Jaybird's Jottings

Concert Memory: Led Zeppelin, Greensboro Coliseum, May 31, 1977

“We have seen the gods.  Now we can die.”

The date was May 31,1977.  It was just past midnight.

Along with about 17,000 other hard rock fans with ringing ears, Robert and Tim Miller and I were walking out of the Greensboro Coliseum.  We had just seen a three-hour long concert by Led Zeppelin.   

 

I love listening to rock music and hearing it live.   Picking my second most memorable or greatest concert would be difficult.  I’ve been lucky to have seen dozens of shows across the span of my sixty-four years, including Zep, The Who, Black Sabbath, Queen, Van Halen, Deep Purple, Rush, Blue Oyster Cult, Judas Priest, Def Leppard, AC/DC, Lynyrd Skynyrd, The Scorpions, Uriah Heep, ZZ Top, Motley Crue, Eric Clapton, Kiss, Bad Company, Kansas and Boston.

People who know me and know how much I love Rush, who I saw about two dozens times over the course of about 40 years, will raise their eyebrows when I say that the greatest concert I have ever seen was that Zeppelin show in my hometown in 1977.   On the other hand, most of those people will also show some understanding.   We’re talking one of the greatest rock and roll bands of all-time, and arguably the greatest hard rock band ever.   

 

Every generation has arguments about which artists are the greatest.  In the fifties, Elvis ruled.  In the sixties, Jimi Hendrix not only lit his guitar on fire, he lit the world on fire on his way to becoming the greatest guitarist who ever stood on a stage.   Nevertheless, it was The Beatles that shook and conquered the world.   

The British Invasion was on.   After the Beatles disbanded in 1970, the Rolling Stones moved up to the top spot, helped by being introduced as “greatest rock and roll band in the world.”   I remember hearing that in mid-70s, and thinking something like — we Zep fans beg to differ. 

Part of our argument centered on our belief that Page was the greatest guitarist, Bonham the best drummer, Plant the best singer, and Jones the best bassist.   That is certainly subjective, but Google — greatest rock and roll guitarist/drummer/singer/bassist — and see what you get. 

On a trip in the early 1970s, Mom and Dad took me and my younger sister to Washington to see her aunt and uncle and family.   With a gleam in his eye, my cousin took me to his room, closed the door, and began playing Sabbath's "Master of Reality."   

In the mid to late 60's, when feel good, three-minute songs ruled the AM airwaves, my brother had corrupted me by playing the Doors and the Stones on his reel to reel.  Listening to Black Sabbath for the first time  was something more.  My whole mind and body felt something very powerful.   Although the words were not in our vocabulary yet, I was entering the realm of hard rock and heavy metal.

 

The crazy thing about Led Zeppelin (or maybe not) is that the band’s management decided to not release singles.  Nevertheless, fans bought and played their vinyl albums, and some FM radio DJ's began playing what became known as “Album Oriented Rock.”   By the mid-70s, Zep was filling up venues in numbers like no other act before.   

In our world of mega large venues, bands and acts, including the Stones, have set single performance attendance records with six digits, whopping figures that blew past Zeppelin’s high watermark.   Ultimately, however, we should judge performance by what was done in its time.  A month before the Greensboro show in 1977, 76,229 fans had filled the Silverdome in Detroit to see Zeppelin, a jaw-dropping figure that stood as a record for a number of years.   

 

Robert, Tim and I, were part of a sold-out crowd at the Greensboro show.   It’s hard to know if Coliseum Manager James Oshust (1970 – 1985) kept his own list of top acts he had brought to the arena.   He certainly had a lot to choose from.  In the 1970s and into the 80s, the Greensboro Coliseum was the main stop for touring bands, perfectly situated halfway between Atlanta and Washington.   As a big fan of live music, I took full advantage of that golden era.   We lived just two miles from the Coliseum.  

 

Concert-wise, the stars aligned for me in ’77.   Before turning my sagging life around by joining the Air Force in February 1978, I had money in my pocket from working odd jobs and was living at home.   In the summer of 1975, I had seen my first concert.   On the strength of their Number One hit, "You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet," as well as FM staples, "Let it Ride" and "Taking Care of Business," Bachman Turner Overdrive headlined at the Coliseum.   I can still feel the excitement of stepping into that wonderful new world of sight, sound and spectacle, all the hands clapping, and as the BTO song says, "candles in the air" (and what was that sweet smell drifting around?)

In a span of just four months in ‘77 (February to May), Robert, Tim and I saw, at the Greensboro Coliseum, ZZ Top, Boston, Lynyrd Skynyrd and Led Zeppelin.   Boston was hotter than the firecrackers fans lit during concerts back then.   Their eponymous debut album would eventually sell 17M copies.   We saw them right when they were breaking out from back-up to headliners filling the biggest arenas.   

“More than a Feeling” was their smash hit, but every song on the album could have been a hit.   Those are the kind of shows you remember.   The band members are making a lot of eye contact, all that joy before the grind of touring does its damage.

 

Back in the day, concert promoters employed the standard practice of “festival seating.”   Sounds like a picnic in the park.  Oh, no.  Things could get ugly and fans got injured.   With some exceptions, the widespread practice eventually ended.   Ever so sadly, it took a terrible tragedy in 1979, the loss of 11 lives at The Who concert in Cincinnati, to show the world just how crazy the practice was.   

Anyway, we were oblivious to what happened outside the Coliseum ’77 show, but news reports I have now read tell of broken fences and rowdy behavior.   We must have held back and waited until the crush ended.   That meant we didn’t get up close to the stage, but being about 15 rows back and on the floor wasn’t too shabby.   And we didn’t get crushed like we did for the Boston show, where I was lifted off the ground. 

Almost all rock concerts in those days had one or more support acts.   That’s how up and coming bands got noticed.  I remember seeing five young lads from Britain in 1980 at the Coliseum, a band named Def Leppard that would go on to sell a few albums themselves.   The kids warmed up for the up and coming Scorpions and wild man Ted Nugent.   No one ever blew Nugent off the stage, but Robert and I saw Van Halen blow the doors off Boston in Raleigh in 1978 (remember the flying empty beer cups?)

Zep’s 1977 tour, billed as “An Evening with Zeppelin, was them and only them.  The term itself spoke to the band’s lofty status.   They had started the practice of “no support” around 1972, when their concerts had turned into three-hour affairs.  Of all the shows I saw back then, only Zep was a solo affair.

 

Rock musicians are not known for their compliance with rules and norms.   But when it comes to concerts, they know that show time is a sacred time.    Almost every rock concert I have ever seen has started on time.   That night, show time (8 pm) came.   Zep had only played Greensboro one other time (1975), a show I did not see.   The crowd was primed and ready for the magical moment when the lights go down.   

Only this time, they didn’t.   

As the first few minutes went by, I’m sure we were thinking, ok, no biggie, the band is just a little late.   Twenty long minutes later, we were all dying from the worry the show would be cancelled.   And after that, who knew?  Maybe no return appearance (as things turned out, this was their final tour of North America). 

Thirty minutes turned to forty, an eternity.  We might have been thinking —  So this is what purgatory feels like.   

It’s my thought that had it been any other band, the crowd would have reigned down a chorus of boos.   We certainly had every right to.   But as best as I can remember, we didn’t boo, because you don’t boo the gods.

Finally, the lights went down.  17,000 delirious fans started breathing again and roared in approval.   The band tore into “The Song Remains the Same.”    

 

My memories of the show have faded, but one can now fill in the gaps at the Zep website with reviews and comments, and newspaper reports.   I do recall Plant greeted us after the first song, and apologized for being late.   He said they would make up for it by playing a lot of songs.   These days you can’t get away with something like that because everyone knows the set lists and length of shows.   Having said, that, their three-hour show was without intermission.   I don't remember any other band playing that way.   From 1997 to 2016, Rush played about three hours, but always took a 20-minute break.

I can’t remember Zep’s setlist, but one can now look it up on the web.   They had put out seven albums so we benefitted from that.   The band would release just one more studio album, 1978’s “In Through the Out Door.”   

My favorite Zep songs are Kashmir, Whole Lotta Love, and one you might have heard of — Stairway to Heaven.  They played all of them and a total of 19.    

With Led Zeppelin, their concert was more than just a collection of songs.   They were maestros.   As one writer has said, Robert Plant had "the whole package as a frontman -- a tremendous vocal range, flowing rock star locks, and magnetism for miles."   Page held court with a mesmerizing extended solo with his bow string during "Dazed and Confused."   Only a fool took a bath room break during John Bonham's drum solo, and John Paul Jones and his keyboards had the stage during “No Quarter.”    

I wish I did have more memories.  I do remember at one point Plant took a break by sitting down on one of the stacks of speakers.  Every other musician I ever saw who took a break went backstage.   In my book, Plant earned some serious respect that way.   

The late Jerry Kenion reviewed the show in the Greensboro Daily News.   We offer the following snippets of her write up.

Jimmy Page, his thin frame covered in white satin... John Bonham’s drums help put the heavy into the heavy metal sound... laser beams crossed the stage creating a hazy green screen for the rising smoke... the fog machines cranked up to give the appearance that John Paul Jones was floating on a cloud. 

 

What constitutes a great concert means different things to different people.   Neil Peart has written that each Rush tour would bring just a handful of magical shows.   For most fans, just seeing the band play is magical.   I’ve read nit-picks of a show I had just attended, a critique that made me wonder if we were at the same show. 

Nevertheless, we all find shortcomings.   I can point out some with shows I have seen.   I saw Deep Purple with the Fab Five lineup headline the 1985 Knebworth concert.  Great show at a storied outdoor venue, but it rained so much the concert was dubbed "Mudworth."   And, get this.  There was an insane rumor going around Ritchie Blackmore did not want to play “Smoke on the Water” (they did).

I saw Black Sabbath, but it was at the god-awful sounding Fayetteville Coliseum and wasn’t with Ozzy (loved Ronnie James Dio all the same).  I saw The Who, but it wasn’t with Keith Moon (still a great concert).   I saw Lynyrd Skynyrd, but the memories are bittersweet.   Just five months later, tragedy struck when Van Zant, Gaines and a backup singer were killed in the crash of their chartered plane.  I saw Kiss in 1976, a killer show, but we sat in the nose bleed seats.  By the way, don’t get me wrong.  All those were awesome shows.

With the Zeppelin show we saw, there was the painful long delay.  But everything else was so right about it.  We sang happy birthday to “Bonzo,” and felt something very powerful when Page picked the first notes of Stairway to Heaven.   

 

In 2014, music journalist Lisa Robinson wrote, “There Goes Gravity: A Life in Rock and Roll.”   Robinson had full access to Led Zeppelin for a number of years and spends more than two dozen pages on what she saw.  In 2014, the author promoted her book at Politics and Prose here in Washington, DC.  I told her about seeing them and the unheard of forty minute wait.   

Echoing what many others have said, Robinson said by that time, the band was going downhill.   Many a journalist has written about “the monster that was Led Zeppelin.”   Page and Bonham drank heavily.   John Paul Jones would later say he was sick of life on the road.   Manager Peter Grant was a bully.    Zep weren’t the first band to become a train wreck, but all this made them easy targets for their critics.     

But for Robert, Tim and I, ignorance was bliss.   All we knew was the mighty Zep was coming to our home town and we scored tickets.    

The previous September, the band had released, "The Song Remains the Same," a double live album from the best of three shows at Madison Square Garden during their 1973 tour.   I read now that,  "a number of critics consider it to be over-produced and lumbering."   You'll have to excuse me, for I can only chuckle on that one.  From our perspective, it was all good.    

Three months later, Zep released “The Song Remains the Same,” the movie of the same name.   Robert and I went and saw the flick at the Janus Theatre in Greensboro.   Once again, reviews aren’t flattering.   For us, however, just being able to see a hard rock band on the big screen was an utter and rare delight.   

You have to understand that in the 1970s, before MTV came along, there was very little hard rock music on TV.   I remember staying up past midnight to watch Don Kirshner's Rock Concert (Zeppelin never appeared).  As a form of mental torture, I had to keep the volume down low as to not wake up my Mom and sister.   

As seen by this ad in the Greensboro Daily News (July 1985), TV programmers continued to push aside hard rock music.   

 

With some bands, the fans get to see them a long time.  The Stones are quite amazing that way, and Rush kept things top-notch for almost 40 years.  Blue Oyster Cult has played over, wait for it, 3,000 shows.     

But for many bands, the fire burns out too soon.   Just a few weeks after the Greensboro show, Robert Plant’s five-year old son died.   Bonham slipped away three summers later.

When things like that take place, bands face the tough decision of replacing an original member.   Some make the change and keep going.   

Led Zeppelin did not.   They were the gods, and we saw them.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Book Review: George Washington’s 1791 Southern Tour

In the spring of 1791, George Washington was 59 years old.   Two years earlier, the man who had led the Continental Army for eight long years in war, had been elected president of the United States.   In addition to all his obligations, duties and responsibilities as the leader of the states, Washington found the will and energy to take an 1,800 miles, 62 stops tour of the southern states.

Although it is not a foot-noted book, Warren Bingham pours his lifelong passion and knowledge on this topic and gives us the terrific (2016) book, “George Washington’s 1791 Southern Tour.”    No one knows the lay of the land and the topic better.   

Bingham’s father immersed his son in historic places, including Mount Vernon, Alexandria and Washington.   

The author grew up in the piedmont of North Carolina, where Washington made nine stops, including Greensboro my hometown.  (Note:  As Bingham points out, Washington visited the village of Martinsville, apparently named after Governor Alexander Martin.   In 1808, the village was named Greensboro, after General Greene).

I enjoyed the chapter where Bingham tells us about previous looks and commemorations of Washington’s epic journey.   He also provides a good number of his own photographs and lists the 62 places where Washington slept, including pointing out the 7 buildings that have survived.   In addition to all the research, Bingham visited each place on Washington’s tour.   

Some readers might want more info on each stop, but newspaper coverage was sparse and Washington was sometimes sparing in his diary.  And as the author points out, one has to be careful vis a vis apocryphal stories.   

Having said that, our founding father was an amazing person, who always wanted to know what was on the other side of the hill.   As this book shows, George Washington crossed many in his extraordinary lifetime, including those in the Southern States.   

Note:

Bingham shared with me the following about the 1791 tour.   He does touch on this aspect in the book.    

After learning he had been elected the first president, among several things he wrote to John Adams, the incoming vice-president, was that he hoped to pay a visit to all of the states during his "term" (he assumed he would serve 4 years) to learn from the people and to see the country.

Beyond that basic fact we glean from his writing to Adams, I infer from his diary entries during his travel through the states and through his correspondence that GW desired to promote the new Constitution and the federal government — so I feel that in addition to "being among the people" in "their" communities and through his presence help unite the country.

In essence, GW hoped to gain public favor in support of the Constitution, but he did not make point blank speeches or write point blank statements; it was more of a soft sell. He knew he was a big hero due to his role in the Revolution; he was self-aware that he carried influence--and, I think, he felt his presence and clear support of the new government would bring others along in support.

When he traveled from Mount Vernon to NYC in April 1789 to become president, he couldn't help but notice adoring crowds gathered to hail him. So, though he had the idea of visiting the states perhaps weeks earlier, I suspect these warm greetings along his way to become president, confirmed for him that visiting all the states would be a good thing.

GW felt the travels and the Southern Tour were successful, because it better connected him with the land and the people he governed--and he felt no significant pushback about the new federal government (which included news of the first federal tax, the tax on domestically distilled spirits).

Of course, it was hard to look the 6'3 hero of the American Revolution in the eye and complain. Eventually, journalists would do it in newspapers--but, generally, on these tours, including the Southern Tour, the people he met seemed to be content with the idea and ideal of the federal government.

 

 

 

The Open Acre: A Look at the History of Land Usage at King Street Metro's Kiss and Ride Lot

It seemed to take forever, but the re-make of the King Street Metro Station “Kiss and Ride” parking lot is approaching completion.   The one-acre, triangle shaped parcel will provide a landscaped pedestrian plaza with improved bus and pedestrian flow, new bus bays and bike parking.   

As riders anticipate the opening, let's take a look back at the history of this small patch of land.

Like much of the land in our area, the first footprints here were made by the native Americans.   Then came the colonials, who cut down the woodlands to make way for their tobacco fields.   In 1749, the year of the founding of Alexandria, this one-acre parcel a mile and a half west of the Potomac River was little more than a swale between what would be called Shuter’s Hill and a small ridge of land that would eventually mark the end point of Prince Street.   

Prior to this time, the land belonged to Charles Alexander, a descendant of John Alexander, who had purchased the “Howson Tract” in 1669.    The Alexanders were planters so perhaps tobacco was grown here.   On the other hand, rainwaters likely collected here.      

Beth Mitchell’s Map of 1760 gives us our first look at the possible use of this land.  Burr Harrison owned a plot whose modern day footprint is roughly King Street to the north, Hooff’s Run to the east, the Beltway to the south and the Metro tracks to the west.    Owning adjacent tracts were John West, Jr, John Carlyle, and John Alexander, notable as founding fathers and supporters of Alexandria.   Harrison might have been a descendant of the Harrison family whose family tree shows Founding Father Benjamin Harrison V, and Presidents Benjamin Harrison and William Henry Harrison.   

 

The expansion of Alexandria in the second half of the eighteenth century brought the seaport’s homes and businesses closer to Shuter’s Hill.   The growth consisted of a couple of leaps westward from the original layout of Water, Fairfax, Royal.    A map (Plan of the Town of Alexandria in the District of Columbia,” 1798) shows West Street as the edge of the town.   Nothing is located at the future site of the parking lot, but nearby two homes are seen on the map.   One was Cameron Mills, whose site is near the Hoffman 22 Theaters.  

The other home was labeled, “Mr. Lee’s House.”   Known historically as the Mills/Lee/Dulany house, its site is just north of the George Washington National Masonic Memorial.  Alexandria archaeologists tell us a laundry building was here, too.   Nine enslaved African Americans toiled with the work.   Around 1790, Colonel Ludwell Lee (1760-1836) bought the home and farmland.   Annotations from George Washington’s diary (Founders Online) tell us Washington may have visited Lee and his wife in late October 1793.   

Looking again at the 1798 map, we see the District Line crossing through what would become this parking lot.  As told by Boundary Stones dot org, in April 1791, Major Andrew Ellicott and his team began the formal survey by clearing twenty feet on both sides of each boundary line.

After placing the new District’s original stone at Jones Point, they placed southwest stone number three along the turnpike to Leesburg (King Street).  (Note:  The stone was stolen.  A new one was placed along King near Cedar Street, near the original spot).

After the turn of the century, this part of Alexandria began to see more activity.   The parcel stood on the northern edge of the West End, a dusty place right out of a Western movie.    As noted by an historical marker on Duke Street, the West End became a thriving community.    By 1815, its collection of buildings on either side of the turnpike was home to butchers, tanners, millers, carriage makers, tavern keepers, blacksmiths and carriage makers.  Catt's Tavern was a landmark for many years.   The future site of the lot was not part of the West End, but as an adjacent parcel, it might have been used in some way.   It seems likely horses transversed the property, a linking space between the turnpike to Leesburg and the Little Rive Turnpike.   

Tobacco planting in Virginia kept the gentry families at the top of the social order, but misery to those who were enslaved to work the fields.   It also depleted the soils.  In the first half of the nineteenth century, some Virginians left for greener pastures and new starts.  Alexandria continued to grow, but at a slow pace during the antebellum period.   Therefore, this part of the town remained isolated, except for the horses and coaches entering town on the turnpikes.   A map of Alexandria in 1845 (“Plan of the town of Alexandria, D.C. with the environs” by Maskell C. Ewing and Thomas T. Sinclair) shows what is today Diagonal Road.   Nothing built is on the parcel but the Drover's Tavern is close by.  

The first photography of this part of the city came during the Civil War.   Matthew Brady gave us the gift of a lifetime, a view of the seaport and the camp of the 44th New York Infantry east of Shuter's Hill.  In this photo, the parcel is vacant. 

Source:  National Archives and Wikipedia  

Speaking of gifts of a lifetime, we also catch a glimpse of this parcel during the war in Charles Magnus “Birds Eye View of Alexandria."   A small grove of trees stands at what currently is the entrance to the Duke Street pedestrian tunnel.  A couple of buildings are situated along the northern end of modern day Diagonal.  The 1864 photograph shows these properties, as well as a wooden fence along their edge.   

The game of "base ball" grew during and after the Civil War.    All the players needed was an empty field and some rags for the bases.   Alexandria archaeologist Benjamin Skolnik conducted research on base ball fields in the city.    He found a scattering of diamond-shaped imprints across the oldest part of the city, the tell-tale signature of a base ball field.   The future site of one of them is in front of the King Street Station.   

Technological wonders helped shape the coming years in Alexandria.  Anyone standing on this parcel on September 18, 1892, would have felt the thrill of a lifetime.   Excited Alexandrians lined King Street that day to witness, as The Washington Post put it, “the running of electric cars.”   The streetcars foretold of the days when the number of horses would be reduced, giving way to the railroads and then the cars.   

Alexandria's seaport and river activity were still taking place, and would always be a magnet, but the glory days of tall ships sailing in from far away ports was slipping away.    On upper King Street, the turn of the century brought a major turning point when the Washington Southern Railroad (1903-1904) and Alexandria Union Station (1905) were built.    Prior to this, the furthest west one could find rail activity in the heart of the city had taken place about five blocks to the east along Fayette and Henry Street.  

As noted by the nomination form for the National Register of Historic Places, the train station was built during the City Beautiful Movement in Washington.  Utilitarian rails stations gave way to bigger and permanent ones with impressive space and architecture.   Union Station became Alexandria’s newest landmark.   Smith and Miller tell us it became:

a popular spot for rail enthusiasts to bring children to watch the giant locomotives, wave to engineers and conductors, and to dream of far away places such as Atlanta, Memphis and New Orleans.

Seventeen years after the Gazette splashed ink on its coverage of the streetcar arrival, they poured it on again.  On the afternoon of July 30, 1909, Orville Wright and Lt. Benjamin D. Foulois flew into history when their flying machine touched down at Fort Myer.    Perhaps their most nervous moment came above Shuter’s Hill, where they made their challenging turnaround.   Perhaps some observers watched from the one acre lot.

In 1913, upper King Street got anther landmark when Baggett’s Field rose up where the Alexandria Hilton stands today.   Baseball games were the primary draw.   Crowds as big as 5,000 watched high school football games, including Alexandria High and Parker Gray School.   Perhaps the parcel was used for parking.   In the late 1930s the stadium was demolished for a car dealership.   A few doors down, the Reed Theater opened in 1937.  Alexandrians enjoyed motion pictures there until the late 1970s.  The landmark was demolished.   That part of King Street, the 1700 block, was the last to be redeveloped (late 1980s, early 1990s) around the Kiss and Ride Lot.

A Sanborn Insurance map of 1921 picks up the story of the parcel.  Prince Street had reached to its modern day end at Reinekers Lane.   The Emerson Pump & Valve Company was located on Diagonal Road.  At the northwest corner of King and Diagonal stood a grocery and a “gasoline service station.”   

Also on the Sanborn map one sees the railroad tracks, as well as a spur and the RF&P Freight Depot.   Part of the depot is marked “Stock Pen.”  The modern day equivalent is just south of the Metro Station.

This parcel of land was no doubt used in some fashion during the grand opening of the George Washington Masonic National Memorial in 1932.   Tens of thousands poured into this part of the city for both the groundbreaking and the Grand Opening.

Smith and Miller also provide a circa 1930 photo, showing the bridge over King Street and the train station.   The view of the parking lot site is partially blocked, but its northern portion looks empty.

We get our first aerial view of this parcel in 1949 (purchased from Historic Aerials).   With the beginning of the Baby Boom and more and more suburban homes,  Alexandria's growth had lept over the railroad tracks and spread to the hills to the west.   The one acre lot remained empty save the railroad storage shed and the small building facing King Street.    Ten years later, more than half of the space was filled with a number of small buildings including a small restaurant at the northwest corner of Duke and Diagonal.  These were likely one or two stories tall.

A few gray beards in Alexandria might remember the car dealerships that were located on the 1800 block of King, as well as along Daingerfield and Diagonal.  One of them was the Manhattan Auto Inc.  Their ad in The Washington Post (April 22, 1954), said: 

Branch Sales Room for Austin of England and Austin Healey, 1810 King Street.

More affordable were the Buicks at Temple Motor Company at 1912 Diagonal Road.  A gas station and a car repair shop were part of the scene, too.

In the late 1970s, all of these buildings were removed.  Another new era was at hand.   Reminding some of the days of the electric streetcars, Metro began laying tracks and building stations.   The first leg reached National Airport.   Then came Braddock Road and King Street.   The cleared out parcel was used as a staging site for the construction equipment and crews.   By 1982, the Kiss and Ride parking lot was paved and ready.

The new Metro station kicked off a transformation of this part of Old Town.  In her article (March 15, 1979) Katherine Conger Kane wrote that upper King had been known as “the wrong end of Old Town.”   In the coming years, such thoughts faded as new development took place.  Hotels and office space sprung up, as well as Joe Theismann's, a popular watering hole. 

Michael Martinez (Washington Post, November 21, 1983) picked up on the story ("King Street Station Bringing New Life to the Old Town").  Mayor Beatley was quoted as saying, “Public transportation is the key to making things work.”   

The Kiss and Ride lot was almost taken away in the late 1990s.   As reported in 1998 by Sylvia Moreno of the Post, an Alexandria developer (A&A) wanted to put up two nine-story luxury apartments buildings on the parcel.   A City Planning director called it “one of the hottest land use issues of the year in Alexandria.”   Ultimately, City Council nixed the idea.   One possible reason was the desire to keep the space open visually as a gateway.

That decision worked out quite well for lovers of public art.   In October 1997, King Street Gardens opened across the street at King and Daingerfield.    The small park included one of Alexandria's first pieces of public art.   Using stainless steel pipe and wire, a team from Seattle created a piece made to look like a tricorn Topiary Hat, as well as a sunken garden.   The artist's website points out:

Prior to the establishment of Alexandria, Hooff's Run flowed through the center of the site which is now the park. The history of that stream and its adjacent wetland, from floodplain to drainage creek to storm sewer, reflects the way in which our culture has looked at and developed low lying areas. The re-creation of the sunken marsh, as a visible reminder of Hooff's Run, tells part of the hidden story of the site. It also reintroduces a small amount of native habitat as a green contrast to the developed property on all sides of the site.

Historic aerials from the 1980s up to a few years ago show the configuration of the parking lot was basically the same from its inception.   Taxis lined up along the curb, while buses and cars passed by.   Pedestrians had to be aware of all this, even in the crosswalk area.  

The Kiss and Ride waiting parking slots were certainly convenient, but this observer noticed blatant abuses of the fifteen minute waiting time.  

In December 2018, work began to clear the lot for the new footprint.  Alexandria Archaeology did not recommend investigation due to prior disturbances.   Temporary wooden bus shelters were put up. 

In February 2019, I took this photo of the lot from the hotel (Many thanks to the kind host who allowed me to do so).   In September 2020, Alexandria Magazine reported on delays:

The project, which focused on Metro accessibility, parking and pedestrian improvements, started in November 2018, but has “experienced some delays,” to put it gently. The global coronavirus pandemic has squeezed supply chains and put many construction projects locally and globally on a longer schedule, but this project was running late before the pandemic arrived.

As we write, the work is nearing completion.   For the ones waiting for the next bus, the trolley or their ride, reading an historic marker or two might make the time go by faster.   It may seem like this little acre has not seen a lot of activity, but there are certainly some stories.   We hope we have told them well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Migration From Virginia

A book can inspire many things.   These past few weeks I’ve been inspired by “Bound Away, Virginia and the Westward Movement” by David Hackett Fischer and James C. Kelly.   The authors do a terrific job covering migration to, within and from the state.  I was most captivated by the latter.  Little did I realize the totality of the Virginia story, those who migrated not only westward, but southward and even northward.   And the story goes way beyond sheer numbers. 

 

I prepared this map of select individuals and compiled the accompanying list.   It could be broken down into the “Fathers of” such as Stephen Austin (Father of Texas), the “Founders of,” such as John Donelson (Nashville), the “portable planters” like David Meade, the frontiersmen (Simon Kenton), the mountain men (Jim Bridger), the courageous enslaved African Americans such as Clara Brown (known as the “Angel of the Rockies”), and the family members who also had it tough.

And, of course, there were those who did not go willingly.   The forever scar is the Virginia migrants who took a lot of enslaved humans with them.  Dred Scott and his family were taken from Virginia.  Their saga tells us something very important about the growth of the United States. 

Lewis and Clark were not migrants, per se, but they knew a thing or two about blazing a trail.   Our list doesn’t have a particular order, but it does begin George Washington, who promoted and invested in the west, and Thomas Jefferson, who purchased a large chunk of it.   

The authors touch on many aspects of migration from Virginia.   Another category could be the cultural contributors.   George Caleb Bingham left Augusta County and headed to Missouri.  He fought for the Union and held political office before becoming a noted portraitist and historical painter (over 500 recorded works).

Mark Twain was not born or raised in Virginia but his father was, and as his biographers have pointed out, Twain used the “old-fashioned Virginian” in his thoughts and writings.

We’d be remiss, of course, for not mentioning Virginia City.   The authors do mention the story that a drunken James Fennimore gave the boom town its name, and add that the name caught on “perhaps because Wells Fargo only set up offices in cities.”

Perhaps that one is apocryphal.   The rest are solidly researched and told.  It all adds up to something quite remarkable.   We hope our encapsulation is worthy of this fine book, and perhaps even inspires you.    

 

Note:   We wondered if the great migration from Virginia is reflected in the number of historical markers in the U.S.   The method is flawed, but Virginia does rank second highest with currently more than 9,000 markers and has a nation-wide spread. 

 

 

 

Custis: A Brief Look at the History of a Distinguished Family

Introductory Note

Well, folks, it’s time to exhale.   Been down the proverbial rabbit hole for the last six months or so, taking a look at the history of the Custis family.   In some ways, the hardest part was trying to figure out how to distill it all down in a way that is pleasing to the reader.   Decided on a People and Places approach, as well as creating a Select Genealogy Family Tree, a map of Custis Places and Sites in the area, and two word clouds.  

Initially, my main objective with the map was to just document the places as a guide for the reader.   Then I realized the map provides a succinct way of showing the impact the Custis family had in the area.  Of these 18 places (plus ten sites), one is a memorial, five are a National Historic Landmark, and nine are on the NRHP.   I could be wrong, but I’m not sure any other family made their mark on the DMV landscape this way.   

I came to greatly admire the Custis family, especially the achievements of the generations after Martha’s four grandchildren.  Nevertheless, along with that admiration comes the reminders of the whole story.   We must remember that the wealth they gained, the period from 1650 to 1860, came greatly from their ownership of enslaved African Americans.   Their dower slaves were passed along like so much property and some were sold off for large amounts of money.   At the sale, the owner sometimes tried to keep families together, but not always. 

The writer Philip Roth gave us a great observation to ponder, what he called “the ecstasy of sanctimony.”   As we continue to criticize past generations, we must keep that sentiment in mind.  Nevertheless, the landscape of the former Custis properties and sites does remind us of the sad, wrong and hurtful aspects of our past.   Where the balance lies between the good, the bad, and the ugly is up to each of us to decide.   

The final thing we did to tell some of this story was to create two word clouds.   In the first, we used a black background to pay homage to the untold stories of the enslaved humans the Custis family owned.   Realizing that was not enough, we used four names found on the Custis estate Inventory List (1759) and incorporated them into a second word cloud.   

 

Introduction

In the seventeenth century, a good number of sons of English families took the long and sometimes perilous voyage to the colony of Virginia.   Inked on the manifests were names such as Carter, Lee, Fitzhugh, Randolph and Washington.  Coming from scattered counties and village across England, these immigrants became part of the planter hegemony that held great influence in the tidewater lands for many years.   

In his book, "A Topping People, The Rise and Decline of Virginia's Old Political Elite," Emory G. Evans identified 21 "Elite Virginia families."    While almost all of them and the early English immigrants stepped off the tall ships near what is now Williamsburg, John Custis II (1630-1696) broke the soil on the Eastern Shore of Virginia.  

The year was 1651.  The hard and fatal first decades of life in the colony had given way to a somewhat more stable way of life.    

Although he was proceeded by a family member, John Custis I, John Custis II was the progenitor of the Custis family in the New World.    John Custis II, his son John Custis III and his grandson John Custis IV laid the foundation for the family.   The male line would die out with the sixth generation, but the descendants would make headlines with their own stories.      

For the most part, there was one way to the top of the political ladder in the colony of Virginia, and John Custis II took it.   He first established himself as a planter, then became a Burgess (Lower House), followed by a seat on the Governor's Council (Upper House), the highest position in the colony other than the Governor.   Typically, there were only about a dozen Councillors each year who held a lifetime appointment and had the Governor's ear.   

Following in the footsteps of John Custis II as a family scion were his son John Custis III, and his grandfather John Custis IV.    With the marriage of John Custis IV to Frances Parke, the daughter of planter/burgess/councillor Daniel Parke II, their son Daniel Parke Custis began the Parke Custis part of the family story.   

In 1749, the Custis story moved north of Williamsburg to New Kent County where Daniel Parke Custis married Martha Dandridge.  Their only son to live past childhood was John "Jacky" Parke Custis.   In 1759, the Custis saga took a turn when George Washington married the widowed Martha.   There would be no children from this union, but Washington performed all the duties and gave the loving care of a father to Martha's two children and also helped raise two of her grandchildren. 

With his wife Eleanor Calvert, a young aristocrat from Maryland whose forebears were the six Lords Baltimore, Jacky Parke Custis had four children.   They kept the family story going in a number of marquee ways.   Each one married and moved into a new mansion home near Alexandria and the new Federal city across the river.   Three of them -- Woodlawn, Arlington House and Tudor Place -- are treasures we cherish today as must-see historic house museums.  

As the new capital city of Washington began to slowly rise and the story of new Republic unfolded, the Custis family tree sprung the four branches.  The four grandchildren of Martha Washington - Elizabeth, Martha, Eleanor and George Washington Parke Custis -  each became parents and lived full lives.   The George Washington connection always remained, but new names, such as Robert E. Lee, found a spot on the family tree.  The aristocratic nature of the Custis family would end, but their stories kept going in a number of ways.  

Even though the story of the Custis family stretches across many generations, it is without a doubt inextricably and vividly tied to George Washington.   The ties can be seen in seemingly every newspaper report on a family member.   Their "step" relationship to Washington is almost always reported.  On the other hand, Martha was sometimes left out.   Some readers may have even gotten the impression George Washington was blood kin.  

Despite not being a father, Washington certainly was a caring and dutiful guardian/step father/step grandfather/father figure to the Parke Custis children.   His guiding hand and watchful eye was fatherly in every way.   Custis fathers were not always on their best behavior.   George Washington was.

In colonial days and beyond, families had to deal with the early death of an infant or child in numbers that could crush the spirit.   Martha Washington felt this pain seemingly more times than others.   The 1750s alone tested her very soul.   She and Daniel Parke Custis had four children.   Sadly, only two, John ("Jacky") Parke Custis (1754-1781) and Martha ("Patsy) Parke Custis (1756-1773), survived to childhood.   Then Daniel, seemingly healthy, passed away suddenly in 1757.    

The pain returned to Martha in 1773.   Sadness gripped Mount Vernon when Patsy could not overcome a persistent case of epilepsy.   She took her final breath there at the tender age of 17.  

A year later joy washed away some of the sorrow when Jacky married Eleanor Calvert at Mount Airy in Prince George's County, Maryland.  

Martha's reprieve from sadness lasted just seven years.   The dark veil of death covered her once again in 1781 when Jackie died of "camp fever" at age 27.   

Jacky and Eleanor had four children --  Elizabeth Parke Custis, Martha Parke Custis, Eleanor Parke Custis and George Washington Parke Custis.   All four led full lives that can tell us something significant about life in and around northern Virginia and Washington, and the early years of the republic.   

Of course, any good feelings that surround their stories and those of their forebears comes with the ever so sad reminder that they all profited from owning significant numbers of enslaved humans.   This went on for two hundred years.  

(Source for list:  Founders On Line).

In the first few years of the colony, some of the back-breaking and intensive labor required to grow and harvest tobacco was done in part by white indentured Englishmen.   But by the 1620s, more and more African Americans were enslaved to the planters.   The heart of darkness in this story is their enslavement and the value of the accumulated Custis estate.   It was a staggering sum whose tallies were listed on inventory sheets as "Negroes."    The planter/legislators such as John Custis IV voted to enact law after law to keep the institution of slavery going and to maximize their profits.   

In the case of dower slaves, the owner by law, could not free the slave.   Therefore, it is entirely possible that descendants of one or more enslaved humans of John Custis II became the property of Martha's grandchildren, and onward to their children.    

There's no substitute for the written word and images.   There's also no substitute for walking where history was made.   For those wanting a touchable look at the four Parke Custis kids, the DMV is your oyster.   To honor his step grandfather who cared for him deeply and when he could, took great care of him at Mount Vernon along with Martha, George Washington Parke ("Wash") Custis (1781-1857) built and lived in his Greek Revival home he named Arlington.   The only child of Custis and his wife Mary married Robert E. Lee.   The Lee family grew to seven at Arlington, and Mrs. Robert E. Lee inherited her father's property.   Arlington House today invites us to try and understand our complicated past.

As a wedding gift from Washington, Eleanor “Nelly” Parke Custis Lawrence (1779-1852) and her husband Lawrence Washington built and lived in Woodlawn.     A National Historic Landmark, it was the first acquisition of the National Trust.   Quakers, who opposed slavery, lived there for a period of time.

Also financed in part by Washington, Martha “Patty” Parke Custis Peter (1777-1854) and her aristocratic husband Thomas Peter built and lived in Tudor Place in Georgetown.  It is through this National Historic Landmark that we learn how some of the seventh, eight, ninth and tenth generations of this line of the Custis family made their marks.

And although it is smaller than the other three and is obscured by additions and changes, “Mount Washington,” was for a short time the home of Elizabeth “Eliza or Betsy” Parke Custis (1776-1831).    The structure is now part of the Alexandria Episcopal School.  

In southwest DC stands the Thomas Law House, aka, the "Honeymoon House" where Elizabeth Parke Custis Law and her husband Thomas Law spent their first few months together.   Like her three siblings, Elizabeth was part of the Cave Dweller set, wealthy aristocrats who turned heads in the early days of Washington.   

The Custis story in the Washington area also includes a number of other places and sites.    The most unique is the site of Abingdon at National Airport.  In 1778, Jacky Parke Custis acquired the plantation home that was built in the 1740s, even before the founding of Alexandria.   Members of the Alexander family, long time owners of the property, probably built the home and lived there before Custis acquired it from them.  A state highway marker in Old Town tells us the seaport was named after the Alexander family.   Through the years, a number of families lived at Abingdon, but none were as famous as Jackie, Eleanor and the four Parke Custis kids.

The intrepid Custis family history buff will also want to visit Oak Hill Cemetery, Hope Park, Montevideo, Audley, and a few others as seen on the map provided. 

All searchers of information on the Custis family owe a great debt to the late James B. Lynch.   In a pair of volumes exhaustively researched, Lynch wrote what still stands as the definitive and only account of the first six generations ("The Custis Chronicles").   Lynch spent part of his life in the Washington region and signed the Introductions for his two books with a dateline of Alexandria.  

Also a true gift for the ages, Lynch donated his collection of Custis family papers to the Alexandria Library.    His late wife Anna was a treasured friend to those who knew her, and was a fixture as a volunteer at the Alexandria Archaeology Museum.  Her research on enslaved humans adds significantly to our understanding on the topic.   Although oblivious to knowing her husband was James Lynch, I have fond memories of sitting down with Anna at the Museum and sharing our thoughts on Alexandria happenings and history.    

Filling a critical need in the telling of some of the Parke family story is Helen Hill Miller.   Her book, "Colonel Parke of Virginia, fills a void on that aspect of the Parke family.   Daniel Parke II, (1664-1711) was the grandfather of Daniel Parke Custis.  Parke II bequeathed a large number of enslaved humans to his daughter Frances, the mother of Daniel Parke Custis.   Like Lynch, Miller called the Washington area home for a while.   As far as I can tell, hers is the only book on the Parke family.  

Before it landed in the Washington region, the Parke Custis story unfolded from the Eastern Shore of Virginia and went up the Virginia Peninsula to where the Pamunkey River winds like a snake.   Sadly, all their homes at Arlington, Queen's Creek, Williamsburg and in Kent County, are gone.  

Fortunately, trowels have been turning the soil at Colonial Williamsburg.   Led by Dr. Mark Kostro, a team of archaeologists there are investigating “Custis Square,” the site of the home of John Custis IV (Martha's father-in-law).   The green plot lies within footsteps of where tourists amble along the main spine of the once capital city.  The Williamsburg website tells us:

Among sites still to be explored in Colonial Williamsburg, Custis Square ranks near the top, with potential to add significantly to our understanding of early American gardening, enslavement, colonial consumerism, and 18th century scientific thought.

With all these sources as well as many others, let’s take a brief look at the story of this line of the Custis family.   In some ways, the hardest part was trying to figure out how to distill it all down in a way that is pleasing to the reader.    We decided on a People and Places approach, as well as creating a Select Genealogy Family Tree and a Map of Custis Places and Sites in the area.   

Regarding the map, my main objective with it initially was to just document the places as a guide for the reader.   Then I realized the map provides a way to see the full impact of the Custis family in the DMV.    Of these 18 places (plus ten sites), one is a memorial, five are a National Historic Landmark, and nine are on the NRHP. I could be wrong, but I’m not sure any other family made their mark on the DMV landscape this way.    

Either way, the Custis family story is compelling and insightful.  Our great regret is not being able to go the extra mile and tell some of the stories of their enslaved humans.   Our sincere hope is that someone will.    Without them, the story of the Custis family is quite diminished.

 

Family Tree

The searcher of a family tree for the Custis family will find small ones, but not a comprehensive one.   The creator of a Select Genealogy for the family will find the challenge of who to put in and who to leave out.  

With the knowledge ours is not a complete one, we came up with these two.   The second is very important. Without a doubt, the most forgotten part of their story is the seven sons and daughters of Dr. David Stuart and Eleanor Calvert Custis Stuart, the half-siblings of Martha's four famous grandchildren.

 

The People

The Custis family made their mark from the time they landed in the colony of Virginia in the middle of the seventeenth century to the tenth generation at the end of the twentieth.    They were planters, politicians, leaders, officers and soldiers, farmers, land owners, mansion builders and mistresses, caretakers and preservationists, men of the cloth and businessmen, diarists, historians, talented in music and more.   They married into the Washington, Calvert, Lee, Fitzhugh, and Peter families and raised scores of children.     

We offer these bios:  

 

The Places

The seeker of Custis places and sites can pick and choose from a bounty, which stretch from the Eastern Shore to the Washington region and beyond.   Here are a score and some we selected.

 

Custis Places and Sites in the DMV

If visiting mansion home museums is your favorite hobby, the Washington region is the place to be.   The Custis family certainly made their mark this way.    As noted earlier, George and Martha built and lived their lives at Mount Vernon.   Eleanor Parke Custis and Lawrence Lewis built and lived their middle years at Woodlawn.   In their adult and final years, George Washington Parke Custis and Mary built and lived in Arlington, and Martha Parke Custis and Thomas Peter built and lived in Tudor Place.    However briefly, Elizabeth Parke Custis and Thomas Law made the Honeymoon House in Washington famous.   The tour does not end there.   Below are more than two dozen places and sites associated with the Custis family. 

 

Word Cloud

Using "Word It Out," we created two word clouds.  We used a black background to pay homage to the untold stories of the enslaved humans the Custis family owned.   We also used four names found on the Custis estate Inventory List (1759) and incorporated them into a second word cloud.

 

Parting Thoughts

As we step away from the Custis family, we're left with a couple of thoughts.   We're reminded of something Mary Thompson said in her recent book, “The Only Avoidable Subject of Regret.”   

While I can understand the disgust many people in our society feel about slavery and their inability to fathom how anyone could own another person, judging a person from another time and culture by the standards of one’s own time is quite naive.   Not only does it take a person, in this case Washington, out of the context of the time in which he lived, but on the question of slavery, takes him out of human history as a whole. 

Echoing these sentiments is Peter R. Henriques in his new book, "First and Always, A New Portrait of George Washington."   

In the present day, people seem particularly prone to the joys of what Philip Roth called the "ecstasy of sanctimony."   How, we are asked, can one admire  any man willing to claim ownership of other persons?

While we nod our head in agreement, at the same time, we must also remember that the Custis family, from John Custis II to Martha's grandchildren, a span of time of more than two hundred years, owned a staggering number of enslaved humans.   In the case of dower slaves, they could not be freed upon the owner's death.

Our second thought is to share the great news that a long gap is going to be filled.   Other than biographies of George and Martha, and a few others, no one has published a book on the Custis family since Lynch.    We now know Dr. Cassandra Good is currently working on one, titled, "First Family: George Washington’s Heirs and the Making of America."   Her previous work tells us this will be a terrific book.

 

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank the following people for their help not only with this research, but as on going sources for insight into area history.   Don Dahmann, Dave Cavanaugh, Ted Pulliam, Amy Bertsch, Char Bah, Jim Bish, Patsy Rogers, Garrett Peck, Tammy Mannarino, Hal Hardaway, Dick Hamly, and Mary Thompson.  At age 63, my synapses aren't as strong as they once were, so apologies if I forgot anyone. 

Others who turned lights on or opened doors on the Custis family stories include Steve Livengood, Kurt Moser, Grant Quertermous, Susan Langley, Judith Grove, Shane MacDonald, Jennifer Stabler, and Beth DeFrancis Sun.

 

Sources

While there is a dearth of Custis titles, there is a bounty of books where they are part of the story.   I benefitted greatly from a good number of them.   Below is a select list.   In particular, we heap praise on "Tudor Place, America's Story Lives Here" and Lynch's two volumes on the family.   Founders Online is equally indispensable.

 

Armstrong, Erica Dunbar.  Never Caught: The Washingtons' Relentless Pursuit of Their Runaway Slave, Ona Judge

Brady, Patricia.  George Washington's Beautiful Nelly: The Letters of Eleanor Parke Custis Lewis to Elizabeth Bordley Gibson, 1794-1851.

Callcott, Margaret Law.  Mistress of Riversdale.

Clark, Ellen McCallister.  Worthy Partner:  The Papers of Martha Washington.

Evans, Emory G.   A Topping People, The Rise and Fall of Virginia's Old Political Elite.

Fraser, Flora.  The Washingtons:  George and Martha.

Lynch, James.  The Custis Chronicles, The Virginia Generations.  The Custis Chronicles. Years of Migration.

Miller, Helen Hill.  Colonel Parke of Virginia.

Peck, Garrett.  The Smithsonian Castle and the Seneca Quarry.

Plater, David. D. Plater.  The Butlers of Iberville Parish, Louisiana:  Dunboyne Plantation in the 1800s.  

Pryor, Elizabeth Brown. Reading the Man: A Portrait of Robert E. Lee Through His Private Letters.

Thompson, Mary.  The Only Unavoidable Subject of Regret:  George Washington, Slavery, and the Enslaved Community at Mount Vernon.

Tudor Place, America's Story Lives Here.  White House Historical Association.

Wiencek, Henry.  "An Imperfect God:  George Washington, His Slaves, and the Creation of America.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Neighborhoods in Southeast Fairfax County

Decided to put together a thumb nail look at the growth of neighborhoods in Southeast Fairfax County.   Apologies for not getting in all of the neighborhoods and I limited this look to single family homes.   In some cases on the map I preparded, I used a catch all label, such as Bucknell for Bucknell Heights and Bucknell Manor.   Feedback certainly welcomed, tell us about your neighborhood’s beginnings.

 

1900

On fields once worked by enslaved humans, Fairfax County remains mostly farmland.   In some cases, diary farms are the biggest money makers.   There are small communities in the southeast portion of the county, such as Gum Springs and a sprinkling of homes on the hills and along the dirt roads.

New Alexandria would have been a new suburban set of homes in this part of the county, but it never got going after a promising start in 1894.   Older landmark homes such as City View, Spring Bank and Mount Eagle dotted the area.

1930s

FDR’s New Deal creates a migration of folks into Washington, those who want to help out with the programs.  On the heels of Belle Haven, which got its start in the 1920s, Groveton sees some of is first suburban homes on both sides of US Route One.   More and more roads are paved and Route One becomes a major artery with businesses and some new homes on both sides.

 

 

1940s

The next driver of growth in Washington is World War II.   The city’s population explodes, going from 486,000 in 1930 to 663,00 in 1940, and then to 802,000 in 1950.    Groveton, New Alexandria, and Belle Haven gain more homes as the farmers begin to see the writing on the wall.   Along the Old Mount Vernon Road, today’s Buckman Road, some homes sprout up.  Gum Springs also sees new homes as well as New Alexandria.

 

1950s

The transformation of this part of Fairfax County hits full steam ahead.  Even before the Beltway is built, neighborhoods such as Huntington, Jefferson Manor, Tauxemont, Hollin Hills, Hollin Hall, Bucknell Manor, and subdivisions in the Woodlawn area begin to sprout up.   

Most of the house stock is typical -- ramblers, Cape Cod and split-levels -- but Tauxemont and Hollin Hills offer mid-Modern homes.   

 

1960s

For the first time ever, and signaling a trend that won’t stop until half a century later, the District of Columbia’s population drops, going from 802,000 in 1950 to 763,000 in 1960.   As a result, the wave of suburbia over the former farm land south of Alexandria is on, with Fairfax County’s population leaping from 98,000 to 275,000 in the same timeframe.  

Many of the modern day neighborhoods we know today —  Burgandy Village, Belle View, Westgrove, Virginia Hills, Waynewood, Stratford Landing  —  are built in this time frame.  

City View is demolished (1959) and the airport closed down to make way for a new shopping center in Groveton.   The Hybla Valley airport was also torn down and also makes way for homes and a shopping center. 

 

 

 

1970s

With the completion of the Beltway and the widening of Route One, the rat race has never been faster.   The county’s population takes another leap, going from 275,000 in 1960 to 455,000 in 1970.   All signs of the past —  the two airports, City View, Spring Bank and Mount Eagle — are gone.  Much of the single family home landscape seen today has been built.    

In the years to come, there will be some infilling.   In sharp contrast to the quiet leafy neighborhood living, Richmond Highway’s traffic reaches epically bad proportions.    

Elected officials and planners respond.   A new era kicks off in 2012 with the opening of Beacon of Groveton, the first mixed-use units on Richmond Highway south of Alexandria and on the highest point for miles around.   Other new developments follow in Huntington and Penn Daw, all part of the effort in Southeast Fairfax County that will use Transit Oriented Growth principles and planning.   

On the drawing boards now are plans for mixed use in and around the Huntington Metro and funding continues for the Rapid Bus Transit system.

As we speak, folks continue to work from home, part of the  response to the Covid 19 virus.   At times, Richmond Highway is eerily quiet.   If you look hard enough, you might see a farmer…

 

 

 

Lost Landmark Homes of Early Washington: A Select Six

When the talk of landmark homes built in the eighteenth century in the Washington region arises, there are a number of places that come to mind.   Alexandria and Georgetown are heavenly and Northern Virginia and Maryland are in the game, too.  In the District, the part that was once called the “City of Washington,” the story is rather sad.   A few such as the Octagon House and the Thomas Law House survived, but the oldest ones are long gone and forgotten.    

Using Capitol Losses, and Historic Houses and Georgetown and Washington, DC, we came up with this list and map showing a select five and one Honorable Mention.

 

1.  Notley Young’s Mansion

1750-1856

G between 9th and 10th, SW.

There Now: Banneker Circle

 

Built of brick in the Georgian style by Notley Young, this one was one of the first landmark homes in what would become known as the City of Washington.  Large and impressive, it commanded a Position A spot near the Potomac River and Georgetown.

Notley Young was one of the 19 original proprietors.  His mansion was described as, “One of the few places fit for a gentleman’s home.”    It also served as place of worship for Catholics, who were prohibited from worshiping in public churches.

An historical marker on its site, just south of L’Enfant Plaza), tells us Young owned nearly all of today’s Southwest DC.   Ever so sadly, he owned more than 200 enslaved humans.

Note:  Probably because there is no image, James Goode did not include this one in his book.   There has been digital imaging.

 

2.  Burnes House

1760-1894

West Side of 17th Street, NW, between C and Constitution.

There Now:  Organization of American States

 

Beginning in 1721, the Burnes family owned the land which encompassed most of the future site of the Penn Quarter, Pennsylvania Avenue, the Mall and the White House and grounds.  David Burnes (1739-1799), grandson of the Scottish immigrant, built a cottage type dwelling for his family.   It’s very likely he visited Alexandria to see the Scots there.   

In 1791, in the midst of land negotiations for the new Federal City, George Washington famously referred to him as the “obstinate Mr. Burns.” 

The home Burnes built in 1760 was “one of oldest existing buildings in the District” when it was demolished in 1894.   Burne's daughter Marcia and her husband John Peter Van Ness married there.  In 1813 they built a magnificent mansion near the cottage where they became one of Washington’s first power couples.   Marcia was particularly beloved, especially for her work with orphaned children and arranging social events.  Some have called her the first leading lady of Washington.   She maintained her father's home after he passed away.

 

3.  Duddington

F and 2nd Streets, SE, northwest corner

1793-1886

There Now:  Row Houses

 

The Carroll family looms large in early Washington.  Daniel Carroll (1764-1849) of Duddington was one of the wealthiest men in the area and the largest landowner in 1791, including some of Capitol Hill.   He served in leadership roles, built early rental properties including Carroll Row, and donated lots to Georgetown. 

In 1791, Carroll started building a home south of where the Capitol would rise.   Pierre L’Enfant, fuming it blocked New Jersey Avenue SE, had it tore it down.  L’Enfant, who had already rubbed important people the wrong way, was fired.   

Carroll then completed his second effort in 1793.  It spread out with nine bays wide, two and a half stories high, and a central pavilion featured three arched windows/  Described as “First important house erected in Washington after 1791.” and “one of the great Federal mansions of Washington.”

The Capitol Hill Restoration Society tells us:

Archimedes Heckman, a Philadelphia speculator, bought the entire square where Duddington was located and started building rowhouses.   

A Washington Post article reported on the 50th anniversary of the Duddington Place block party.  The benches on the street help knit the community. 

 

4.  Peter Family Home

1795-1960s

2620 Wapping (K) Street, NW

There Now:  K Street Interchange

 

The Peters were an important family in the early history of Georgetown.   Robert Peter distinguished himself as a land owner and agent with the Glasgow firm of John Glassford and Company, which also had a store in Alexandria.   Robert’s son Thomas married Martha Parke Custis, second oldest of Martha Washington’s famed grandchildren.  For a wedding present, he gave the newlyweds the house at 2618 Wapping (K) Street, just outside Georgetown.   

The brick stuccoed, three-and-a-half story house was their temporary home before moving into Tudor Place.   Family members often dined and stayed, including George Washington, who last stayed here about a month before he passed away.  Martha's children might have been born here. 

A number of British diplomats lived in the dwelling after the Peters moved out, followed by Count Phalen of Russia.  At some point they became apartments.   

In their 1950 book, authors Harold Donaldson Eberlien and Cortland Van Dyke Howland pointed out the home was “smugged up by a complete coat of roughcast stucco over the brick.”  Nevertheless, they wrote the home deserved preservation and restoration.

The Columbia Historical Society, the predecessor to the Washington Historical Society, thought so, too. In 1959 its members tried to save the home.   Their plan was to donate it to the Washington City Museum, which did not have a home.   General Ulysses S. Grant III, president of the society, was quoted as saying, it’s the oldest historical house in Washington.   

In 1956, real estate investor Leo M. Bernstein had offered the site behind the home for the relocation of the Union Engine Company (built 1837) at 2618 K Street.  Bernstein also offered to sponsor the establishment of a museum of the city at the new site.  The Association of Oldest Inhabitants had been located in the fire house.    Both were demolished for the widening of K Street.   

 

5.  Analostan

Mason's Island

1796-1935

There Now:  Historical Marking on Theodore Roosevelt Island 

 

Before bridges were built across the Potomac, Mason’s Island was where folks cross the Potomac River, a combination of a causeway and ferry.   Going back to 1724, George Mason’s father owned the land before it was bequeathed to General John Mason (1766-1849), a son of George Mason.

 It was easy to get lost in the Mason family shuffle, but General John Mason did his upmost to distinguish himself.  He spent four years in Bordeaux, France as agent for a firm there, served as a Brigadier General in the DC militia (1802-1811), helped found and served as President of the Bank of Columbia in Georgetown, took the helm for the Potowmack Company, the predecessor to the C&O Canan Company, and acquired the Columbia Foundry in Washington.  Mason and his family lived at 3425 Prospect Street in Georgetown.   Wealthy residents summered at hilly places away from Washington’s heat bowl.  Mason uniquely built his on this island, which he made a “self-contained estate.”   His home was Federal with neoclassical designs in the regency style.

His close neighbor was George Washington Parke Custis and his family at Arlington.   Guests at his home included Thomas Jefferson and Marquis de Lafayette.  Landscaping was “elegant.”

Like a number of early Washington figures, Mason lost his hat financially.  He retreated to familiar Virginia soil south of Alexandria and lived at Clermont. 

 

Honorable Mention

6.  Van Ness House

C Street, Constitution, 17th Street and 18th Street NW

1813-1907

Designed:  Latrobe

There Now:   Organization of American States

 

In some ways, this one was perhaps the greatest loss.  Designed by Benjamin Latrobe, two-story hipped roof, three bays wide, with pavilions crowned by parapets, stuccoed brick, Doric carriage porch.  “Long regarded as one of the finest homes in the country.” 

John Peter Van Ness, Congressman from New York, married Marcia Burnes, sole heir to David Burnes’ fortune.   Their house was a social center for members of Congress and Washington upper elite.    A storm damaged the home in 1894.  Goode said the effort to save it was perhaps the first popular attempt at preservation in the city.   In 1910, the Pan-American Union Building rose up on the site (organization changed their name to Organization of American States in 1948).

Interview with Steve Livengood

It is my great pleasure to publish an interview I had with Steve Livengood, Public Programs Director and Chief Guide for the United States Capitol Historical Society.    Livengood gives tour there, but he is also knowledgable about the history of the Thomas Law/Honeymoon House in SW DC.  The interview focuses on the history of the Law House.   Livengood also touches on the diverse community of Tiber Island, and gives an update on tours of the Capitol.   I thank him for his dedication and this interview.   

 

Tell us a little about yourself.

I am the Public Programs Director and Chief Guide for the United States Capitol Historical Society, a position I got to by volunteering at the Historical Society.  Eventually they hired me to be the Volunteer Coordinator.  Because we use volunteers in many of our programs, the job kept growing and adding titles.  I needed to train the volunteers about giving tours, and that led me to thinking about what are the elements of an excellent tour. 

How did you get involved in the history of the Thomas Law House?

I spent most of my life on Capitol Hill in three different locations, but when my children got homes of their own, I decided to move to an apartment.  I ended up buying a wonderful co-op apartment in the Tiber Island Cooperative Housing property on the Southwest Waterfront.  We are near, but not on, Capitol Hill.  Tiber Island owns the Thomas Law House, having been given the responsibility for maintaining this historic property with the right to use it as a community facility.  The maintenance has been more than the Co-op can afford, so we decided to market it as a single family home, and I got involved in that effort.  That effort was successful beyond our expectations.

 

The nomination form tells us the name of the home is Thomas Law House, aka Honeymoon House. Do you have a preference or guidance?  

The designation “Thomas Law House” comes from the Urban Renewal Project in the 1950s.  It is unlikely that the house had a name before that.  Rightfully it should be called the Richard Bland Lee house because Lee lived there much longer than Law did, and is more important in DC and national history.  But Lee built his own house out in Virginia called “Sully Plantation” and he is more historically connected to that house than to this one.  He had to sell Sully to a relative because of debts, and never recovered it. Sully still stands out near Dulles Airport, whereas all three of Thomas Law’s houses have been demolished, so this is the only site that can be associated with Law. 

“Honeymoon House” is kind of cutesy. It may be that Eliza was expecting a romantic relationship: she was 20. But he was 40 and already had three or more children from relationships in India.  Given how quickly the marriage collapsed, the term “honeymoon” is likely inappropriate.  The Laws used this house as a temporary place to stay because the house he was building on Capitol Hill was not finished enough to move into. 

Although the house may not have had a roof, Law did not build the house.  He may have had to have the roof constructed so they could move in.  There is no record that Law ever owned the house, and it is unlikely that he took any interest in it.  The best association with it is the documentation that George Washington ate dinner there once with Martha’s granddaughter while she and Thomas Law were using it.  There is no suggestion that he ever spent the night there.

The longest association of this house was as the clinic for Dr. Hadley, who built Hadley Hospital in Anacostia.  There is a ceiling mural in the house painted by Hadley’s father-in-law.  Hadley’s tenure ended in scandal, so the house should not perpetuate his name.

Therefore, the building is called the “Thomas Law House” by default and not by real historic association.  It is for lack of a better name. 

 

Law did not build the house.  Do we know who did and when it was completed?   What months were Thomas and Elizabeth there?

The Laws stayed in this house for only a few months in 1796 right after their wedding.  James Greenleaf built dozens of houses in this neighborhood, and is credited with building at least the walls of this one.  He was under legal compulsion to build 70 houses immediately, and so he built walls but add the expensive roof only when he had a buyer or leaseholder ready. 

The Laws lived in this house from March to August 1796. 

 

Can you tell us about the additions?

The house was made into a hospital in 1862 along with most large buildings in Washington.  Churches put up hospitals in their yards and neighborhoods to preclude having to use their sanctuaries for that purpose.  The Thomas Law house was used alternatively as a hotel, boardinghouse, hospital and clinic until it was taken over by the Urban Renewal Program in the 1960s.  One of the hospitals or boarding houses added an attached kitchen rather than using the dumb waiter from the basement.  And later a brick colonial-looking addition was built on the north side with access through the kitchen.  Eventually, the house come to be the Adventist Clinic for the poor residents of nearby Southwest.  Dr. Hadley came to be the leader of that clinic, and eventually, he bought the building and clinic from the Adventists.  The colonial-style addition (with a large second floor added by Tiber Island during renovations) still exists as the pool house and community room for Tiber Island. 

 

How much of the original look to the Law House is there, outside and inside?

Many additions and alterations were made over the years so very little of original fabric remains.  For instance, rather than repair the original flooring, several layers of flooring were added, until the bottom step on the wonderful central staircase was only about 3 inches high due to new layers of flooring overlaid.  The current owners have removed the layers and restored the staircase. 

Dr. Hadley or a predecessor had put the operating room in the attic, adding a whole new floor to the building. Likely that space had been used as a garret for housing enslaved people over the previous century. 

All that is original was exposed in the current renovation and evaluated for current usefulness.  But most of the original fabric will be concealed behind the walls and above the ceilings.

Our TICH Coop is responsible for the exterior of the house, and that is largely intact. 

The original roof was likely slate, but the restoration has used copper.  The windows have all been raised off the floor to accommodate the centralized Tiber Island heating system, so they do not appear as they would have originally.  Restoring the original windows would have required installation of an entire new heating system, so the original exterior pattern of form and void has not been retained. 

 

Whether it be an historical marker or online accounts, are there any mistakes/misconceptions about Law?  

Pamela Scott found that Law was more of a major player in developing Capitol Hill than she had realized or that has been recorded in local history.  No one had done much to document Daniel Carroll’s role either.  Both Carroll and Law deserve more local credit than they are given.  They were two very different personalities, and managed to work in tandem – sometimes in competition and rivalry – for nearly 25 years 1795 – 1820. 

Thomas Law in retirement was interviewed by a writer, and quoted as saying he “brought 100,000 guineas in gold” with him to Washington “but could not now raise by any means, at short notice, 1,000 [pounds].”  Even so Law’s estate in 1834 was the largest ever probated up to that date in this area. 

Law seems to get even less credit for his accomplishments elsewhere, except in India where he made the maharajah rich, and himself rich also in the process.  His intent here in Washington was clearly very ambitious – buying and freeing enslaved people, attracting large numbers of immigrants to the United States and to Washington in particular – but his accomplishments are no where near his ambitions. He spent his fortune and got too little in return.    

 

The Law House is fairly prominent and stands out. Yet, when I asked a number of people who live nearby, most did not know anything or very little about the house?  Any thoughts?

The Law house was intended to stand out in the Southwest Urban Renewal Area, but it does not.  One cannot see it more than a block away to the north and south, and not at all to the east.  From the riverbank it is hidden behind trees.  One has to walk at least a block from any street in order to see it.  There is one historical marker – and there may be a second one to be returned after completion of the new section of The Wharf Development.  But there is no street signage noting its existence.  I would not agree that it is prominent at all or stands out. For the past half-century of ownership by Tiber Island the Thomas Law House has been an embarrassment that the co-op wanted to hide. 

 

In the book you helped research, Creating Capitol Hill, Law has the second most index entries, behind only Carroll.  And yet his name has faded. 

To be clear I was present at the conception of the book, but took no part in its research or writing.  The book was promoted and supported by the Carroll family, so Law takes second place.  The Carroll family owned the land long before Law was born, and they retained ownership in Maryland to the present day, whereas Law’s descendants moved elsewhere and he seems to have none here in our area.

 

I understand Law was very busy after he married Elizabeth, including traveling a lot.   It sounds like he abandoned her.  Is that a fair statement?  Did it contribute to their break up?

Law was a very busy man; reportedly he had a peripatetic personality long before he married Eliza, and right up to his death.  Clearly he did not pay Eliza the attention she craved.  My understanding is that was the entire basis of the separation and divorce.  Likely, it appeared to her as abandonment, and to him as the normal way of living.  Certainly an incompatible couple. 

It is worth noting that George and Martha Washington were clear in their disapproval of the relationship to begin with.  George’s famous letter on love was written to Eliza on the occasion of his and Martha’s resigned acquiescence to the marriage.  One perceives that Washington knew what Eliza’s expectations were in the marriage, and affirmed them without commenting on whether Thomas Law was the right match for a woman with such expectations. 

 

Where would you place Thomas Law in the pantheon of early Washington figures?

Thomas Law was uniquely responsible for two notable developments in Washington, both involving Capitol Hill.  1) he organized the canal company and built the canal that L’Enfant had planned to tie the city together and make it a commercial center.  And 2) in the face of the failure of Congress to provide a meeting place for its successor in 1815, Law led and enlisted the local leadership and investors in constructing the Old Brick Capitol to be ready when needed.  Its construction was a marvel of speed as noted by contemporaries.  He and others believed that the Congress would never return to DC if they moved temporarily elsewhere.  So this move saved the concept of a new national capital and thus, he saved the city we have today.  His contribution took place over only 25 years, but he was clearly the dominant local figure with his finger in every pie. 

 

In an interview, your colleague Pamela Scott said:

One myth that I have put to rest is that Daniel Carroll of Duddington was the sole developer on the Hill via Carroll Row, Carroll’s Tavern, the Bank of Washington and several houses. It was Law who convinced George Washington to build an elegant boarding house north the Capitol, enticed early cabinet officers to live nearby, and who built two mansions for his home as well as numerous boardinghouses south of the Capitol as well as decent homes for African Americans on its north side.

I would add that the book was originally about Daniel Carroll.  Pam is the one who realized that the Capitol Hill  story could not be told without making Law a major player second only to Carroll. 

 

Can you tell us more about the homes for African Americans part?  

I learned through this book about a wonderful character, William Costin, who became the leading African American on the Hill.  Costin was both a Dandridge ( By family oral tradition, Martha’s father John Dandridge, begat Costin’s mother) and a Custis ( Again by oral tradition, Martha’s son Jacky was Costin’s biological father.) making him both Martha’s nephew and her grandson. 

Costin remained legally enslaved to Thomas Law after Law’s divorce, and it was Law who freed him and sold Costin’s wife and children to the freed man.  Costin eventually became a prominent landowner on the Hill, owning and living in the house built for and lived in by a Congressional official.  Costin owned, rented and sold homes to freed and enslaved African Americans on the Hill.  Most of these were located just a few blocks northwest and northeast of the Capitol. 

In one recorded instance, 6 female residents of a row of prominent houses  – 5 of whom were Carroll’s relatives – petitioned Law to stop building and to remove elsewhere a number of houses he had built for free and enslaved African Americans ( these were probably along the banks of Tiber Creek where Louisiana Avenue now runs. )  The ladies did not want to have to see these hovels from their front doors. 

 

At the Historical Marker Data Base website, someone included a link to the book, "Black, Copper, and Bright: The District of Columbia's Black Civil War Regimen." Do you know more on that connection to Law or that part of DC?

The Black Civil War Regiment was long after Law’s death, of course.  But significantly, in 1827 an African American congregation purchased the original building erected by the Presbyterians on South Capitol Street across from the Capitol. 

Once word went out calling for African Americans to serve in the United States Army, in a later, much larger building on that site, the Israel Bethel Colored Methodist Episcopal Church, enlisted the largest number of African American soldiers of any location in the United States. 

 

In a unique situation, The Law House is part of the Tiber Island Co-Op.  I understand you played a role in protecting it, in the sense that the current owners are good stewards, and others might not have been.    

What is the community like today?  Is there still diversity and a healthy number of African American residents?

The historic properties including in Tiber Island and Harbour Square may be the first such properties ever preserved for government-sponsored housing as a matter of Federal urban renewal policy.  But the arrangement is not unique. 

My own role was only to assist in finding a respectful buyer.  I had no role in its inclusion in Tiber Island or in Tiber Island’s decision to put it on the market.  I did serve as Election Coordinator for the TICH charter amendment required to make it a salable unit.  The charter language required an absolute majority of shareholders to make these changes, which was a challenge, but the shareholders came through as required. 

The new owners snapped up the house immediately as it came on the market.  All credit for matchmaking goes to them.  Everyone at Tiber Island was shocked and amazed.  None of us can claim any credit for that.  It was totally unexpected.  Like a gift from heaven. 

Tiber Island is an intentionally diverse community, and always has been.  It has had a remarkably peaceful history.  The original owners have nearly all passed to their respective rewards, but the African Americans speak of the respect they have felt in this community. 

“Healthy” numbers are always relative.  Certainly, everyone would be happier if there were a larger percentage of African American shareholders and board members.  I believe that many shareholders would go to great lengths to make certain that diversity continues.  We now have our first African American general manager.

 

In his biography of Olmsted, the author thanks you for giving him “a fresh perspective on a place he visited countless times.”   I imagine you felt proud about that.

Luckily, I had recently read up about Olmsted and the Capitol grounds when Justin Martin showed up unannounced for my exterior Capitol tour.  I was able to spend a lot of time with Justin that morning, and my recall was working.  I earned that compliment by default, but wear it proudly anyway.  Since that time, I have worked tirelessly to earn my role as the go-to guy for  Olmsted history at the Capitol.  Recently, I even learned that I am indirectly related to Olmsted as well. 

On behalf of the Capitol Historical Society, I am working with the group planning the Olmsted bicentennial celebration, called Olmsted200, in 2022. 

 

You give tours at the Capitol.   How can folks sign up for them?  Do we have an idea when the inside tours will resume?

Tours of the Capitol will resume as soon as it is deemed to be safe to do so.  The U.S. Capitol Historical Society has a unique role in offering historical tours around the exterior, and those will be offered very soon, depending on the course of the resurgent epidemic.  Information will be available on the Society’s website  www.uschs.org.  The tours are offered to folks who join the Society.

 

The Hunt and Hopes for the Perfect Blossom Day

The better half and I have been living in Alexandria for the past 25 years.  We are now permitted to pen look backs filed under large enough sample size.

With the cherry trees that ring the Tidal Basin now in the penultimate stage, all eyes are on when they will reach full bloom stage.  Thought it fun, them, to write down some thoughts on our experiences of seeing them these past 25 years.

For me, the perfect day is when the blooms are in peak on a non-weekend day, the skies are blue and milder temps prevail.   Off the top of my head, I’d say that perfect, or near perfect scenario only happens once every four or so years.

Of course, when we first got here, I didn’t have such thoughts.   Like most everyone else, we could only go on the weekend.   Another factor was going with visitors.  Hey, it was great fun showing them around, but their needs dictated the date.   

So in the first ten years or so, I remember we usually went on a crowded weekend.  That can be fun, but when the peak is on a weekend and the weather is nice, it can get crazy.

Monitoring the peak forecast must be so frustrating for folks who don’t live here, and have to plan ahead.   Despite all the technological gains made in weather forecasting, the National Park Service still seems to be reading different charts than the local meteorologists.  It ain’t easy predicting more than five days ahead but The Capital Weather Gang seems to be the best.   

I remember when I was doing temp work in DC, one of the persons in the office would go down to the Tidal Basin, check out the stage, and report back.   Now we can all benefit from someone who does the same thing.   For the last several years, the person who blogs at Cherry Blossom Watch has given daily updates.   In my opinion, they reign supreme.

Of course, we didn’t have such luxuries before.   The local news did a good job and still does, but nothing beats a dedicated blogger with great photos.

In the beginning, just getting to go made us happy.  But after a while, I felt a desire to go on that perfect day with clear blue skies, warmish temps, and a non-weekend day.  I alway go in the morning to beat the crowds, so that adds another factor.

Obviously the biggest variable is the weather.  Warmer weather this time of year often brings clouds, while the clear days are colder.  I have learned not to worry about the colder morning, as long as everything has lined up.

So, as you can imagine, there is a tension that builds every year.   Will the peak coincide with good weather on a non-weekend day?    Will a front move through and blow away the petals?    Is there something on the calendar I can’t get out of?   

This year the C-virus has thrown us the mother of all curve balls.   Should we go or not?   Maybe just drive around the tidal basin?

After 25 years of living here in Washington, we don’t need to go every year, but with everything that is going on right now, we are feeling the need to feel that joy.   

Time for another spring ritual, fingers crossed…

Note: Photos from our previous visits.

 

 

 

 

Maplewood

“These men were terrific at creating anything you measured in dollars. What they weren’t so good at is stuff you know is in­cred­ibly important but can’t measure in dollars: civilization, soul, identity, community. That’s what was so painfully missing.”  --  "Edge City, Life on the new Frontier," describing the development of Tysons Corner.

“We are just terribly depressed, surprised and shocked.” — Joyce Wilkinson, chairman of the Fairfax County History Commission, upon learning of the demolition of Maplewood in 1970.

 

Note:  Fifty years ago, perhaps to the day, Maplewood, a Second Empire style mansion that stood just east of Tyson’s Crossroads, was torn down.  Built in early 1870s, the historic home was one of the great losses in Fairfax County history (The barn, torched by arsonists in 1964, was big and impressive, too.)  We pay tribute to Maplewood with this brief history.

 

When it comes to the loss of historic homes in Northern Virginia, a good discussion could be had over the question  — what were the greatest losses?

My pick would be Belvoir.   Not only did the Georgian brick beauty standout in architecture, size and prominence, the mansion was home to the dynastic Fairfax family.   George Washington lamented that the “happiest moments” of his life had been spent there.

Also big losses were West Grove, the brick mansion built around 1715 and whose site overlooks Alexandria;  Abingdon, the once famed country estate of the Alexander family and then home to Washington’s step-son Jacky Parke Custis and his family; and Mount Eagle, built by Bryan, Eighth, Lord Fairfax in 1790. 

In Alexandria, some folks are still shaking their heads at the demolition of the Corse-Leadbeater House and the Hallowell House, consummate examples of Greek-Revival.  

Although it has fallen through the cracks, Maplewood also needs to be a part of this discussion.   Quite frankly, I had not heard of it until several years ago when I picked up and read a thin yellow book with that title at Local History/Special Collections.  Diane Rafuse gave us a terrific consolation prize.

Before it was demolished in 1970, Maplewood was a four-story home built in the Second Empire style.   This style, popular in the second half of the nineteenth century, gave architects something more elaborate to work with than the Federal and Georgian styles.   

Originally named “Villa Nuova,” and built sometime in the 1870s, Maplewood was a rare example in the county of the Second Empire style.  The brick dwelling was thought to be the only such residential dwelling in the county, although Highland View, more modest in size, later surfaced as an example.   

Perhaps the best description of the Second Empire style in the U.S. is provided by “A Field Guide to America Houses” by Virginia Savage McAlester.  Its main features are the Mansard roof with dormer windows, which allowed for an upper floor.  Some homes have a centered tower, paired windows that are bracketed or hooded.    Details are similar to the Italiante style with ornate porches.  The golden age came in the 1870s, mostly in the Northeast and midwestern states.  The style was modern and imitated the latest French building fashions.   

Much is owed to the French designer Francois Mansard and Mansard-roofed wings added to the Louvre in the 1850s.   The Second Empire “was the first true style of the Victorian-era in the United States.”

The Second Empire style had a much shorter run than the proceeding Georgian and Federal styles, but like the Greek Revival period that proceeded it, produced some fine examples in Alexandria.   City Hall there has been called “one of the state’s boldest examples of the Second Empire style.” Old Town Alexandria has some wonderful well-maintained examples south of King and east of Washington Street.  

In Washington, the early 1870s brought a flurry of Second Empire homes, both new and remodeled.   By far the most conspicuous is the Eisenhower Executive Office Building.   Located next to the West Wing of the White House, it was originally built for the State, War and Navy Departments.   Perhaps better appreciated is the nearby and more modest Renwick Gallery (first known as the Corcoran Gallery).   

In his book, “Capital Losses,” the esteemed historian James Goode shows us about a dozen and a half examples of the style that were torn down in Washington.  It’s hard to know for sure, but it seems a greater percentage of the Second Empire style was demolished than other styles in the nation’s capital.

All of the above mentioned homes and buildings had an urban setting.  Located about eight miles west of Washington, Maplewood’s rural landscape must have made it seem some kind of a Shangri-La.  A writer for the Washington Post called it, “one of the finest country estates in Virginia.” 

Maplewood’s site is between the McClean metro station and the Capital One office tower.   Beth Mitchell’s Map of Fairfax County in 1760 gives us our first glimpse of its surroundings.   It can be difficult to pinpoint a future site, but we are aided by the crossing of the two main roads in that time when the county was just eighteen years old and still wilderness in many parts.  

In their book, "The Fairfax County Courthouse," Ross D. Netherton and Ruby Waldeck tell us Route 7/Leesburg Pike was then known as the New Church Road and later the Eastern Ridge Road, the Alexandria-Leesburg Road and Middle Turnpike.   Highway 123 runs along the course of what was then known as Road to Falls Warehouse.

Fed by the streams of Difficult Run, Accotink Creek, Wolf Trap Run, Scott’s Run and Pimmit Run, a number of springs were found around the junction of these two roads, that were more like dusty paths.   In 1742, the County chose to locate the County Courthouse there at a place called “Spring Fields.”

A James Scott owned ten enslaved humans and about 3,000 acres, which included the future site of Maplewood and its farm land.  

It’s hard to know exactly what went on in this part of the county once the courthouse moved to Alexandria in 1752.   Enslaved humans likely continued to work the tobacco lands.   Before or after the Revolutionary War, some farmers switched to growing wheat.   After the turn of the century, Fairfax County fell into an agricultural slump.   During the Civil War, this part of the county was in the no-man’s land between rebel and union forces.    

In 1852, William Tyson, who lived in Cecil County, Maryland, seems to have seen potential in this part of Fairfax County.   He acquired a large tract of land from A. Lawrence Foster.   Originally known as “Peach Grove,” the name later became Tyson's Corner, and several years ago, simply Tyson's.  

This roaring economic engine and increasingly vibrant neighborhood started with tiny roots.  As Stephen Fuller puts it, Tyson’s Corner was “little more than a mom-and-pop general store at the intersections of Routes 7 (Leesburg Pike) and 123 (Chain Bridge Road, now Dolly Madison Boulevard) surrounded by farms.”  

Tysons today is the crown jewel of Fairfax County, an ever-growing edge city with a skyline reaching higher and higher, four Metro stations, and a population that is projected to reach 100,000 in 2050 (23,000 currently).  

Of Tysons, Christopher Leinberger, a professor at George Washington University and a senior fellow in the Brookings Institution’s Metropolitan Policy Program, said the redevelopment there “is the most important urban redevelopment in the country, possibly in the world.” 

 

Sites of historic homes can sometimes be obscured.  Not so with Maplewood.    The pilot of a plane could, at least for now, spot its site with the glance of an eye.  Maplewood sat a short distance from Capital One’s gleaming new office tower, which sits inside a triangle formed by the Beltway, the Dulles Access Road and Route 123.    

Equally a visual clue is the Metro’s Silver Line, which also towers over parts of Tysons.   If you want to visit the site of Maplewood, all you have to do is exit at the McLean stop, and you’re there.  (Note:  The McLean stop is not in McLean, but is close and meets Metro’s naming requirements).   

As we speak, the precise site of Maplewood is a construction site, with scores of hard hats on site and gleaming buildings shadowing the site.   Renderings show a set of buildings here as part of the expansion of the Capitol One’s business campus in Tysons.   Perhaps some of you remember the baseball field that was there until recently.  

 

In our region, there are many examples of lost landmark homes.  A good number of their stories have not been told.   We are fortunate that Maplewood had a friend in Diane N. Rafuse and her colleagues at the Fairfax County History Commission.   Her 64-page book, “Maplewood, Fairfax County,” covers its history, as well as some of nearby Strawberry Vale (see end for short summary).   

The book has one of the most unique prefaces ever written. John Porter Bloom, Chair, Fairfax County History Commission, writes:

While the report was in draft form and under review, the building was unexpectedly razed by its owner under circumstances which it is hoped, will not be repeated in the case of other buildings of comparable historic and architectural significance.   Publication of the report has been delayed somewhat because of editing necessary, such as verb tense.

 

As mentioned, Maplewood was built sometime in the 1870s.  While that is not very old in terms of some of the other lost historic homes from the colonial or antebellum era, what tugs on the heart is Maplewood’s architecture and rarity.   The house stood out with a center pavilion topped with a convex mansard roof.  Its size, 25 rooms, soared above the norm.  And as mentioned previously, the Second Empire style was rarely seen so far away from an urban setting.

The exact build date for Maplewood is not known.  We do know there was a flurry of building in this style in Washington in the early to mid 1870s.  Of those 18 or so, Adolf Cluss designed about a third.   Most of the rest are unknown.   

Maplewood is identified on G.M. Hopkins’ Atlas of 1878 by its first owners name, John J. Shipman.   The home and farm were located in the central part of the Providence District.  

About two miles to the west, the Washington and Old Dominion (then known as the Washington and Ohio RR) cut its path through Vienna, on its way to Alexandria or Leesburg and beyond.    Two miles to the east, Georgetown Turnpike took its toll-paying customers from the Chain Bridge to Dranseville where it met up with the Leesburg Turnpike.

Shipman’s neighbors were General John S. Crocker (1843-1890), the Moore and McGarity families and Edmund Flagg (1815-1890) (Eastwood Farm).   Flagg (1815-1890) is certainly worth a few moments of our time, as is Crocker.  The Magazine of Poetry tells us he Flagg was a poet, lawyer, journalist, author, and diplomat.  Of New England stock, he wrote for newspapers in St. Louis, Louisville, Vicksburg, and edited that city’s Bulletin.  Some of his literary work won prize money.  Flagg's expatriate service included Berlin and Venice.   He spent his sunset years in Washington working for the State Department and as Chief Librarian for the Department of Interior.    With his wife, he took up residence at Eastwood Farm in 1869 and later Highland View.    

Crocker, likewise from the North (New York) and a public servant, lived in Lewinsville.   In the first part of his adult life, he was a lawyer and member of the New York House of Representatives.  As a colonel during the Civil War, he led the men of the 30th Regiment New York State Military Forces.   Crocker settled in Washington after the war and served as alderman and warden.  He passed away the same year as Flagg.

Maplewood’s builder and first owner was John J. Shipman.  Who he hired to sketch and build it is unknown.   Shipman made a name for himself in this part of the county, first as a judge in the township of Langley in 1871.   

The following year the Georgetown Courier reported that the “Lower Falls Road (123 from Tysons to Chain Bridge) is “undergoing considerable improvement.  John J. Shipman of Lewinsville, whose energy is proverbial, having a number of laborers, engaged in widening it several feet at many points, building calverts, and repairing at many points.”   

Shipman’s obituary (February 11, 1898) in The Washington Post tells us he was a well-known contractor and constructor of public works.  He left a widow, two sons and three daughters.

The family lived at 1310 Q Street northwest.  As told by Kathy Orton (Washington Post, November 8, 2013), that home, built in the 1880s, has a story unto itself.   In 1975, a Washington couple, Jackie and Charles Reed, bought and lovingly restored the Victorian.   They named it the Aaron Shipman house (Aaron from her family).  Just recently, the home became The Logan, a new condominium development.

Rafuse covers all of Maplewood’s owners.  After Shipman came the Dunn family (1886-1912), the Brodt family (1912-1919), Andrew O. Edmundson (1919-1925), Ethel M. Ulfelder 1925-1962) and then the Westgate Corporation (1962-1970).

The Dunns, who changed the name from “Villa Nuova” to Maplewood, and the Brodts, would have benefitted from the proximity of Maplewood to Lewinsville.   The hamlet, about a mile to the east, sprung up after the Civil War.  It was a cross roads community at the junction of todays Chain Bridge Road and Great Falls Road.  A map from 1879 shows a third road near Lewinsville, which could be today's Balls Hill Road.

Beginning in 1857, a Post Office at Lewinsville served area residents.   During the Civil War, a skirmish there resulted in several casualties.  In the 1880s, the village at Lewinsville had couple of stores, the church, a one-room school house, and a blacksmith’s shop.   McLean was still a few decades away.   

Note:    As seen by the dotted line on the map, the western terminus of today’s Chain Bridge Road is at Anderson Road.   Before 1962, the road continued its westward path past Maplewood.   In 1962, a new more straight road was built from about where Maplewood was located to the current intersection with Chain Bridge Road.

Nearby Vienna was also growing after the war.   Some of the new faces arrived from up north.   As the town’s website notes, one of the most influential immigrants was Major Orrin T. Hine, a radical Republican who owned real estate and their first mayor.   A public school for African Americans was built in 1868.

The Dunn family also got to see a technological wonder, the Great Falls and Old Dominion Electric Railway, an interurban trolley line that began service in 1906.   John Roll McLean, publisher and owner of The Washington Post, acquired the line, whose stop at Chain Bridge Road was named after the owner.   Anyone driving on Old Dominion Road does so where those trains ran.

Sadly, Brigadier General Dunn (US Army) enjoyed his stay at Maplewood for only about a year.  After earning his law degree, he served two terms in the US House of Representatives from Indiana.   Dunn supported the Union during the Civil War and served as Judge Advocate General.    In Washington, he served on boards such as the Columbia Institution for the Deaf.  A farmer near Maplewood said, “General Dunn will be missed more than anybody can tell.”   

The loss of landmark homes typically included the loss of outbuildings.   When Charles L. Brodt, a capitalist of New York and Paris, acquired Maplewood in 1912, it had a “handsome barn” and a granary.  The lawn contained 100 maple trees and a cultivated garden.   Brodt planned to breed coach horses.  An article in the Post around that time said the woodwork on the first floor was “said to be the finest black walnut in the country.”

At that time, Maplewood’s farm spread out across 370 acres of “productive soil with a tract of ten acres of white oak trees near the house.” 

Note:  One news report said Maplewood was the summer home of Woodrow Wilson, but no info on that is in Rafuse’s book or other sources.  

Andrew O. Edmundson next owned Maplewood.  Little is known about him except that he raised peaches at Maplewood from 1919 to 1925.   An historic aerial map from 1900 shows Peach Grove Hill and Freedom Hill.   Freedom Hill became a redoubt during the Civil War.  An historical marker in Freedom Hill Park tells us the Union army built the small batteries in January 1865.  A company from the 5th Pennsylvania Heavy Artillery Regiment was stationed there.

 

If there is a pantheon of the movers and shakers who helped start and build Tysons Corner, John T. “Til” Hazel sits on it.   In his book, “Edge City,” Joel Garreau says Hazel “has done more to shape the Washington area than any man since Pierre L’Enfant” (a lot of bruised egos and eyebrows raised with that one).   

Others who helped Tysons get started or grow were Marcus J. Blis, Gerald Halpin, Tom Nicholson, Charles Ewing and Colonel Rudolph Seeley (and likely others we didn’t come across).   

Around 1962, Nicholson, Halpin, Ewing and Seeley partnered to form the West Group Management, a firm that combined the businesses of real estate development, construction and property management.   Purchasing 560 acres, which included Maplewood and its farm, and many more acres later, they were among the first to develop Tysons Corners.  

In an article in the Connection Newspapers (September 25, 2017), Fallon Forbush quotes John Ulfelder, Fairfax County planning commissioner and uncle of Seeley, as saying: 

“Jerry Halpin got on a plane with my uncle Rudy Seeley and he flew to Mexico … to go meet with my grandmother to talk to her about having her put portions of her remaining farmland in with Jerry and his partners.”

Ulfelder’s grandmother, Ethel M. Ulfelder (1885-1962) was married to Dr. Sidney Ulfelder (1875-1959).  A graduate of Columbia University, he was a surgeon in Mexico City.    They had four children — Howard, Sidney, Ruth and Martha.   

Martha (1918-2002) was born in Mexico City.   Her obituary in The Washington Post tells us her parents acquired Maplewood in order to have a home in the United States, where the children could attend school.  She spent time both at her family’s home in Mexico City and at Maplewood.  The Ulfelders owned and lived at Maplewood from 1925 to 1962. 

Martha’s first husband, John N. Poro, died in Portugal in 1943, while serving with the U.S. Army.  In 1949, she married Colonel Rudolph G. Seeley.  He became the Executive Vice President for the Westgate Corporation, which acquired Maplewood in 1962. 

The Selleys also lived at Maplewood, whose address at that time was 7676 Old Springhouse Road.  Together they took over the operation of Maplewood’s dairy farm. 

Note:   Old Spring House Road runs between Scotts Crossing and Spring Gate Road, about 500 feet from the site of Maplewood.   It appears there is no road named Maplewood nearby.

Martha and Seeley were what we call today a power couple.  She co-founded the West Group and served as a general partner, secretary and a member of the board of directors of Westgate, and a general partner of West Park.   The Selleys were active in the community and supported benevolent organizations in McLean and nearby.

Colonel Seeley, who served in World War II, also had a large obituary in the Post (January 6, 1988).   It pointed out he was a civic leader and developer who helped pioneer the explosive commercial growth of the Tysons Corner area.

 

The trolleys that ran across Northern Virginia and Washington had a good run after the turn of the century. As author Paul Ceruzzi points out in his book, “Internet Alley,” they “began the transformation of Northern Virginia from a farming region to a bedroom suburb.”   The coming of the automobile, however, soon doomed what amounted to the area’s first mass transit system.

Yet, in the 1940s, Tysons Corner was still a quiet farming community.    John Holley of the Post (June 20, 1942) filled up his tank and headed out to see the place.  He wrote down his impressions of the area around Maplewood.

White wooden fences follow the contour of the hills, brown and white and spotted cows in the hundreds roam the wide slopes.  The hills rise again into thick forest land that extends for a mile at least to Tysons Corner.

Had Holley returned to Maplewood twenty years later, he would have seen an extraordinary sight.  Filling the needs of a population that exploded from 98,000 in 1940 to 275,000 in 1950, the developers bulldozed and built the county into one massive sprawl of suburban homes.  Tyson's Corner was a one stop shopping for retail and clusters of office space. 

As if to atone for Northern Virginia’s once bad reputation for bad roads, the state proposed a $328M roads plan in 1952.  Included were funds to study the construction of a “circumferential highway” around Washington.    

The growth west of Washington was so widespread, planners for Dulles, Washington’s second major airport, chose a location twenty miles west of D.C. and eight from Tysons Corner.

Of all the headlines Fairfax County read during this time, the one that startled residents the most came in 1957.  The Soviets launched Sputnik, the world's first artificial satellite.   Readers of George Orwell's 1984 must have been nodding their heads.

That same year, bulldozers began clearing a site in nearby Langley that would become the CIA’s new headquarters.  An aerial view from 1962 shows Maplewood and its farm being swallowed by a triangle of concrete and steel — the new Capital Beltway, the new Dulles Airport Access Road and a busier and busier Route 123.    

The Capital Beltway, finished in this part of the county in 1964, took away nearby Strawberry Vale (demolished in 1959).  Maplewood survived the new super-sized roads, but the clock was ticking.   

 

The Westgate Corporation purchased Maplewood in and its 512 acres, which was the most held by a single family in that area.   They filed an application with the county to rezone the land for an industrial park (how’s that for an oxymoron?).

As told by “Fairfax County, Virginia, A History,” the county approved the request.   Rafuse tells us there was only token opposition and when the Board of Supervisors held the rezoning hearing, “there was no mention of the Maplewood House.”

In the 1960s, the Selleys used Maplewood as its temporary headquarters.   In February 1970, the home was demolished.   In its place rose a new tall building, the headquarters of the Westgate company.   Already there within the triangle formed by the Beltway, the Dulles Access Road and 123 were several other office buildings.   On the other side of the Beltway, shoppers were flocking to the mall anchored by Hechts and Woodward & Lothrop.   The landscape of farms dotted with country estates was no more.

Was there an effort to save historic homes in Fairfax County in the 1960s?

 Yes.  

 But as told by “The Preservation of History in Fairfax County Virginia,” preservationists fought a constant uphill battle.   There were dozens of older homes and structures to try and save.  In a county twenty miles by twenty miles and founded in 1742, choosing among them must have seemed like an act of triage.   

The preservationists fought hard.  A major achievement took place with the election in 1971.   As noted by the above mentioned book, the new Board of Supervisors was generally sympathetic to preservation of historic sites and buildings.  The Architectural Review Board also made strides.

But for Maplewood, it was too late.   For anyone silently cheering for the lonely house, The Washington Post of February 25, 1970 brought sad news.  

Kenneth Bredemeier wrote:

Wrecking crews stole a march on Fairfax County history buffs last weekend.  A 100-year-old Victorian mansion the buffs had hoped to preserve was demolished and apparently none of them knew anything about it until it was too late.

Bredemeier quoted commission members as saying that Rudolph Seeley, executive VP of Westgate Corporation, “told them last October than the structure would not be torn down for up to three years and not sooner than one year.”

Seeley said that Maplewood “was not a particularly architectural gem under any stretch of the imagination.”

Calder Loth, the esteemed architectural historian for the Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission, had put his stamp of approval on Maplewood, describing it as “a significant example of Victorian architecture, meriting listing by the National Register of Historic Places.”  

Joyce Wilkinson was quoted as saying, “It was just simply a sneak approach.”

 

Preservationists care about all the properties under their care and watches but the loss of Maplewood seemed to hit particularly hard.  Wilkinson, chairman of the Fairfax County History Commission, was quoted as saying, “We are just terribly depressed, surprised and shocked.” 

 

Tysons is a wonderful place with a bright future.   But 50 years after the loss of Maplewood, the demolition of all of the nearby Goodman homes is underway.  Our visit there found a sense of community and a leafy landscape that served as a pleasant oasis among the concrete and steel.    

Doesn't anybody care?