Memories: Anne C. Brown

Anne C. Brown shares memories of growing up and living in Burke, VA, which has been home to several generations of her family. Born in 1921, she recalls growing up in the Depression, classes in Burke's original 3-room elementary school, World War II, commuting to work and small town life.

Camp Reports: Civilian Conservation Corps No. 2339C Camp

CCC No. 2399C Camp, also known as Army-3VA Camp, was located at the U.S. Army's Fort Belvoir in Fairfax County. A racially segregated unit, it was comprised of African Americans except for assigned Army Reserve officers and other leaders. The Camp's work on reforestation and fire control projects included road construction and firefighting in and near Braddock District. A significant but nearly forgotten contribution was construction in the 1930s of an access road through an extensive forest area bounded by Braddock, Rolling, Backlick and Old Keene Mill roads. Erased by suburban development, the road no longer appears on current maps. Today, that former forest has been replaced largely by the community of Springfield and Lake Accotink Park. Lake Accotink was originally created during World War I as a water source for Fort Belvoir.

Two camp inspection reports - for March 21, 1936 and March 8, 1938 - provide insights into the people, operations and life of CCC No. 2399C Camp, including:
--Location, size and description of camp and its facilities
--U.S. Army Reserve officers, camp leaders and personnel assigned
--Compensation
--Details about camp sanitation, medical services, motor vehicles and safety program
--Evaluation ratings on camp facilities, conditions, personnel and morale
--Food, meals and daily menus
--Mission, responsibilities, work projects and plans
--Sports and recreation
--Religious services
--Health, including deaths of camp personnel
--Education, including efforts to eliminate illiteracy

Courtesy of Mary Lipsey; obtained during her research of the CCC from the The National Archives and Records Administration.

Essay: Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)

In a chance conversation with Mary Lipsey, Bill Sheads mentioned the CCC's work in the 1930s in building a road through what was then an extensive forest, likely for fire control access. The CCC's role was all but forgotten and the road, erased by suburban development, had disappeared from current maps. Mary's research has verified the road's construction and location and led to creation of the first historic marker to commemorate the CCC's contributions to Fairfax County.

Courtesy of Mary Lipsey

Archeological Investigation Report: Guinea Road Cemetery

The Louis Berger Group, Inc., on behalf of the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT), conducted an archeological investigation of the Guinea Road Cemetery in preparation for road construction at that site.

Located at the intersection of Little River Turnpike (Rt. 236) and Guinea Road, the 19th century cemetery's visible traces had been erased by previous development over the years. However, the cemetery had long been known as an ancestral burial place to descendants of former slaves Horace Gibson and Moses Parker.

Descendant Dennis Howard assisted with the investigation, including providing historical family information. On September 30, 2006, Archaeologist Charles Rinehart of the Louis Berger Group delivered a presentation on their investigations at a Gibson-Parker family reunion.

Subsequent to the information reported here, further archeological investigations were completed from December 2007 to January 2008, when pavement surfaces were removed during road construction. In March 2009, VDOT issued a final report prepared by the Louis Berger Group - "Data Recovery At Guinea Road Cemetery (Site 44FX1664) Route 236 (Little River Turnpike)" - which is available in the Fairfax City Regional Library, Virginia Room.

The investigation of the Guinea Road Cemetery was funded by the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). The information presented by the Fairfax County A Look Back At Braddock project in this web site is provided courtesy of VDOT and FHWA. Presentation of this information, however, should not be construed as an endorsement, explicitly or implicitly, by VDOT or FHWA of the services of the Louis Berger Group, Inc. or the authors.

Essay: The CCC Road

Bill Sheads writes about the road built by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) in the 1930s to open access to a large forested tract bounded by Old Keene Mill, Backlick, Braddock and Rolling Roads.

Created in 1933 by the federal government to combat the severe economic conditions of the Great Depression, the CCC provided jobs and training for the unemployed in public works projects across the nation. Many of these projects involved fire prevention, including fire roads like one in this essay.

Courtesy of Bill Sheads

Slideshow: Rebel Hill

Rebel Hill, a small but steep hill on Braddock Road near Wakefield Chapel Road, challenged drivers, especially in bad weather, until tamed by highway engineers in the early 1970s. A good replica of the original road exists in the bike and footpath on the north side of Braddock Road, which the slideshow traces in a series of 10 captioned pictures.

NOTE: Although the second slide caption dates the highway construction in the 1960s, later research places it between March 1970 and March 1972.

Courtesy John Browne

Slide Show: Development in Kings Park

A series of aerial images from 1937 to 2002 shows how development changed the area of Kings Park near the intersections of Braddock, Rolling and Burke Lake roads.

Courtesy John Browne; developed from aerial photographs provided by Fairfax County GIS & Mapping Department and 2002 satellite image by United States Geological Survey.

Historic Survey Report: Wakefield Chapel

Survey description of Wakefield Chapel, dated February 17, 1971, for the Historic American Buildings Survey Inventory.

Historic Survey Report: Ravensworth

Survey description of Ravensworth mansion, dated February 24, 1972, for the Historic American Buildings Survey Inventory.

Historic Survey Report: Ossian Hall

Survey description of Ossian Hall, dated February 25, 1972, for the Historic American Buildings Survey Inventory.