Accotink Railroad Station (1890-1904) (Site)

These coordinates mark the exact spot where the flag station was located. No visible remains exist.


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Here follows an excerpt from "The Iron Road of Franconia" book about the railroad written by local historian Nathaniel Lee.

LONG BRANCH STATION: 1872-1890
ACCOTINK STATION: 1890-1904

This railroad line through Fairfax County changed its name several times, which continues to be the cause of much confusion for armchair historians. The Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad Company was chartered in 1834, and the line was finished as far as Fredericksburg by 1837. From this point, passengers bound for Washington took a coach to Aquia Creek and then took a steamboat up the river. The line then extended to join the Pennsylvania Railroad's subsidiary line, the Alexandria and Washington Railroad after the Civil War. In 1872, the name was changed to the Alexandria and Fredericksburg Railroad Company. In 1890, the Washington Southern Railway took control of the railroad through Fairfax County, and then folded into the Richmond - Washington Company as a part of the RF&P Railroad in 1920, which is what most people remember. CSX Transportation finally took over operations along the line in 1991. Confused yet? You should be. That's about six name changes over 150 years for the railroad in Fairfax County. Please read the book "The Iron Road of Franconia" for a more detailed explanation of all the changes.

Richard L. Nevitt deeded over twelve acres of land for the railroad right-of-way construction in 1871, and a station to be called Long Branch. The Long Branch is a tributary creek of Accotink Creek leading from Fort Belvoir to Franconia that crossed his property in a north to south alignment. Long Branch Station was located on the eastern side of the track, and the track ran along what is today Cinder Bed Road, just yards away from the creek that bears its name.

Richard Nevitt was born in 1824 in Maryland to parents William and Rebecca Nevitt. Richard Nevitt was the owner of the nearby Newington house in 1872 when the railroad came through his property. Originally, his home was a Church of England rectory house completed in 1760 for the Truro Parish. It gained the name of Newington after it became the private home of Richard and Sarah McCarty Chichester after 1767. The Nevitt family acquired the house and 1,000 acre tract in 1828. Richard Nevitt was a private in the Sixth Virginia Cavalry during the American Civil War, and occupied the house with his wife until it burned down in April of 1875. Oral history stated that it was the oldest house standing in Fairfax County at the time. Today, the roadside historical marker for the station stands at the entrance to Levelle Dupell Park on Newington Road. The private family cemetery is nearby.

When the Washington Southern Railway Company took over operations in the railroad line in 1890, big changes were on the way. Long Branch Station had a name change to Accotink Station to honor the nearby town that is today completely surrounded by Fort Belvoir on Richmond Highway. It is easy to drive past this little village, and yet, it is so much more than just a shortcut from Fort Belvoir to the Fairfax County Parkway. It was a thriving community in the early nineteenth century founded by the large Quaker community living there before the military condemned all the land around it.

Accotink had a schoolhouse, general store and post office. Its residents were lawyers, carpenters and doctors. While over-farming depleted the soil, the sale of timber was a lifeline for families with large plots of forested land. The gristmill and shipyard on Accotink Bay were big industries. Today, few hints of this history remain, and the town spans only a single city block. The biggest reminders remaining of that history are the 1880 Accotink Methodist Church and cemetery still standing at the center of the community, both listed on the Fairfax County Inventory of Historic Sites.