The earliest photos of Vienna that I’m aware of are from the Civil War, and among those photos are four that stand out because they give us a view of a particular landscape, Ayr Hill Farm (Figures 1, 6, 7, and 8). The photo in Figure 1, from February 1864,… Continue reading
The former house on the southeast corner of Park & Church Streets NE in Vienna (see Figure 1) and the lot upon which it sat have an interesting history, including connections to local political figures of the past and two doctors, a prominent place in the Vienna social scene of… Continue reading
If you happen to use the Washington and Old Dominion bike trail between Vienna and Hunter Mill Road, take a few steps off the trail at Clarks Crossing Road to appreciate the charming, century-old house on the south side of the road. (From the sidewalk or road, of course, given… Continue reading
Introduction Mid-2022 was the end for the 87-year-old house that sat on the west side of Beulah Road’s 500 block in northeast Vienna (see Figures 1 through 3). When David and Dora Gheen sold the house in the mid-1970s, they had owned it for more than 30 years, longer than… Continue reading
Introduction This article is a history of Beechwood, a small subdivision organized largely around Sideling Court along Beulah Road at the Vienna Town line. The article tracks property transactions from the Colonial Era to the the establishment of the subdivision and Sideling Court in the 1970s. As part of the… Continue reading
This article is a biographical sketch of Reginald Fairfax, who owned land in the Vienna area in the mid-1800s. The article is based on a post I made on Nextdoor in early 2021, looking at the history of the area northwest of Northeast Vienna, Virginia. Introduction: From the Northern Neck… Continue reading
The Thornton Brothers This post begins the biography of the Thornton brothers and one of their cronies, Samuel Stead. Benjamin Thornton in 1852 acquired land in the Vienna area from Reginald Fairfax. Between them, the Thorntons and Stead owned property in the Vienna area from 1852 to 1883. (See Figure… Continue reading
This post discusses the Van Riswick family. From 1883 to 1906, the Van Riswicks owned some 300 acres just outside Northeast Vienna and extending into the Town itself (see Figure 1). The Van Riswicks were a well-to-do DC family. The patriarch had prominent roles in DC business and government affairs, to include… Continue reading
For 40 years in the 20th century, the Pearson family owned land within the area that is just to the northwest of northeast Vienna and is today bounded by Beulah Road to the east, the Vienna Town line to the south, the W&OD bike trail to the west, and Clarks… Continue reading
“J.T. Watson…was from the ‘valley,’” according to George Atkisson’s 1978 history of Vienna’s Antioch Christian Church, referring to the Shenandoah Valley. John Thomas Watson was born in 1879 to Benjamin and Matilda Watson in Middletown, Virginia, according to birth and marriage records. Middletown is in the Shenandoah Valley near today’s western… Continue reading