Alexandria’s scenic Huntley Meadows Park welcomes thousands of visitors each year to enjoy hiking, nature tours, bird-watching, and other educational programs. But you might not know the parkland’s rich history.
In the late 1700s, the area was part of Founding Father George Mason’s extensive plantation holdings. A Fairfax County native, Mason’s noteworthy historic contributions include attending the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, writing the bulk of the Virginia Declaration of Rights, and founding the town of Alexandria.
50th Anniversary
The federal government acquired most of the land in the early 1900s, and citizens were granted recreational use of part of the area in the early 1970s. Then, on April 26, 1975, President Gerald Ford signed the Legacy of Parks commemorative document, officially designating the land as part of the Fairfax County Park Authority.
Now, 50 years later, the park encompasses 1,554 acres of meadow, woodlands, and wetlands, and it is managed as a wildlife sanctuary.
200th Anniversary
Thomson Mason, a grandson of George Mason, built a home on the property in 1825. The villa, now known as Historic Huntley, was used as a summer retreat, a campsite for troops of the 3rd Michigan Infantry during the Civil War, and, later, farmland. It’s listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the Virginia Landmarks Register, and the Fairfax County Historic House Inventory.
Join the Celebration
The park is offering special tours and programming to celebrate these two monumental anniversaries, including:
April 5, 1–3 p.m.
Art and Architecture Day at Historic Huntley
Tour the historic hilltop home and watch local artists create paintings that are available for purchase. Free, but registration is encouraged
May 4, noon–4 p.m.
Wetlands Awareness Day
Bring the family to celebrate the park’s wetlands and learn about raptors, reptiles, and amphibians. Visitors can explore the interactive exhibits and collect stamps for a prize. Free
May 17, 4:30–5:30 p.m.
Family Hilltop Outing for the 200th Anniversary
Take a guided, family-friendly tour of Historic Huntley and learn the rich history of the house and surrounding park. $10
Through June 1
Huntley Meadows at 50 — Looking Back and Moving Forward
View Huntley Meadows’ historical journey and key milestones through a photographic retrospective at the park’s Norma Hoffman Visitor Center. Free
Huntley Meadows Park: 3701 Lockheed Blvd., Alexandria
Feature image courtesy Fairfax County
This story originally ran in our April Issue. For more stories like this, subscribe to Northern Virginia Magazine.
