"Beauty and the Beast," as the song says, may be "A Tale As Old As Time," but the story as told in Disney's 1991 film was one of the movies to usher in the new golden age of animation for the studio."Beauty and the Beast" came just after "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?" and "The Lion King" had shifted the perception by adult audiences that feature animation was worth seeing without the necessity or excuse of a child in tow. In fact, it was a case where cinema artist John Alvin created only one movie poster for its original release. "Adult campaigns" had only recently been added to the "juvenile …
An archeological project now underway at the site of the town of Colchester near the mouth of the Occoquan River will undoubtedly produce some very interesting information about what life was like in that colonial port. But surprisingly, there is already a wealth of knowledge on the area assembled in a book written by the late historian and author Edith Moore Sprouse and published by Fairfax County in 1975. Sprouse’s love of history, her unbounded curiosity and her ability to ferret out the most miniscule of details makes this meticulously researched book, "Colchester: Colonial Port on the …
Through the years the Lorton Community has relied upon churches to be not only the base for one’s faith but to serve as a center of social activities as well. Silverbrook United Methodist Church, the little white church on Silverbrook Road, has been one of those churches. Named for a small brook that flows just to the east of the church, it is said that the brook was named by the Evans family who moved to the area from Maine. Family members thought the sunlight reflecting off the water in the brook looked like silver, hence the name. Before the church had a building, Sunday School classes …
I was reading an article last week that said by the time Abraham Lincoln took the oath of office as the President of the United States of America on March 4, 1861, six states had already seceded from the Union; all from the south, although Virginia was not among them. It was not until the bombardment of Fort Sumter and Lincoln’s call for troops in April of 1861 that Virginia left the Union and joined the Confederacy. And although some of the bloodiest battles of the war were fought on Virginia soil, southeastern Fairfax County only saw scattered action. However, one of the more colorful and …
Sniffles, running a fever, sore throat? You waited it out while Mom doused you with tried and true home remedies. Break an arm, cut your hand? Then you made your way down to the local doctor’s office, which was more than likely in his home. Or, if you were lucky, the doctor would make a house call, bag in hand. When you consider that for over half of the 20th century the nearest hospital was in Alexandria, Lorton folks depended on country doctors to handle just about any medical emergency, as well as regular run of the mill illnesses. There was no calling 911 and waiting for an ambulance to …
The abundant open space, meadows and woodlands that make Lorton such an attractive place to live can trace this legacy, in part, to the agricultural mission that established the D.C prison in our community. Sustainable, self-sufficiency was the prison’s goal almost one hundred years before those words became fashionable. Southeastern Fairfax County, after the turn of the 19th century, was the home to mostly subsistence farming and fishing. The soil had been depleted by colonial farming methods and many families found it difficult to maintain an acceptable standard of living. In other words, …
Who could have envisioned something like Internet service or the World Wide Web in the 1930s when Lorton had a little telephone exchange on Lorton Road staffed by a pleasant voiced operator who handled all of your outgoing calls? No dial tones, no call waiting and, mercifully, no voice mail. Just a straight forward give ‘em the number and the next thing you know you’ve got your party. Telephone service started in Fairfax County about 1897 when the Northern Virginia Telephone and Telegraph Company was organized. The system consisted of one line between Fairfax Court House and Fairfax Station. …
The year was 1905 and my father, at the time, was a nine-year-old student at Lorton Valley School. It was he who told me the details of this story, but it was only after I became an adult that I was able to research what happened. It seems that not only did my father have a remarkable memory but for a nine-year-old he was observant and got his facts straight as well. Just after the turn of the last century a massive effort was instituted to make railroad tracks uniform throughout the country. To accomplish this, contractors recruited workers from many sources. Labor camps were set up where …
Traveling the Fairfax County Parkway along the route that was formerly Pohick Road, you will come to an intersection with Lee Chapel Road. On the northeast corner of that intersection once stood a small church referred to as Lee Chapel. The 24 x 40 foot white frame church was built in 1871 to replace Mt. Carmel Methodist Church, which had stood about a mile to the south and was burned during the Civil War. Property for the church was donated by John Mahon, a prominent landowner of the day. It is surrounded by an approximately two-acre cemetery where the oldest grave is reported to date from …
This is a story about what one person can do if they are convinced their cause is just and they have the tenacity and dedication to see the struggle through to the end. On May 18, 1891, a baby named Mary Rose Rena Springmann was born to Joseph M. and Emma Jane (Plaskett) Springmann, in Lorton. Joseph Springmann ran a store in Lorton and was the RF&P Railroad Agent. In fact, the train station at Lorton was called Springmann for a short time. The Springmann family lived in a lovely Victorian-inspired house near the station. At a very young age Mary Rose went to stay with her aunt Rosa in …
Fairfax County is noted throughout the country for its fine education system, and right here in Lorton we enjoy some of the most modern, up-to-date schools in the county. For all of the twentieth century--and now into the twenty-first century--Lorton has been noted for its quality schools and the willingness of area citizens to encourage and support them. The community should and does take great pride in the fact that through their efforts several schools have been built during the last decade in the Lorton area ahead of schedule and within budget. This is apparently a tradition that is …
Anyone who lived in the Lorton area before the DC Prison closed will remember the hair-raising stories told about events that occurred there. From the buzz of helicopters overhead to sirens blaring in the dead of night to police combing through backyards in search of escapees; it all happened within easy memory of a lot of local folks. When the prison closed for good in 2001, its prisoners were sent to other prisons throughout the country—many to federal facilities and some to state-operated jails. But this was not a new occurrence in the DC prison system's history. Before the construction of…
It is already agreed by most people in the area that the name "Lorton" was given to a geographic area in southeastern Fairfax County by Joseph Plaskett. When he became postmaster in 1875 he named the post office Lorton Valley for the place in Cumberland County, England from which his family had immigrated. Before the post office was established in Plaskett's crossroads store, mail was received through the Accotink post office. The store was located near the intersection of Gunston Road and present day Route 1. Joseph Plaskett left England with his family in 1853, sailing out of Liverpool, and…
If you like your local history more visual than textural, I have great news for you. Two books, one newly published and one published several years ago are available and will give those interested a real lesson in area history. The more recent offering, Occoquan, written by town mayor Earnie Porta, and published by Arcadia Publishing as part of its "Images of America" series, covers the history of the town and river from pre-European times through the colonial period and the development and prosperity as a mill town, home to gristmills and sawmills. The book traces the town's growth, citing …
In the early 1950s I rode the school bus from my home on Ox Road down to Lorton School, which was located near where I-95 and Lorton Road come together today. All of the kids on our bus were fascinated by a big hole that was being dug along what is now known as Furnace Road. For months we watched as the hole grew bigger and deeper. It was located on prison property, and since they were always doing something, none of us questioned what it might turn out to be. This was in a time before the county had task forces, listening groups and even many public hearings. Not to mention that this project…
Many people today know Laurel Hill as a community along Silverbrook Road in Lorton, but the Laurel Hill of yesteryear, from which the community takes its present-day name, has a long and varied history. Laurel Hill was the seat of William Lindsay, a contemporary of both George Washington and George Mason. Laurel Hill House was constructed in the 1780s, and was part of a 1,000-acre plantation. Laurel Hill was modest when compared to some of the other plantations of the day. The house was one and one-half stories built of well-seasoned North Carolina pine with a partial basement. That type was …
Stopping by the grocery store on the way home to pick up something for dinner today has become a ritual we have all become accustomed to. Modern stores carry a wide selection of ready-to-eat foods, non-grocery items and personal items as well as seasonal home decorations. And many of these items are shipped in from far-flung locations around the world. What a luxury! Well, in our little section of Fairfax County things have not always been nearly that convenient, or for that matter, extravagant. Oh yes, there were a number of small community-based stores that catered to the needs of the rural…
