Tuesday Tidbits – Biking-Related Factoids & History in the DC Area

[consularrider]

@bobco85 162722 wrote:

Based on recent posts, I felt like I needed to share information on the tidbit that inspired my Tuesday Tidbit series (many thanks to ginacio whose curiosity was the origin of said inspiration!), the Wayne F Anderson Trail.

At the NE corner of Army-Navy Dr and South Joyce Streets, one can find a Bike Route sign with an interesting name on it, the Anderson Trail.
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In fact, the trail running from the corner of South Glebe Rd and West Glebe Rd to Mount Vernon Avenue across Four Mile Run and along the Alexandria side of the stream to US-1 is named the Wayne F Anderson Bikeway. Other signs such as those at the north end of Commonwealth Avenue state this, too. But who is this Wayne F. Anderson?
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Born in 1925, Wayne Frederick Anderson was a native of Moline, Illinois and served in the Army during World War II. In the 1960’s, he spent 8 years as city manager of Evanston, Illinois, before moving to Alexandria, Virginia, to become its city manager. Here is an article written about him in the Chicago Tribune about this move:
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This is taken from an article in the Washington Post written about him when he died in 2003: “As Alexandria city manager (1970-1974), Mr. Anderson worked to balance land development pressures with quality-of-life concerns. He also worked to improve relations with the city’s black population, reorganized government departments and helped develop plans to revive neglected schools, neighborhoods and business districts.”

He also taught public administration at George Mason University from 1984-1993. He was honored in 1989 with the Alexandria Chamber of Commerce’s George Washington Leadership award, an annual award given to outstanding community activists for their efforts to improve Alexandria.

Though his name has been mostly forgotten over time, perhaps by knowing his efforts we can remember his legacy better by promoting use of the Wayne F. Anderson Bikeway name as it passes through Four Mile Run Park in Alexandria, at least.

I seem to remember that during his tenure as Evanston City Manager, Evanston eliminated their public bus system. They used to run a special route through my neighborhood in the morning that went to the high school (ETHS) since there was no separate school bus service. Eventually Evanston was incorporated into the CTA bus system.

[bobco85]

This is a shorter one since it focuses on a minor aspect, but I found it interesting nonetheless.

Across the Potomac River from Alexandria sits a hill known as Oxon Hill that can be accessed via the Woodrow Wilson Bridge Trail next to National Harbor, but something isn’t quite right with the name. You see, the plural of the word “ox” is “oxen,” not “oxon,” so what’s up?
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Turns out, Oxon has nothing to do with the animal (ox/oxen), and it comes from a plantation that Thomas Addison owned long ago.
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Thomas Addison built a 2 story house in 1710 on the foundation of his father’s house. It was originally called Addison Plantation before later being called Oxon Hill Manor. A sidenote that is also interesting: there are many current Maryland resident descendants of slaves that were kept at Addison Plantation who still have the last name Addison.

The word “Oxon” is an abbreviation of the word Oxoniesis which is Latin for “of Oxford.” Members of the Addison family attended Oxford University in England.

One last thing, there are actually 2 Oxon Hill Manors! The original one owned by the Addisons was destroyed in a fire in 1895 and was located near where current day Monument Ave crosses over an on-ramp to the Beltway on the north side of the MGM casino. Sadly, the developers did not care to preserve any part of the original house, and only a part of the cemetery remains. The current Oxon Hill Manor was built in 1928 and has nothing to do with the Addison family.

It’s certainly something interesting to think about the next time you find yourself climbing Oxon Hill!

[bobco85]

At probably the most exciting stop (to me) on my recent Arlington Historical Bike Ride lies a town long forgotten that’s along one of the most popular stretches of the Mount Vernon Trail, one that almost every single person on this forum has ridden by at least once in their lives.
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In the 19th Century, a group of speculators from New York came to Washington and proposed a new industrial city that would be built on the Virginia side of Long Bridge.

On January 11, 1836, President Andrew Jackson (came across Long Bridge), George Washington Parke Custis (came from his mansion, Arlington House), and as many as 10,000 people gathered and set the ceremonial cornerstone in place for Jackson City.

This map (full version: https://www.loc.gov/item/99439186/) is from May 31, 1861. Interesting things on the map: Governor Lee’s Arlington House, Arlington Springs, Ross House (William & Carolyn Ross who founded Rosslyn), and Roach’s House on Prospect Hill (north end of Arlington Ridge Rd).
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After the American Civil War, Jackson City wasn’t doing too well. Investors from New Jersey came to town and tried their hand at making it into a gambling resort. It was called the “Monte Carlo of America” and had saloons, gambling houses, bordellos, vice dens, and a race track. This map (full version: https://www.loc.gov/item/89692758/) is from 1900 (with zoomed in version):
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Not everyone liked having a gambling resort nearby (Rosslyn also had a bad reputation for being seedy), and things were about to change. Virginia Commonwealth Attorney Crandal Mackey and a group of civic crusaders called the Good Citizens’ League (included Frank Lyon, founder of Lyon Village) conducted a series of raids on Jackson City over the course of a few years. Their final raid in 1904 burnt down much of Jackson City. And people think NIMBY’s are bad nowadays!

The remnants of Jackson City became an industrial area (brickyards, warehouses, iron-fabricating factories, junk lots, look at some of the land owners in the 1900 map for more details) up until the 1960’s. The area where the town used to stand was completely covered over when the GW Parkway and I-395 were successively built.

No remnants were preserved, and no historical markers were erected, but hopefully folks who enjoy the Mount Vernon Trail will keep it in mind the next time they pass through on their way to/from the 14th Street Bridge.

[dasgeh]

These are so cool. Thank you!

@bobco85 163245 wrote:

This map (full version: https://www.loc.gov/item/99439186/) is from May 31, 1861. Interesting things on the map: Governor Lee’s Arlington House, Arlington Springs, Ross House (William & Carolyn Ross who founded Rosslyn), and Roach’s House on Prospect Hill (north end of Arlington Ridge Rd).
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Also interesting: the “toll gate”. Would love to know the history of tolls in the area, and whether there is precedent for a congestion charge.

[Judd]

@dasgeh 163249 wrote:

These are so cool. Thank you!

Also interesting: the “toll gate”. Would love to know the history of tolls in the area, and whether there is precedent for a congestion charge.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginia_State_Route_244#History

If I’m looking at the map correctly, this is the toll gate to get on to Columbia Pike. Generally speaking, the word “pike” in a road is an indication that it was at one time a toll road. It was common in the early history of the U.S. for roads to be financed and operated by corporations which would recoup their investment through tolls. This practice waned but is making a strong comeback as governments try to figure out how to finance an increasing appetite for road construction with limited resources to fund large construction projects. Florida is a great example. The population has exploded there and in response, many of the new major highways that have been constructed since I lived there as a kid are all toll roads. Locally, the Transform66 initiative is an example of a public/private partnership where a coalition of companies are putting up a large amount of capital which they will recoup through a monopoly on charging tolls. IIRC, it’s a 50 year contract.

[streetsmarts]

@bobco85 162057 wrote:

This Tuesday Tidbit is from 6/6/2017

Just outside the D.C. border in Bladensburg, Maryland lies the old Bladensburg Dueling Grounds. It can be accessed from the Anacostia River Trail near Bladensburg Waterfront Park by passing through Colmar Manor Community Park up to Bladensburg Rd (Alt US-1).
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When you get there, you will see Dueling Creek and a few informational signs. Between 1808 and 1868, over 50 duels took place in this area. Because the District of Columbia had outlawed duels, gentlemen who needed to settle their differences without pesky law enforcement would head about 0.4 miles outside the city here to Dueling Creek (also nicknamed “Blood Run” and “The Dark and Bloody Grounds”) which is a tributary of the Anacostia River.
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The most famous of these duels took place on March 22, 1820 between Commodore Stephen Decatur (decorated naval officer who had success against the Barbary Pirates near North Africa) and Commodore James Barron (dismissed from naval service after his ship, the frigate Chesapeake, was captured in 1807). Both captains in the Navy, Decatur was on the court-martial board that declined to reinstate Barron after having found him guilty of neglect of duty. While you can imagine that Barron was not too happy about the outcome, they had been feuding for 13 years (Barron thought Decatur had called him a coward for losing his ship). They had a duel with pistols at eight paces, and in the end, Decatur was killed while Barron was wounded.
(Decatur on left; Barron on right)
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Maryland officially banned duels in 1839, but you can see the legacy of the Dueling Grounds is still a part of Colmar Manor. Random fact: Colmar gets its name from District of “Col”umbia and “Mar”yland.
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I just read your cool post above, Bobco, and see this upcoming event
http://org.salsalabs.com/o/451/p/salsa/event/common/public/?event_KEY=99965

[bobco85]

At the south end of Alexandria off the Mount Vernon Trail where budding cyclists go to learn cool skills, the original southern boundary stone of the District sits, and Native American artifacts over 9,000 years old were discovered, the wide area betrays its past as a thin marshy cape known as Jones Point. (map is from 1863; full version here: https://lccn.loc.gov/91686261 – note the darker area to the north labeled as “Quagmire impassable”)
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Jones Point gets its name from Calwallder Jones, a frontier trader who set up a trading post there in 1682, decades before the city of Alexandria would be founded. It is also referred to as Piper’s Island in an old Fairfax survey map from 1746 because at high tide, water would cut off land access from the mainland.

I was unable to determine when the marshy area around Jones Point (UPDATE: it was called Battery Cove, named for Battery Rodgers which was used during the Civil War) was filled in to help create part of the waterfront, but my best estimate is that it occurred between 1900-1915 (UPDATE: it occurred between 1911-1912). Here are some images showing the area as it transformed from 1862-present day:
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Construction on the nearby Woodrow Wilson Bridge finished in December 1961, and the area has never been the same since then. Image is of the old span (new bridge was completed in 2006) from 1994 with the Jones Point Lighthouse in view.
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Lastly, here’s a bit of trivia: a portion of the Wilson Bridge actually sits in DC. If you are on the Wilson Bridge Trail crossing east from VA into MD, you will technically be in DC while passing between roughly the 1st and 2nd lookout points.

[Judd]

@bobco85 163528 wrote:

I was unable to determine when the marshy area around Jones Point was filled in to help create part of the waterfront, but my best estimate is that it occurred between 1900-1915. Here are some images showing the area as it transformed from 1862-present day:
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I seem to recall that one of the signs on the path between the MVT and the lighthouse discusses the area being filled (with dredging from the channel in the river) and the land being used for military purposes after the fill. Sounds like a good excuse to ride to Jones Point to confirm.

[Judd]

Rode to Jones Point to check it out. Couldn’t find a sign about the fill but there are lots of signs about the World War I shipyard.

A few pics of the interpretive signs:

[ginacico]

@Judd 163544 wrote:

Rode to Jones Point to check it out. Couldn’t find a sign about the fill but there are lots of signs about the World War I shipyard.

IIRC, some of the railroad tracks serving that shipyard are still visible.

And the waterfront wall/structure along the MVT at the end of Jones Point parking lot is shaped like one of the ships (both from above and as seen from the water).

Aerial view:
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[Judd]

@ginacico 163547 wrote:

IIRC, some of the railroad tracks serving that shipyard are still visible.

And the waterfront wall/structure along the MVT at the end of Jones Point parking lot is shaped like one of the ships (both from above and as seen from the water).

Aerial view:
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You are recalling correctly. There’s a concrete track still there.

Also, totally awesome that grass patch is shaped like one of the ships. Totally just reshaped how I look at it.

[bobco85]

@Judd 163544 wrote:

Rode to Jones Point to check it out. Couldn’t find a sign about the fill but there are lots of signs about the World War I shipyard.

A few pics of the interpretive signs:

That’s awesome!

I think I missed actually stopping to read those info signs, but I love seeing the image of Jones Point with open sky. It’s interesting to see how even a century ago, the place looked completely different. Thanks for posting the sign pics!

[bobco85]

After some research, I have a more specific date for when Battery Cove (named after Battery Rodgers which was used during the Civil War) was filled to make space for the ship-building operation: 1911-1912.

Another little tidbit: President Woodrow Wilson drove the first rivet (nearly botched it) in a ceremony marking the opening of the ship-building yard on May 30, 1918.

[bobco85]

Located off Ohio Dr SW in East Potomac Park next to the 14th Street Bridge is a marble urn with Spanish text written on it (location: https://goo.gl/maps/KzYCvFM9GQz). It is called the Cuban Friendship Urn, and it’s had quite a little journey.
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The history of the urn dates back to the tragedy that was exploited to start the Spanish-American War. At 9:40 p.m. on February 15, 1898, the US battleship Maine was at anchor in the harbor of Havana, Cuba, supposedly there to monitor Cuban protests against Spanish rule. An explosion occurred, killing 260 US sailors on board. The cause was never determined, but it was thought to be a mine, mechanical malfunction, or even a Spanish torpedo. This occasion was used in a rally cry of “Remember the Maine!” throughout the Spanish-American War.

After the war, a monument was built in Maine Square in Havana, but it was destroyed by a hurricane in 1926. The monument was later restored, but in the 1960’s when US-Cuba relations soured, an inscription was added to it saying, “To the victims of the Maine, who were sacrificed to imperialist greed in its fervor to seize control of the island of Cuba.” Cuba salvaged a marble column from the monument and carved it into an urn. It was then presented to President Calvin Coolidge in 1928 when he visited Cuban President Gerardo Machado. Coolidge would be the last President to step foot on Cuban land until President Obama’s visit. Pics from Coolidge’s visit, different sides of the urn, and a translation of the text:
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When it arrived in the US, it was placed within view of the Jefferson Memorial in December 1928, but it would go on a different and mostly undocumented journey throughout DC before finding its current resting spot.
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When the 14th Street Bridge was set to be built, the Cuban Friendship Urn had to be moved. Where was moved is unknown, as rumors exist including one that it was moved to the Cuban embassy but later removed and thrown away in the 1960’s. However it happened, the urn was lost to history for decades.

Then, in 1996, the Washington City Paper started an investigation of the urn’s whereabouts. This led to the National Park Service stating that the urn had been “in storage,” but an anonymous person reported that a memorial specialist found the urn lying on its side in Rock Creek Park near the NPS’s old headquarters. It was repaired for $11,000 and placed in East Potomac Park in 1998 where it now stands.

[ursus]

I have ridden past that urn hundreds if not thousands of times and never stopped to look at it closely.

[Author]

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