Slide Show: Burke Historical Society Slide Presentation

The history of Burke, Virginia is told in 80 captioned images, from the village's start in the 1850's as a railroad depot to the early 1990's. The slide set was originally put together by the Burke Jaycees for the U. S. Bicentennial Celebration. The slides were taken and organized originally during 1974-76. The slide set was given to the Burke Historical Society in 1978. From 1988 to 1990, the slides were updated and more were taken in the early 1990's. The slides subsequently were archived and organized by Tom Giska. The slides were digitally scanned, edited and "recreated" by Gil Donahue in 2005-2006, and some of them were used in Braddock's True Gold: 20th-Century Life in the Heart of Fairfax County, which was published by the County of Fairfax in June 2006.

The slide show has been divided into six numbered parts to keep file sizes low for faster download and viewing. They are best viewed in sequence from part one to six.

Tom Giska was a member and president of the Burke Historical Society. The Society, which was inactive for many years, resumed operations under a new charter and leadership in May 2010.

Courtesy Tom Giska

Burke Lake Park Boat Launch Platform, circa 1963

Burke Lake Park is an example of county and citizens groups working together to create a recreational area. In the late 1950s, sport fishing leagues and conservative groups suggested to the Fairfax County Park Authority that a public fishing lake be created. The Park Authority found a suitable location in Burke and initially purchased 218 acres. The lake began to fill in 1961 after dam construction. Stocked with fish for opening day, May 25, 1963, nearly 2,000 anglers attended the opening ceremony. Including the lake, Burke Lake Park occupies nearly 900 acres on land that Fairfax County acquired from the federal government, after local citizens defeated a plan to build an international airport near Burke.

Photograph from Fairfax County Public Library, Virginia Room, Photographic Archive

Oral History: Bill Wrench

Bill Wrench came to the Braddock District in 1957 as the Director of the Economic and Industrial Development Committee (later, the Economic Development Authority). Lack of development in the county surprised him then, but his job was to integrate industrial development with residential growth. In 1960, he left the government and opened his own business, an oil distributorship and then a gas station. His family became part of the new Ravensworth Farm subdivision. Bill Wrench looks at roads, gas station management, and what brings people to live in the area.

Oral History: Paul Kincheloe

Paul Kincheloe grew up on a dairy farm on Burke Road his father bought in the early 1940s. The farm was sold and developed into the Lake Braddock community about 1970. His boyhood home, Greenfield, still stands on Burke Road. Now an attorney, he talks about his memories of growing up on a working dairy farm, his childhood chores, education, and recreation.

Oral History: John Hawthorne

John Hawthorne grew up in Northern Virginia and talks about childhood, development, and community action against excessive growth. He describes the early years of Ravensworth Farm.

Oral History: Tom Giska

Tom Giska joined the faculty as a science teacher at Lake Braddock High School in 1974, the school's second year in operation. He discusses the growth of the school and historic events in the early history of Fairfax County. Tom Giska has compiled a comprehensive history of the Burke area including people and events.

Burke International Airport, Opposition

A newspaper headline in 1951 announced that Burke farmer, Jones Jasper, asked the District Court for a preliminary injunction against any airport within 12,500 feet of his 100-acre farm. The suit charged that "frequent operation of large, heavy, powerful multi-engined civil aircraft over plaintiff's property at an altitude below the navigable air space. . .would constitute a continuing trespass on his property. . .and endanger persons and animals."

unknown newspaper

Burke International Airport Proposal, Letter of Opposition

A 1951 letter from Paul C. Kincheloe, Chairman of the Northern Virginia Committee Opposed to a Supplemental Airport at Burke, Virginia. This letter to Kincheloe's unnamed senator argued against support for the airport.

Courtesy Susanne Fowler Neale

Burke International Airport Proposal, Land Auction Announcement

In 1959, the federal government advertised the sale at auction of land originally purchased and consolidated to construct an international airport at Burke. When an alternate site in Chantilly was chosen, almost 900 acres of land formerly designated for the airport passed to the Fairfax County Park Authority. Burke Lake and Burke Lake Park were built on that land.

Information courtesy of Frederic Kielsgard and Ross Netherton (from Memories of Beautiful Burke)

Map: Proposed Burke International Airport

The map shows the proposed location of the Burke International Airport, on a 4,500-acre tract near Burke. According to The Evening Star, June 14, 1951, the airport would be completed by 1955 and would "dwarf both Washington National and Baltimore's Friendship terminals."

From the book Braddock's True Gold: 20th Century Life in the Heart of Fairfax County by Marion Meany and Mary Lipsey; map prepared by George Mason University Department of Geography GIS Center of Excellence.

Copyright 2006 County of Fairfax. All rights reserved.