The Washington & Old Dominion Trail celebrates its 50th anniversary this year, and on Monday Fairfax County supervisors will officially honor the significance of the 45-mile W&OD trail to its more than 2 million yearly users with a resolution.
Fairfax County Supervisors Walter Alcorn of the Hunter Mill District, James Bierman of the Dranesville District, and Dalia Palchik of the Providence District present the resolution at 10 a.m. on Monday, October 7, at the Vienna Train Depot.
During that event, Vienna’s mayor and representatives of the NOVA Parks Board and Fairfax County Public Library will be on hand. They will recognize NOVA Parks’ donation of more than 2,000 photographs and 2,000 original documents to the library’s Virginia Room. That NOVA Parks collection ranges from Washington & Old Dominion Railroad schedules to train tickets to operational memos from the rail line.
The railroad, for which the trail is named, connected Alexandria’s seaport to the rest of Northern Virginia, spurring economic development in Arlington, Falls Church, Vienna, Reston, Herndon, Sterling, Leesburg, and Purcellville.
The Fairfax County Public Library will preserve those railroad-related donations using archival museum-quality materials.
The W&OD Trail, back in September 1974, was just a 6-foot-wide path that ran for 1.5 miles. Over the years it grew and became one of the nation’s first of the more than 2,400 rails-to-trails routes.
NOVA Parks is continually working to enhance the trail to ensure it is user-friendly for the walkers and bicyclists. The parks system, throughout the year, has been hosting events to mark the 50th anniversary.
Feature image of the Washington and Old Dominion Railroad train at the Vienna station courtesy NOVA Parks
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