Map: Atlas of Fifteen Miles Around Washington

Published in 1878-1879 by G. M. Hopkins, this atlas mapped communities within a 15-mile radius of Washington, D.C. Separate editions were issued for Northern Virginia and for Prince Georges and Montgomery counties in Maryland. Each edition contained the same complete core set of maps along with additional features tailored to the covered area and its residents. The well designed and detailed maps are a trove of historical information, including the locations of homes and businesses along with the names of owners and residents. The 10 maps for Northern Virginia start at page 64 in this edition - "Atlas of Fifteen Miles Around Washington Including the County of Prince George Maryland" - hosted by Johns Hopkins University's JScholarship site. Three of the atlas maps cover parts of Braddock District: Lee District (p. 72) Falls Church District (p. 74-75) Providence District (p. 78-79)

Johns Hopkins University JScholarship, Maps and Atlases (https://jscholarship.library.jhu.edu/)

Johns Hopkins University JScholarship - see license and use restrictions at https://jscholarship.library.jhu.edu/bitstream/handle/1774.2/33000/license.txt?sequence=62

VIDEO (NARRATED): FLYOVER OLD BURKE VILLAGE, 1975

Old Burke Village resident Lonnie Schorer took her camera aloft in the fall of 1975 to shoot the series of pictures that are the basis for this video. The animation flies through a panorama that existed for only a short time longer, before development closed in. Old Burke Village is located just north of the railroad tracks in Burke.

Transcript of narration:
Lonnie and David Schorer moved to Old Burke Village in 1974. Next door to Ann and Ken Applegate. Ken was a pilot. One day in 1975, Ken flew while Lonnie shot pictures of their neighborhood and homes. The village dates from 1898 - a dozen or so Victorian houses - across the tracks from where the Burke railroad station once stood. In 1975, cars still rumbled across the tracks and waited for passing trains. With its open fields and large yards, the village felt like quiet country living. Today, commercial malls and subdivisions crowd the landscape. Burke Lake Road was rerouted to a railroad overpass. Old Burke Village still keeps its charm, but now as an island, not quite so removed from the accelerating pace of suburban life.

Video developed from photographs provided by Lonnie Schorer and a U.S. Geological Survey image by A Look Back At Braddock volunteer John Browne

Copyrighted material, Schorer photos not to be reproduced without permission of owner, Lonnie Schorer

Memories: Anne C. Brown

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

Oral History, Part 2: Delbert (Bill) Sheads and Elsie Sisson (1921 - 2008)

In Part 2 of two interview sessions, Bill and Elsie (Sheads) Sisson, brother and sister, reminisce about their family, which came to the Braddock District from Culpepper, Virginia, in 1903. They talk about people and places, schools, lumbering and saw mills, and church life.

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

Historic Survey Report: John Marshall House

Survey description of John Marshall House, dated February 22, 1972, for the Historic American Buildings Survey Inventory

Burke Forest Fire

On April 20, 1941, a forest fire that ignited along the railroad near Guinea Road and Zion Road eventually burned an extensive area southward toward Lorton. Local fire fighters battled for several days before bringing it under control with help from Ft. Belvoir soldiers and prisoners from the Lorton Workhouse. The fire is a vivid memory for residents who experienced it. They and contemporary newspaper accounts report that the previous winter had been extremely dry and temperatures were unusually hot for April.

Courtesy Chris Lipsey

Copyrighted material, not to be reproduced without permission of owner

Memories: Michele Sims

Michele Sims is principal of Terra Centre Elementary School, a unique energy efficient building, constructed largely underground. She discusses the facility.

Members of the Simpson Family, circa 1937

The Simpson family lived in the Silas Burke House, also known as Top o' the Hill. Two members of the family pose on a car bumper in 1937.

Courtesy Suzanne Fowler Neal

Oral History: Elizabeth Silliman

Elizabeth Silliman first came to Northern Virginia in 1950, and to the Braddock District of Fairfax County in 1970. She talks about physical changes in the community.