction in the state. When our daughter was little, she used to think it was called "Baby Pier," a factoid that I think we find more charming than she does.

Going up! Another bridge raising, this time looking north from Wacker Driver. You can see several bridges, in different stages of being raised/lowered.

And then we scurried to the airport for the trip home. We were sorry to leave, but glad to be going home, too.

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Copyright 2013. All rights reserved.