braddockheritage.org/

Camp Reports: Civilian Conservation Corps No. 2339C Camp

2011-10-04T15:48:46-04:00

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Camp Reports: Civilian Conservation Corps No. 2339C Camp

Description

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

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

Source

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

Map: Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) Road

2011-10-05T16:41:23-04:00

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Map: Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) Road

Description

This 1939 map shows the location of the road built by the CCC in the 1930s to provide access to what was then an extensive forest, likely for fire control. Marked by a triangular symbol enclosing the letter "C", the road connected Old Keene Mill Road (Rt. 644) and Backlick Road (Rt. 617). The road, used by fire equipment and also by residents as a shortcut, was erased by suburban development and no longer appears on current maps.

This map is a detail taken from a highway map of Fairfax County, Virginia. Symbols are explained in the separate map legend.

Source

General Highway and Transportation Map, Fairfax County, Virginia, prepared by the Virginia State Highway Department and Virginia State Planning Board in cooperation with the Federal Works Agency, Public Roads Administration, 1939; provided by The National Archives and Records Administration.

Essay: Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)

2011-10-04T15:43:23-04:00

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Essay: Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)

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

Source

Courtesy of Mary Lipsey

Archeological Investigation Report: Guinea Road Cemetery

2011-10-04T15:38:20-04:00

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Archeological Investigation Report: Guinea Road Cemetery

Description

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

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

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

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

Source

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

Essay: The CCC Road

2011-10-04T15:28:34-04:00

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Essay: The CCC Road

Description

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

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

Source

Courtesy of Bill Sheads

Oral History, Part 2: Lee Hubbard

2011-10-04T15:25:53-04:00

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Oral History, Part 2: Lee Hubbard

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Part 2 of two parts. Lee Hubbard's family can trace its roots in Fairfax County to the 1700s. He discusses his childhood and milestone events. Lee Hubbard became a member of the police department and he talks about criminal cases, traffic, and the growth, administration, and operation of the police department.

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

2011-10-04T15:17:53-04:00

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

Description

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.

Rebel Hill, Artist's Drawing

2011-10-20T16:20:09-04:00

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Rebel Hill, Artist's Drawing

Description

On March 29, 1962, The Washington Post reported testimony by Mrs. Z. C. Zefteris of Kings Park West about Rebel Hill on Braddock Road to the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors. Describing cars sliding off the steep road in icy conditions and the inability of women to walk up the hill to call for help, she is quoted: "They had to go up that hill on their hands and knees..."

Artist Chris Lipsey depicts what it might have been like for drivers in winter.

Source

Courtesy Chris Lipsey

Rights

Copyrighted material, not to be reproduced without permission of owner

Slide Show: Burke Historical Society Slide Presentation

2012-09-27T18:21:37-04:00

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Slide Show: Burke Historical Society Slide Presentation

Description

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.

Source

Courtesy Tom Giska

Ravensworth Mansion

2011-09-15T23:20:43-04:00

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Ravensworth Mansion

Description

Circa 1920 photographs show the exterior rear and parlor of Ravensworth mansion. William Fitzhugh, great grandson and namesake of the original buyer of the 22,000 acre Ravensworth tract, built the mansion circa 1796. It burned in 1926 in a suspicious fire. The mansion's former site is in the industrial area on Port Royal Road, a short distance southeast of Ravensworth Shopping Center.

Source

Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, Historic American Buildings Survey or Historic American Engineering Record: exterior rear view, Reproduction Number HABS VA,30-RAV.V,1-2; parlor, Reproduction Number HABS VA,30-RAV.V,1-4.