Cosmetology Class, Manassas Industrial School, 1950s

Jennie Dean, born a slave in Prince William County, founded the Manassas Industrial School for Colored Youth. The school, a private facility which offered academic subjects as well as skilled trade courses, opened in October 1894. From 1938 until 1966, it was a segregated regional high school for African Americans living in Northern Virginia. African Americans from almost half of Virginia had connections to the Manassas Industrial School.

Courtesy of the Manassas Museum System, Manassas, Virginia

Manassas Museum photos are copyrighted and for use only with permission of the Museum.

Cheerleaders, Manassas Industrial School

Jennie Dean, born a slave in Prince William County, founded the Manassas Industrial School for Colored Youth. The school, a private facility which offereed academic subjects as well as skilled trade courses, opened in October 1894. From 1938 until 1966, it was a segregated regional high school for African Americans living in Northern Virginia. African Americans from almost half of Virginia had connections to the Manassas Industrial School.

Courtesy of the Manassas Museum System, Manassas, Virginia

Manassas Museum photos are copyrighted and for use only with permission of the Museum.

Carpentry class, Manassas Industrial School, circa 1961

Jennie Dean, born a slave in Prince William County, founded the Manassas Industrial School for Colored Youth. The school, a private facility which offered academic subjects as well as skilled trade courses, opened in October 1894. From 1938 until 1966, it was a segregated regional high school for African Americans living in Northern Virginia. African Americans from almost half of Virginia had connections to the Manassas Industrial School.

Courtesy of the Manassas Museum System, Manassas, Virginia

Manassas Museum photos are copyrighted and for use only with permission of the Museum.

Funeral Train, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt

The funeral train of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt travelled through Fairfax Station, attracting crowds of mourners en route from Georgia to Washington, D.C.

Courtesy Lee Hubbard

Rolling Road Virginia Railway Express (VRE) station, 2006

The commuter railway system from Fredericksburg and Manassas, the VRE, began in 1992 in response to suburban spread. Residents can commute via the VRE to Alexandria, Crystal City and downtown Washington, D.C.

Photo by Gilbert Donahue

Copyrighted material, not to be reproduced without permission of owner, Gilbert Donahue

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

Ernest (Buddy) Belote, circa 1960

Ernest (Buddy) Belote worked as a broadcast engineer for WTOP radio station in Washington, D.C. His profession brought him close to leading national figures, and he reported on major events of the day including the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy and the health crisis of President Dwight Eisenhower.

Courtesy Ernest (Buddy) Belote

Lake Accotink Dam, circa 1918

In 1912, the War Department established a summer camp and rifle range for engineering corps stationed in Washington, DC. During World War I, the camp became a permanent establishment. Known today as Fort Belvoir, the property was originally named Camp A. A. Humphreys after a Union general and distinguished engineer. The Army Corps of Engineers constructed a dam which created Lake Accotink to serve as a water source for the Camp.

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

Lake Accotink Boating

After Lake Accotink, formerly the reservoir for Fort Belvoir, became a public park, the Lake Accotink Yacht Club, founded by Ernest (Buddy) Belote, sailed there between 1972 and 1982. Members raced according to the rules of the International Yacht Racing Association and applied the rules of the America's Cup to the eight-foot dinghies on Accotink waters.

Lake Accotink Boat Race

Lake Accotink served as a water supply for Fort Belvoir until 1963 when the Fairfax County Park Authority opened recreational facilties there, purchasing it from the government in 1965 for $88,250.

A cardboard boat regatta is among park community activities. The Park staff teaches a workshop on constructing a cardboard boat that can be paddled.

Photo courtesy Tawny Hammond