Hayfield (Historical Marker)

Here follows the inscription written on this trailside historical marker on a pedestal in the middle of the park's central pavilion:

Hayfield
In 1785, shortly after the Revolutionary War, George Washington deeded 460 acres of his Dogue Run Farm to Lund Washington, a third cousin and the "faithful and trusted manager" of the General's Mount Vernon estate. The tract was named "Hayfield" and a brick dwelling house, completed in 1784 by Lund in anticipation of General Washington's return home, was the site's only substantial structure during Lund Washington's ownership. Upon his death, the farm was conveyed to Lund's widow, Elizabeth Foote. Thereafter Hayfield was used by various owners as a school, cattle farm and residence.

Perhaps the most unique feature of Hayfield was its Round Barn, built for William Clarke between 1874 and 1887. Clarke's "Big Red Barn" stood 100 feet high, 100 feet in diameter as a 16-sided, double octagonal shaped barn. Damaged by fire in 1892, Clarke quickly improved the building with an open circular threshing floor, a 250-ton silo at the center, and 200 steps leading to a cupola which topped the new roof. Farm manager J.H. Shertzer boasted that the enormous barn could store 400 tons of provender (hay) and that a wagon and team of six horses might drive around the inside with ease. The structure was indeed a "large and commodious barn" adorned with gutters, downspouts and cast iron ornaments in which the initials "W.E.C." were the central design.

Lund Washington's brick house was destroyed by fire in 1917. Hayfield's second Round Barn outlasted successive changes in ownership until it too was lost in a fire on September 22, 1967.

Erected by Fairfax County Park Authority Resource Management Division


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Here follows an excerpt from Donald Hakenson's "This Forgotten Land" tour guide:

The Hayfield farm belonged to Lund Washington. George Washington sold 460 acres of Mount Vernon to Lund Washington for overseeing Mount Vernon while he was away fighting in the Revolutionary War. The house was destroyed by fire in October 1916. The circular sixteen sided barn patterned after the original barn built by George Washington was built in 1893 and was destroyed by arson in the late 1960's.

CAPTAIN FREDERICK RICHARD WINDSOR, FIFTH VIRGINIA CAVALRY
Captain Windsor was born in Alexandria in 1832. He was the son of Richard and Ann M. (Lowe) Windsor, and lived at Hayfield. Windsor's occupation before the war was attorney. He also went to California as a "forty-niner." He remained there four years. Also, Beulah Street and Hayfield Road and a former railway stop were named "Windsor" in honor of the family.

Captain Windsor enlisted May 15, 1862 at Richmond, Virginia. Union Colonel R.D. Goodwin claimed a Negro servant, owned by Windsor, informed against his master as being a colonel in the rebel army, then about to go to his regiment.

The Union captain in command went with a squad of his men and overtook Windsor on the road. He had his carpet-bag, containing his uniform, a brace of pistols, and other items with him. Windsor offered the Union captain all his money ($500) if he would let him go, but the captain was one of those men who would not be bought. The temper of the rebel then gave way, and Windsor declared that he was a secessionist, and would never be anything else; also that he would soon be out of the scrape.

Windsor then wrote a letter to his friend Union General Irvin McDowell, who promptly sent orders for Windsor's release. At the same time McDowell ordered the honest Union captain into confinement, but was never brought to trial.

It was reported that Captain Windsor was wounded between June 3, 1863 until he was captured June 17, 1863 at Aldie, Virginia. He was sent to the Old Capital Prison, in Washington City. On August 2, 1863, he was sent to Johnson's Island, in Lake Michigan. He was exchanged on February 24, 1865 at City Point, Virginia.

He was a resident of Fairfax County. He was described as dark complexion, brown hair, gray eyes, and six feet tall. he died October 28, 1893, at age sixty-four, and was buried at Methodist Protestant Cemetery, in Alexandria.


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Here follows an article from the Connection newspapers written by Mike Salmon on April 10, 2020:

A Burning Barn was Part of Hayfield Farm’s Past
The second of three articles exploring historic Telegraph Road in southern Fairfax County.

Heading north from Mount Air, past several gated entrances to Fort Belvoir, is Hayfield Farm, a development that was built in the 1960s in an area that was considered country at that time. Now there is the community of Hayfield Farm, as well as a shopping center, elementary and high school, and a connecting townhouse community up the hill called Hayfield View.

In 1761, George Washington bought the land to grow hay on for his livestock, which was how it first got the name Hayfield. After the Revolutionary War, Washington sold the land and mansion to his cousin Lund Washington in 1785 for managing the Mount Vernon plantation and mansion at Mount Vernon while he was away in the war.

Lund Washington and Elizabeth Foote lived in the manor until her death in 1812, and was buried in a boxwood garden area, according to an old Hayfield Citizens Association newsletter. Her remains were later transported to the Pohick Cemetery at Pohick Church in Lorton.

The land was used for raising cattle in the 1950s until it was purchased by Wills and Van Metre in 1963, and the first house was built in 1965. When the community was built, there was a 16-sided barn on the property, and local lore had the barn belonging to George Washington himself. In reality, the barn was built in 1893 by William Clark, who modeled it after another barn that Washington did build on the Mount Vernon plantation a few miles away. There was a manor house on the Hayfield land near the current park, that was built by Washington himself, but it burned down in 1916.

Barnyard Blues

County officials were considering using the barn for a theater, until Sept. 22, 1967, when the barn was destroyed in a fire. One of the children that lived in the newly built community of Hayfield was playing with matches that started the fire. There were legal wranglings in the aftermath, just before the statute of limitations expired.

The 16-sided barn was 100 feet in diameter and 100 feet high. The middle ceiling was supported by a spiral staircase that led to the cupola. There was talk of turning the barn into a theater of sorts by the county, but those plans were dashed after the fire.

At one time, Hayfield Secondary School was one of the largest schools around, and the gym was used for many activities besides basketball games and school graduations. In the 1970s the Baltimore-Washington Cats roller derby team had a match there, the Harlem Globetrotters put on a show, and after the Washington Redskins played in their first Super Bowl in 1972, the players were part of a presentation in the gym.

Hayfield Farm has a flood plain that backed up to the woods of Fort Belvoir, and during the Vietnam War, soldiers trained in those woods and the gun shots and explosions could be heard by the residents of Hayfield.

North of Hayfield on Telegraph Road is a Coast Guard station that’s been at that location since 1941. It was originally a radio transmitting station that moved over from a location in Fort Hunt, where it had been since 1934. Currently the Coast Guard Honor Guard is stationed at this small station.


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Here follows an excerpt of the Hayfield property history from the Hayfield Farm neighborhood website:

George Washington purchased the property that is now Hayfield Farm from George and Mary Ashford in 1761. When General Washington returned to Mount Vernon after the War of Independence, he sold 360 acres of the western section of Mount Vernon (Hayfield) to his manager and kinsman, Lund Washington, in order to settle a debt. Lund married his cousin, Elizabeth Foote, in 1779. The Hayfield Manor House, where they lived, once stood near the corner of Hayfield Road and Bing Court. Lund died in July 1796 and left everything to his wife. Elizabeth died in 1812, and left her entire estate to her nephew and adopted son, William Hayward Foote.

In 1860, Richard Windsor purchased Hayfield from Francis L. Smith, executor of the Foote estate. William E. Clark bought the property from Mr. Windsor in 1874. During this time, a 16-sided barn was erected, said to be a larger copy of George Washington’s original barn that he built in 1793. The Hayfield barn was destroyed by an accidental fire in 1967.

Joseph R. Atkinson acquired the property in 1906. Mr. J.M. Duncan then purchased Hayfield from Atkinson, and he was the last owner to live in the manor house before it was destroyed by fire in 1917. After the fire, the land conveyed to Hayfield Farm Company, Inc. In June 1918, Stanton R. Norman acquired the property, and he sold the remaining bricks from the ruins of the manor house to collectors. Marguerite Merigold and her mother later purchased 175 acres of the land and allowed the Junior Equitation School to use it.

In 1952, the property was sold to W.S. Banks and W.M. Orr who used the land to raise cattle. Wills and Van Metre, Inc. purchased the land in 1963 and developed the subdivision as it is today. The first home was sold in 1965, and the project was completed in 1972.

If you want to get even more history about Hayfield Farm, check out this article that was included in the “Historic Franconia Legacies” newsletter (pg. 4) in Fall 2009. Or this historical information from a presentation in 2015. Additionally, learn more about how the U.S. Coast Guard was able to secure some of this land in 1939.

The Hayfield Farm Barn (pictured top right) is also rooted in our history, as part of the property owned by George Washington.

Lastly – did you know that the original sales price for a split level was $25,950!?