Barn, circa 1930

This barn was located on the Silas Burke House property.

Courtesy Suzanne Fowler Neal

Burke Post Office, circa 1900

In 1900, the Burke Post Office was located in one end of the Burke train station.

Courtesy Tom Giska History of Burke Slide Collection

Burke Elementary School Dedication Program

The second Burke Elementary School, located at the corner of Lee Chapel and Burke Lake Roads, opened in 1939 and was dedicated in 1940. It replaced the original 1912 school building, now a private residence in Burke named Whiteoaks. Land for the new school was donated by the grandfather of Suzanne Fowler Neale. Students went home for lunch until 1952, when a school cafeteria was built. Today (2007), the facility houses a special education center and is named Burke School.

Courtesy Jennifer Cornelson Addington

Burke Station Historic Marker

The marker reads: "Burke Station. Burke Station was raided in December, 1862, by Confederate General J.E.B. Stuart. It was from this site, originally the Burke Station Depot, that he sent his famous telegram to Union Quartermaster General Meigs complaining of the poor quality of the Union mules he had just captured." The marker is located next to the former depot at the intersection of Old Burke Lake Road and Burke Road. Later the building housed the Burke United Methodist Church and is currently commercially used.

Photo by Gilbert Donahue

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

Bunny Man: Artist's Rendition

Bunny Man is a local character - part real and part myth - who appeared in the 1970s in the Burke area. According to newspaper accounts, a man in a rabbit suit threatened a young couple in a parked car on Guinea Road, telling them they were on private property and then hurled a hatchet through the right front window. Police recovered the hatchet. In another incident, a construction security guard reported seeing him chopping at the roof support of a house under construction. When the security guard went to get his gun, the Bunny Man skipped off into the darkness, carrying his axe. In a third incident, the Bunny Man accused Kings Park West residents of dumping trash. In the 1980s, his legend had grown more sinister, alleging several gruesome murders to his credit. A railroad overpass near Fairfax Station, which myth considers his main haunt, has earned the name Bunny Man Bridge. He has never been caught, and his legend lives on.

Pen and Ink sketch by Chris Lipsey

Copyrighted material. Not for reproduction without permission of owner.

Whiteoaks

Whiteoaks is the original Burke Elementary School, renovated and expanded into a private residence. Burke Elementary opened in 1912 as a two-room schoolhouse, and later was expanded to three rooms. By the 1930s, population growth required a larger school, and a second Burke Elementary was constructed through the Works Progress Administration (WPA) under the New Deal. In 1950, the Cornelson family purchased Whiteoaks. Willie Harlow, Burke's jack-of-all-trades, completed renovations for the family who still live there today.

In this photo, Jennifer Addington and her mother stand in front of Whiteoaks in the 1950s. Jennifer Addington's parents bought the house after its conversion from a schoolhouse to a residence began, changing its name to Whiteoaks.

Photo courtesy Jennifer Cornelson Addison

Marshall Family Gravestone

The Marshall Family Cemetery is located in Colonel Silas Burke Park near the intersection of Old Burke Lake Road and Burke Road in Burke, Virginia. The home of John A. and Mary Marshall, which had stood nearby, was relocated and later burned in the 1970s. The Marshalls owned the general store in Burke and were prominent landowners in the mid to late 1800s. They donated land for the original Church of the Good Shepherd and for the Ashford School.

During the Civil War, a soldier shot in one of the skirmishes crawled to the Marshall House . Before the family could get his name, he died on their doorstep. He is buried in the Marshall family plot, referred to as Burke's Unknown Soldier. Whether he fought for the Union or the Confederacy is also unknown.

Photo by Gil Donahue

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

Hirst House

The Hirst House, built in 1962 off Rolling Road, incorporates silos from the family farm in its construction. The architect split the silos lengthwise to create barrel walls of the house roof and ceiling.

Photo by Gilbert Donahue

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

Greenfield

Judge Abner Ritchie built Greenfield in 1885 and named it for the green fields on the property. Judge Ritchie was a gentleman farmer; however, when the Kincheloe family bought Greenfield in 1943, it became a dairy farm. During World War II, the dairy relied on horses until the Kincheloes found a used tractor. Around 1965, the Kincheloe's sold part of the property, which later was developed into Lake Braddock and Greenfield subdivisions. One pond on the farm became Lake Braddock.

Photo by Gilbert Donahue

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

Old Church of the Good Shepherd

Old Church of the Good Shepherd (Episcopal) stood on the corner of Braddock Road and Twinbrook Road near Burke, Virginia. John Marshall and his wife donated land for the church. The congregation met in Ashford School before the building became available. Colonel Robert E. Lee, grandson of General Robert E. Lee, was a member and occasionally conducted services at the church. The church had a potbellied stove in the middle, and young people hauled and cut firewood for the stove to heat the church. In 1970, the church was decommissioned, turned into a private residence and relocated behind the Twinbrooke Shopping Center.

Photograph by Herb Beard