Thursday, February 15, 2007

Post creates new access route to Belvoir ruins

Displays and informational boards help visitors visualize what stood on the site. (Photos by Marny Malin)

The Fort Belvoir community will be able to visit one of its favorite historic landmarks throughout the construction of a nearby village.

The Fort Belvoir Residential Communities, Limited Liability Company, built fencing blocking access to Fairfax Village during construction so that sightseers could still access the Belvoir ruins, which are in close proximity, without being in danger of the construction site.

“Access to the trailhead will be maintained throughout construction,” said Mike Dowling, development executive at FBRC, LLC. “Access and parking [will be maintained].”

Visitors will no longer be able to access the national landmark through Fairfax Village; however access will be maintained on Fairfax Drive, which goes through a portion of Belvoir Village.

The ruins site, which is the remains of the Belvoir Mansion, was built between 1731 and 1741 by Col. William Fairfax, said Installation Historian Gustav Person.

Though there are no surviving blueprints, plans or drawings of the house, there is a an artist’s representation of the house that depicts it as being two and a half stories tall with chimneys on both ends of the home. In the drawing, the house is surrounded by gardens, woods and brick fencing.

Eventually the home was left to George William Fairfax, William’s son, who moved back to England after he received the property.

The family enlisted George Washington to rent the mansion and the land. He purchased most of the furnishings in the house and it was rented out to a Dr. Andrew Morton when it burned down in 1783. It was never rebuilt, Person said.

In September 1814, the rest of the mansion was destroyed by British ships in the Potomac River fighting with American shore batteries during the Revolutionary War, said Person.
In the 1930s and 1974 archeological digs were done on the site, and today Fairfax County Historical Society is in possession of the artifacts.

At present, the site remains with informational boards and an outlining of what was once the house. The grave of Fairfax and his wife are also located at the site.

The site is a very popular historic landmark for the Fort Belvoir community, with visitors on a regular basis.

“We’ve maintained a quality of life for residents on base,” said Dowling.

Fairfax Village will be demolished this month and then rebuilt as part of the Privatization Act, Residential Communities Initiative, Dowling said.