1938 Woodlawn Schoolhouse

Here follows a history of the school as published on the Fairfax County Public Schools website:

By the school year 1935-36 the community had outgrown the old schoolhouse. The school needed repairs badly but the School Board was planning a new building for Woodlawn. In March, 1936, "Mr. Woodson and a committee of men looked over several sites of land that may be suitable for our new school". The roof of the school was repaired during the summer of 1936, for in September the Parent-Teacher Association purchased a piano for $25.00, "since the roof had been fixed and it was safe to have one." In November 1936, the Parent-Teacher Association authorized teachers to purchase milk daily for undernourished children.

A New Start
On May 28, 1937, 10. 485 acres of land was deeded to the county to erect a new Woodlawn School. "This land was located in the beautiful pasture land with a small wooded knoll which was named Engleside. Not too far away stood Washington's old brick sixteen-sided barn often called the round barn. The new Woodlawn School was a brick structure containing four classrooms, a library, clinic, and principal's office, and was centrally heated. It cost approximately $36,000.

In September 1937, the new school was not ready. As the old building contained only two classrooms, two teachers taught in the community house for the enrollment that had increased from 78 to 162 pupils. Before the children could attend, a bumble bee nest had to be destroyed, doors repaired, and locks installed. The new school was completed by November and on February 11, 1938 a "housewarming" was held. In 1941 two classrooms were added to take care of 219 children.

Enrollment Increases Dramatically
In 1947, when Mrs. Sylvia Allen was principal-teacher, Mrs. Christine Buckman was secured as the first school secretary. The second addition to the school was built in 1948 to take care of 372 pupils. This addition consisted of four classrooms, a cafeteria, kitchen, and teachers' lounge. Mrs. Sylvia Allen now became the first non-teaching principal at Woodlawn. Until 1950 there were just a few faithful members of the Parent-Teacher Association; but, at this time under the leadership of Mr. Lewie D. (Pat) Murphy, it became a very active organization with standing room only at every meeting. This participation has continued.

The school population increased at such a rapid pace that another school was built in 1952 to relieve the overcrowding at Woodlawn. The third addition was made in 1953, consisting of a clinic, auditorium, multi-purpose room and a classroom. On July 23, 1954, 6.35 acres of land were bought to provide adequate play area. Again in 1957, eight classrooms were added while the multi-purpose room was converted into a library and the kitchen was enlarged.

In spite of these additions to the school, there was insufficient space to accommodate the school enrollment. Between 1963 and 1965 two additional schools had to be built in the area to relieve the crowded conditions at Woodlawn when the peak enrollment (763) was reached.

What's in a Name?
Learn more about the history of Woodlawn Plantation and the early years of Woodlawn Elementary School.

Woodlawn Elementary School takes its name from nearby Woodlawn Mansion. In 1799, President George Washington gave some 2,000 acres of land, consisting of farmland, meadows and forests, as a wedding gift to his nephew Lawrence Lewis and his bride Eleanor Parke Custis. Eleanor and Lawrence named their new estate Woodlawn and lived there for almost 39 years. The Lewis's mansion, completed in 1805, was built on a prominent hill which offered magnificent views of the Potomac River and Mount Vernon to the east. In 1846, merchants from New Jersey, who supplied lumber to Northern shipbuilders, visited Fairfax County in search of timber tracts and purchased the Woodlawn estate. Some of these timber merchants and their families settled in the area, dividing Woodlawn into smaller tracts of land. These families were Quakers, part of a Christian religious movement devoted to peaceful principles, many of whom were abolitionists and proponents of public education. The Quakers established and funded one of the area’s first public schools which they named Woodlawn. In 1870, the Fairfax County public school system was established in accordance with the new Virginia constitution and the Woodlawn School was incorporated into the new system. From 1870 to 1965, Fairfax County public schools were segregated by race, so the Woodlawn School only educated children from white families. The school was located close to present day Talbott Farm Drive off of Route 1, which at that time was known as the Accotink Turnpike. The schoolhouse was, at first, a one-room frame structure and had expanded to two rooms by 1922. The rooms were heated by wood-burning stoves. During the autumn of 1924, one of these stoves overheated and the school caught fire while the children were inside. A history of the Woodlawn School records that a student stood up and calmly said, "The schoolhouse is on fire, we had better get our coats and hats and get out." Soldiers from the Camp Humphreys Fire Department responded and managed to save the children's desks. The school was repaired and remained in operation until 1937 when the current Woodlawn Elementary School opened. The new brick building had four classrooms and was built at a cost of $36,144. Woodlawn Elementary has seen many additions and changes over the years. During renovations in 2015, the oldest portion of the school was preserved and now functions as a meeting space. The history of the early Woodlawn School for white children is well documented and remembered, but there is less information regarding a second schoolhouse also called Woodlawn. Very little has been written about this one because the historic African-American community it served was dislodged by the expansion of Fort Belvoir in 1940. In 1866, a public school for freed slaves, first called the Accotink School and later named the Woodlawn Colored School, was founded near the Woodlawn estate with assistance from the Quakers and the Freedmen's Bureau. This school was located in the historic African-American settlement of Woodlawn, very close to the site of present day Fort Belvoir Upper School. A second schoolhouse was built in the village around 1888. When village residents were forced to move in 1940, many of the children were reassigned to the Gum Springs School approximately four miles away. Today, Woodlawn Elementary School carries on the rich tradition of public education established by both Woodlawn schools. Its namesake, the Woodlawn Mansion, has been a site of the National Trust for Historic Preservation since the early 1950’s and continues to be open for tours today.
Visitors to the site can experience and contrast two historic homes: Woodlawn Mansion and the Pope-Leighey House, a 20th century home designed by renowned architect Frank Lloyd Wright. Go to woodlawnpopeleighey.org for more information.


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Here follows an excerpt from "The Dixie Pig" blog written by Senator Scott Surovell in 2013:

In 1846, the Quaker's of Woodlawn decided to begin educating children in the Woodlawn part of Fairfax County. The used the Woodlawn Mansion as their first school. The school shifted to the miller's cottage for George Washington's Grist Mill, then the Gray's Hill Mansion (near the Belvoir Parade Grounds), and then the Quaker Meeting House (presently standing in Fort Belvoir).

In 1869, the County decided to build a public school in the area and located it on half an acre of donated land on the Accotink Turnpike (U.S. 1). In 1917-18, the structure burned and the two-room school was rebuilt.

There is a ton of other local history associated with the early schools that is covered in the document History of Woodlawn School by Mattie B. Cooper from 1968 which is online here.

The New Deal Fairfax County School Modernization Program:
In 1929, Wilbert Tucker Woodson or W.T. Woodson was appointed as FCPS Superintendent. He served until 1961. Here's what the book A History of Fairfax County says:

There was little interest in public schools among the older and more influential citizens who through long Virginia tradition preferred private schools and academies. This group included the local politicians and large land owners, many of whom bitterly opposed repeated requests for increases in taxes for schools and used many means to deny them. The government workers, many being relatively new residents of the county, were interested in public schools and did not think the small rural schools offered the opportunities they felt their children should have. Because the children of government workers of the district or federal level were admitted free in the urban schools of Washington, and since public transportation on the steam and electric railways and by bus was economical and convenient for most county children, many parents sent their children to Washington schools. Thus, this group which would naturally have exerted a strong influence for improvement of the local school system in the county was solving the problem of educating their children in another way. A History of Fairfax County by Nan Netherson, Page 573.

Woodson commenced a FCPS modernization program to "replace the pot bellied stoves, water buckets, outhouses, pumps, and open wells, with modern heating systems, running water, and indoor plumbing, along with better learning and teaching facilities." FCPS obtained a loan from the Virginia Literary Fund and a grant from the Public Works Administration (PWA) with the Federal Government.

The first "new" school was Franconia Elementary in 1931 - it was demolished in 2010 as part of FCPS' renovation. The second was Groveton in 1933 - demolished in 1991 and moved to its current site. The old Groveton Elementary site is now The Beacon Apartments. Centreville and Lorton Elementaries were built in 1934. Centreville is now Mountain View Alternative School and Lorton Elementary is still standing but no longer used as a school. Fairfax High School was built in 1934 and then sold in the early 1980's. Today, it is Paul VI Catholic High School.

Front Door at Woodlawn Elementary:
Woodlawn Elementary School was built in 1937. It is the oldest public school in the 44th District and is the oldest New Deal Era school still standing in the entire County that is used as it was originally designed - a public elementary public school.

Fairview Elementary was built in 1938 - it's original section is completely buried in new construction (here's an aerial picture).

In 1939, Mt. Vernon High School was built. In 1974, Walt Whitman Middle School was expanded and became the present Mt. Vernon High School and the 1939 building was renamed Walt Whitman Middle School. In 1983, Stephen Foster Intermediate School was renamed Walt Whitman after Fort Hunt High School was closed, and the 1939 building was deeded to the County. Today, the original 1939 building is owned by Fairfax County but leased by the Islamic Saudi Academy.

Burke, Dunn Loring and the Vienna Colored School (Louise Archer) were also built in 1939. Burke Elementary is now known as Burke School and is used for special education students. Dunn Loring is a Fairfax County Administrative Center. Louise Archer Elementary is still used as an elementary school in the Town of Vienna on Nutley Street.

Woodlawn's Uniqueness
The original 1937 Woodlawn Elementary building was based on a design by the Virginia State Board of Education and constructed by a firm from Newport News, Virginia.

It is built in the Colonial Revival style like old Mt. Vernon High School. It has many unique features. You do not see doorways like the one at the right in modern schools. It has a slate pitched roof. The tile work in the school is unique. The door hardware is unique along with the interior doors and windows (exterior windows were replaced). The original ceilings are very high - although they were covered at some point to install air conditioning and forced air heating.

The structure itself was constructed out of brick and woodframe. It is build on a crawlspace. The floors sit on wooden joists. They don't build schools like this any more. Each of the crawlspace vents has "VSBE" forged into them - Virginia State Board of Education. After its construction in 1937, the building saw additions in 1938, 1947, 1952, 1956, 1986, and 1987.

Application for Historic Listing
FCPS applied for listing on the Virginia State Register of Historic Places in 2012 to access tax credits as part of the renovation. You can read part of the listing here. The building barely missed listing criteria due to how the application was framed. Properties frequently need to be resubmitted for listing after feedback.

In December I spoke with the Virginia Department of Historic Preservation and they said that given the school's many additions, in addition to it still utilizing the oldest structure, it is also an excellent example of FCPS' changing facility needs through the last eight decades. A local Mt. Vernon historic architect who formally chaired the Fairfax County Architecture Review Board, Richard Bierce, has offered to conduct and assessment and draft a revised application at no charge to FCPS.

Where Things Stand Today
On February 3, 2013, The Fairfax County History Commission wrote to FCPS and asked that the historic designation application be resubmitted with the ultimate goal of preserving the older part of the school and renovating with the use of federal tax credits. You can read the letter here. No response has been received.

At this time, it appears that FCPS is not willing to reconsider their decision and says that the oldest part of the school must be demolished to make the building compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act. FCPS also would like to improve the flow of cars at the school.

Obviously, many historic buildings are renovated and remain intact such as The United States Capitol. The primary problem is that the older part of the school is about ten steps higher than the new part necessitating a lift or a ramp.

Many people in the community I have spoken with are disappointed with this decision to demolish one of the oldest public assets in our community now that they are just starting to learn about it. I am hopeful that FCPS will reconsider its decision after hearing more from the community. I also hope that FCPS will adopt a more comprehensive strategy to protect and honor our historic assets instead of continuing to demolish our older schools.