Mount Air (Historical Marker)

Here follows the inscription written on this roadside historical marker:

Mount Air:
The original 522-acre plantation was granted to Dennis McCarty in 1727 and passed through the hands of only three additional families: the Chichesters, Landstreets and Kernans. Mount Air represents in microcosm a history of Fairfax county--the rise and fall of an economy based on tobacco in the 18th century; the subdivision of vast tracts of land after the American Revolution; and the damage that occurred from military occupation during the Civil War. Fire destroyed the Greek Revival style house in 1992. The charred foundation, gardens and outbuildings are a testament to the changes in fortune and fashion reflecting the lives of many generations of owners.

Marker Erected 2006 by The Fairfax County History Commission.


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Here follows the inscription written on a nearby historical marker standing next to the remains of the home inside the park area:

Mount Air Historic Site
Mount Air: The Story of a Home

Keeping it in the Family:
The McCarty’s who built Mount Air, were an important Virginia family. Dennis McCarty patented the land where you stand in 1727. Dennis McCarty served as Sheriff, Justice of the Peace, a vestryman from Truro Parish and was a representative in the Virginia House of Burgesses. He married George Washington’s cousin, Sarah Ball in 1724.

By 1732, the McCarty’s had a house and garden on the property. There was also a public warehouse on his land, used to store produce that would have been shipped to England. Many generations of McCarty descendants continued to live in the house. In about 1850, the house was damaged by fire for the first time. We learned this through archaeology and historical documents. The house was rebuilt or repaired and sold out of the family in 1860.

On the Verge of War:
In 1860, Aristides Landstreet, his wife Mary, and his family moved into Mount Air. When the Civil War started, Aristides enlisted with the Confederate Army. For a time his family remained at Mount Air, near the shifting lines of Confederate and Union troops. Finally, the estate was occupied by Union troops, and the family relocated for the duration of the war. The house and the lands suffered greatly as a result of the war. The property value declined over the years and after Aristides died in 1910, his daughters were forced to mortgage and subsequently to sell the property in 1914.

From Home to Historic Site:
In 1914, George (sic) Shirley Kernan purchased Mount Air. In 1918, Mrs. Kernan made the grounds available as quarters for the Army men who were constructing a railroad to Camp Humphreys (now Fort Belvoir). Abandoned lumber from this encampment was used to panel one of the rooms in the main house and to construct a garage. In 1962, Mrs. Kernan left the estate to her daughter, Elisabeth Enochs. Although Elisabeth traveled extensively in her work for the Children’s Bureau and as a journalist, her home remained at Mount Air. Sometime in the 1960s, Elisabeth began exploring means of preserving Mount Air. In 1969 the main house was registered with the Fairfax County Historic Landmarks Survey. Several weeks after Elisabeth died in May of 1992, the main house at Mount Air was completely consumed by fire.

(Sidebar):
Mount Air: A Journey Through Time

1727 Dennis McCarty is granted a patent for a 522 acre tract on Accotink Creek.
1732 Bill of lading for plants from England probably
1758 Mount Air deeded to Daniel McCarty.
1792 Property passes to his wife Sinah McCarty.
1798 Property bequeathed to Daniel McCarty the younger.
c.1814 Sarah McCarty Chichester buys Mount Air.
1826 Property bequeathed to Pitt Chichester.
1828 Pitt Chichester deeds Mount Air to wife, Francis Chichester.
1850? House seriously damaged by fire.
1860 Francis Chichester sells Mount Air to Aristides Landstreet.
1862? Mount Air occupied by Union troops; Landstreets relocate.
1910 Mount Air bequeathed to Landstreet daughters.
1914 Mount Air sold to Mrs. George Shirley Kernan.
1918 304th Regiment camps at Mount Air.
1962 Mount Air bequeathed to daughter Elisabeth Enochs.
1984 Mount Air Historic District designated by Office of Comprehensive Planning.
1992 Elisabeth Enochs dies; main house destroyed by fire.
1997 Mount Air Historic Site conveyed to Fairfax County Park Authority.

Marker Erected by Fairfax County Park Authority.

More about this marker:
The marker features two photographs captioned, Mount Air, ca. 1960 and Mount Air Engulfed in Flames, May 19, 1992.

On the lower right of the marker are credit notes: Much of what we know about Mount Air is the result of the research of Edith Moore Sprouse (1924-2004) which resulted in the publication of Mount Air: Fairfax County Virginia in 1970. Another source of information is the photographic images and copies of Mount Air before it burned. We are particularly indebted to William Edmund Barrett for his art and technique. A third source is the result of archaeological research conducted by the staff of, and consultants to, the Resource Management Division of the Fairfax County Park Authority. Photograph of Mount Air engulfed in flames, May 19, 1992. Photo: Steve and Jackie McNeal. Published in the Fairfax Chronicles, Volume 15, 1993, Page 1.


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Here follows an excerpt on the historic house from Samantha Nichols and the Atlas Obscura team:

THIS LAND WAS ORIGINALLY A plantation inhabited by Dennis McCarty, who was the sheriff, Justice of the Peace, and a representative in the Virginia House of Burgesses. His wife Sarah Ball was George Washington’s cousin.

The massive parcel was claimed from Lord Fairfax by McCarty, whose first house on the property was built in the 1730s. Following Mccarty’s death in 1742, the plantation was willed to his wife and deeded to his eldest son, Daniel. The land would remain in the family for over a century. The plantation had grown to 1,071 acres by 1851 but was reduced to 809 acres after a fire in 1859. The house was rebuilt and sold out of the family the following year.

In 1860, Aristides Landstreet and his family moved into Mount Air. After enlisting in the Confederate Army at the start of the Civil War, Landstreet and his family were driven out by Union troops and forced to relocate. The war took a huge toll on the property. By 1914, four years after the death of Aristides Landstreet, his daughters were forced to sell the land.

The third and final family to own the property were George and Shirley Kernan, who shared the grounds with army men who were building a railroad to Camp Humphreys, now known as Fort Belvoir. In 1962, the estate was bequeathed by Shirley Kernan to her daughter, Elisabeth Enochs, who made her home there until her death in 1992. Several weeks later, her plans to preserve the home were stymied by a raging fire that completely consumed the house, leaving charred remains and scattered relics across the landscape. In 1997, the Mount Air Historic Site was conveyed to the Fairfax County Park Authority.

Several weather-beaten markers can be found on the grounds. Though difficult to make out, the history of this storied estate can still be seen on most of the signage.


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Here follows an excerpt from the 1970 Fairfax County Master Inventory of Historic Sites which contained entries from the Historic American Buildings Survey Inventory:

The Mount Air property was a 1727 land grant from Lord Fairfax to Dennis McCarty and has been owned by only three families since that time. Much of the original grant is now incorporated within Fort Belvoir.

The wing of the existing structure, a two-story frame unit, appears to have been erected about 1830,according to Henry Judd of the Historic American Building Survey. Much of the original woodwork remains in the dining room and rear rooms even though they have been converted for modern living. The main portion of the house dates from 1859 and was built on the site of an earlier McCarty house. There was once a secret staircase in a cupboard in the library. Many additions and alterations have been made in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The structure shows the evolution of a residence altered to meet the needs of its occupants for over a hundred years, with no attempt to restore it to a single period of time. The house contains many valuable antiques, including furniture once owned by the Custis family and also furniture which was a gift from the Empress Eugenie from France.

Dennis McCarty, the original owner of the property, was appointed a Justice of the Peace when Prince William County was formed in 1731 (including the area out of which Fairfax County was formed in 1742). His daughter Ann married William Ramsay, the first Mayor of Alexandria. His son Daniel was one of the original Town Trustees of Colchester.

Many of the large trees and shrubs date back to the earlier periods of the house. There are large lilac and boxwood allees in the garden.


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Here follows an excerpt from the history of Mount Air as prepared by the Village of Mount Air:

The origins of Mount Air date back to 1727 before the United States was an independent country.
Major Dennis McCarty was the first to live in Mount Air after claiming a 522-acre parcel of land from Lord Fairfax. A house was known to have existed as early as the 1730s but was subsequently destroyed by fire.
The first Mount Air Plantation House was built prior to 1806. It was partially destroyed by fire and rebuilt on the same foundations in 1859, where it was remodeled several times until 1992, where the remains of the last house are now located. The history of the plantation is quite crucial in the development of southern Fairfax County.

Major McCarty was appointed sheriff in 1728, Justice of the Peace in 1729, and a representative in the House of Burgesses for the newly formed Prince William County in 1731. On March 25, 1742, Dennis McCarty died and was buried on the plantation grounds. Mount Air Plantation was left to his wife in his will, which was then deeded to their oldest son, Daniel McCarty. The land included Mount Air Plantation and 1,003 acres in Loudoun County. By 1851 The Mount Air plantation was 1,071 acres, but after a fire in 1859, the acreage shrunk to 809. The latest house on the property was rebuilt on the existing foundations that same year.

The final family to live on the plantation was Mrs. George (the feminine form of “Georges”) Shirley Kernon before she moved to Oklahoma in search for land. In 1984 the Board of Supervisors approved the recommendations to make Mount Air a Historic Overlay District within Fairfax County.

The overlay district was created to protect against the destruction of the historic and architectural quality of the landmark; Encourage its uses which would lead to its continuance, conservation, and improvement; and to assure that new uses within the district would be in keeping with the character to be preserved and enhanced.

The approval was finally achieved because Mrs. Elisabeth Shirley Enochs, the last owner of Mount Air, sold a 38+ acre parcel to a developer to build townhouses. With the Overlay District in place, the developer was severely limited to the number of houses and the style that could be built on the land. Construction of the 182 townhomes began in 1986 and completed in 1989. There remains a large buffer of natural trees and forest to protect the remaining 25 acres of the estate.

An architectural description of the property was completed in 1970 with the assistance of Fairfax County Heritage Resources.

“Mount Air is Greek Revival in style. The main section has three stories, with a balancing room arrangement and dimensions. The white clapboard siding on the exterior is seemingly contemporary except for that on the east end of the kitchen it appears to have boards of larger size. On the north front, the columns supporting the portico were previously set on brick piers, with no porch. The porch was already in use by 1914 although the wooden steps have since been replaced by brick.”

Only a few weeks after the death of Mrs. Enochs the house was destroyed by a fire of unknown origin on May 19, 1992. The structure was fully engulfed when firefighters from both Fort Belvoir and Fairfax County responded and the firefighters had to lay over one-half mile of hose to the remotely located building.

The house was completely destroyed with the exception of the brick foundation walls, chimney, fireplaces, and several portions of the columns. Several of the outbuildings remain. The remaining parcel from the Mount Air plantation was sold to the Van Metre Development Corporation soon after for development into a single family residential community.

There are plans to preserve and incorporate the ruins of the mansion into a natural setting park, currently being coordinated with the Fairfax County Park Authority.


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Here follows an excerpt from the Fairfax County's mission statement for The Mount Air Historic Overlay District, as established in 1984 to protect the Mount Air house and grounds.

GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS:
1. The Mount Air mansion house is a landmark 19th century structure which dominates its nearly twenty-six acre site.
2. The Mount Air complex also consists of outbuildings arranged linearly to the rear (south) of the house and formal gardens and plantings. These are integral features of the site.
3. A 1000 foot long, unpaved driveway running north to south through open fields leads to the house. This approach gradually reveals the house as it is neared.
4. The west half of the Mount Air property is wooded.
5. A wooded buffer between 50 and 20D feet deep screens the perimeter of the Mount Air property.
6. North of the Mount Air property are new townhouses which relate outward to Telegaraph Road, not to the Mount Air site. In the winter, they are visible through trees from Mount Air.

HISTORICAL 8ACKGROUND:
Like many rural houses, Mount Air has had a succession of owners and building campaigns. The McCartys, a prominent colonial Virginia family, owned the Mount Air property in the 18th century; several maps prepared by George Washington showing his neighbors' properties indicate this site as Colonel McCarty's residence. The main portion of the present house dates from 1859, when it was rebuilt following a fire, but the east wing may date from ca. 1820. The property remained in the McCarty and Chichester families until 1860 when Aristides Land street of 8altimore purchased the property. While he served in the Confederate Army, his family lived at Mount Air. Confederate and Union troops stopped at Mount Air for supplies, and, in the case of the Union troops, even used the property and house as a camp. Mrs. Land street was imprisoned for three months on charges of giving aid to the Confederates; after her release, she did successfully signal to Southern troops at Pohick Church that Union troops occupied Mount Air.

The mother of the current owner purchased the property in 1914. Army engineers building a railroad spur to the recently begun Fort Humphrey (now Fort Belvoir) camped on the Mount Air property in 1918; they named their encampment 'Camp Merry Widow' in honor of the owner, Mrs. Kernan.

Condemnation by the Corps of Engineers for the expansion of adjacent Fort Belvoir reduced the property to its current twenty-six acres. Today, the Mount Air house, its outbuildings, and formal gardens remain intact, a unique survivor in eastern Fairfax County of an antebellum plantation with earlier colonial associations. It continued to playa role in later events, such as the Civil War, the area's subsequent economic hardships, the purchase of old plantations by an influx of newcomers in the early 20th century, and the construction of Fort Belvoir.

CONTRIBUTING FEATURES OF THE DISTRICT:

ARCHITECTURE: Though portions of the brick foundation may date from the mid-18th-century, no above-ground sections remain from that period. Most of the structure dates from the 1850s, with a portion of the much-modified east wing remaining from the 1820s. Much of the interior trim was installed during repairs completed in the 1870s. A two-story, three-bay portico with a low pediment dominates Mount Air's main three-story wing. The symmetrical front facade has an elaborate door surround of sidelights, transom window, and pediment and tall ground-floor windows with delicate muntins. Mount Air (Sprouse: 1970) fully documents the architecture of the house. Behind the house, to the south, stand several outbuildings which are integral features of the site. Of the four small frame cabins which survived into the 20th century, two remain. Behind them is a large frame barn with a small rustic Greek Revival portico. From the early 20th century, the pumphouse and garage with living quarters above remain.

HISTORIC AND CONTRIBUTING PROPERTIES:
In the report sUbstantiating the zoning amendment that established the Mount Air Historic Overlay District, only the Mount Air house and grounds (8600 Accotink Road, parcel number 99-4-001-47) are
listed as historic. No contributing properties are listed.

LANDSCAPE AND SITE FEATURES:
Impressive, mature plantings surround the house. The house and gardens are on a small plateau; around that, the land slopes down. The approach to the house is from the north, on the most level portion of the property. On the north side of the house are three large trees, two ash and one osage orange. On the east side, a lilac alley creates a partially enclosed lilac garden. A boxwood row marks the edge of the formal garden and at the rear, beyond the small outbuildings, is a boxwood alley. Throughout the east gardens are several varieties of ornamental trees.

Beyond the land immediately around the house and one other clearing west of the driveway, are woods, which perform an important screening function. Kernan Run, a small stream part of the Accotink Creek watershed, runs through the wooded western end of the property. Before the trees south of the property grew to their current height, the house had a view down Accotink Creek to Accotink Bay, Gunston Cove, and beyond to the Potomac. From the west porch, Pohick Church could once be seen in the distance.

ARCHAEOLOGY:
The Mount Air property is rich with archaeological potential. Archaeological investigations might fix the location of the 18th century structures and reveal information about the chronology of the existing house and outbuildings. Artifacts and sites associated with military encampments during the Civil War and World War I are also likely to be located on the property. The only recorded archaeological site is an old farm road leading from Telegraph Road into the property (44 FX 966).

GOAL FOR THE DISTRICT:
The goal of the historic district is to protect against destruction of the historic and architectural quality of Mount Air, to encourage uses which will lead to its continuance, conservation, and improvement, and to assure that new uses within the district will be in keeping with the character to be preserved and enhanced.


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Here follows an excerpt from the Fall 2008 edition of the "Franconia Legacies" newsletter published by the Franconia Museum and written by Dr. Kenneth Stuart McAtee:

Mount Air Has A “Hard” Presence:
Among the early visitors to Mount Air were a part of a prestigious list: George Washington, Robert E. Lee, Alexander Graham Bell, Francis Parkinson Keys and General William Walker.

Many events occurred at this old plantation in Fairfax County located between Telegraph and Accotink Roads in the area of Lorton. In 1724 Dennis McCarty went to challenge a duel with his sweetheart’s rejected suitor. Later he married this lass (Sarah) whose father was a cousin of George Washington. Only a few months previous to the nuptials McCarthy’s father had died leaving the 522 acres to his son. For the next 133 years this property, through both good and bad times, had been passed down in the family. The old home was, as are most old structures, connected with spirits presences.

In the later part of the 1700’s one of the McCarty women had married a cruel man. Richard “Hard” Chichester. For many years the local people remember the cruelty of this man. His ill health and piercing pain was in all probability the causes of his beating his slaves to the point that they ran away to escape him. When Hard Chichester died in 1796, it occurred in a down stairs bedroom at Mount Air. A Slave in the presence of his master told of the devil escaping him from under the deathbed in the form of a red rabbit.

Later, 124 years after his death in 1820, lightning struck Hard’s tombstone in the Newington family graveyard. The first three letters of the name Richard were broken from the tombstone. Although there was no evidence of footprints in the area – the fragment with the letters RIC carded upon it was never found. Thus the remaining word HARD (from RICHARD) was in evidence in the name of this hard taskmaster. Did the Devil (red rabbit) revisit in revenge?


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Here follows an excerpt from Nathaniel Lee's book, "The Iron Road of Franconia" that talks about the railroad:

The other major spur that connected to the Washington Southern Railway was the Fort Belvoir Military Railroad, so named after the estate established on the property in 1740. The elegant brick mansion called “Belvoir” belonged to William Fairfax. He was the area tax collector of his day and a cousin to Lord Thomas Fairfax, from whom Fairfax County takes its name. The Belvoir mansion stood watch over the Potomac River for 43 years before a fire gutted it in 1783. During the War of 1812, American forces dug in on the slopes below the house during the four-day Naval Battle of the White House in 1914. What was left of the Belvoir mansion was destroyed by British cannon fire during the battle. The home foundations and adjacent family cemetery are on the National Register of Historic Places.

In 1917, the United States declared war against Germany and entered the fighting in the First World War. The U.S. Army purchased property on the Belvoir peninsula south of the town of Accotink in order to train and prepare engineers for combat in Europe. Unfortunately, getting to the property was another matter entirely. In the closing months of 1917, Virginians were laboring through the harshest winter seen in decades.

Never intended to stand up to the snow or heavy hauling, the muddy farm roads in the vicinity were practically impassable. It took six strong horses to pull an empty wagon down the King’s Highway, and shipping was not an option either, as the Potomac River had frozen over. To assist in the mobilization efforts of troops and supplies, President Woodrow Wilson ordered the United States Railroad Administration to take over the operation of most of the country’s railroads, including the Washington Southern Railway. The construction of a dedicated military railroad was one of the first priorities.

A five-mile-long railroad spur was to be constructed between the main line of the Washington Southern Railway at Accotink Station and the site of Camp Humphreys (present-day Fort Belvoir), which was then under construction. On the morning of January 29, 1918, the Second Battalion of the 304th Engineers departed their headquarters at Camp Meade, Maryland, and arrived by train at Accotink Station three hours later, greeted by a blizzard. In true Army fashion, the men piled out of the train cars for their first ever backpack hike. Five miles of rugged forested country lay before them, and after trudging for hours through six inches of snow, they came to Camp Humphreys just as it began to darken. The barracks, when they reached them, were dirty and cold with just a folding canvas bunk to greet them.

The next day the raging blizzard continued as the men walked five miles with only a sandwich for their lunch to where their campsite was to be. There they worked in the snow all day, ate their cold lunch out in the open and brushed the snowflakes from their sandwiches as they ate. For a week thereafter, the men worked every day constructing their new camp. Mrs. George S. Kernan of the Mount Air plantation house played the kind host to the battalion on her land, and they named their encampment “Camp Merry Widow” in honor of her, while others, less grateful, give it the more obvious nickname of “Camp Mud.”

The Second Battalion began construction of the railroad from Accotink Station, while another group of engineers started to work from Camp Humphreys. Leaving the main railroad line, the proposed railroad right-of-way entered heavily wooded ground, crossed several valleys, plowed through a slight rise and passed their campsite. It then skirted the village of Accotink and crossed several more valleys and streams until it arrived at Camp Humphreys.

The work required various jobs such as cutting timber, flattening hills, filling valleys and building four trestle bridges. The largest of these bridges was some six hundred feet long. The bridge would have a six-degree turn, a two percent grade, and required especially accurate workmanship. The men measured, cut and placed the timbers for the bridge. They cut down timbers for the bridge from the surrounding forest and hauled them from where they grew. Toward the end of the work, when extra speed was called for, they installed a series of electric lights around the bridge. Work continued both day and night.

The battalion managed to complete this project and build passable roads through the area in less than seventy-five days. The battalion left Accotink and returned to their headquarters at Camp Meade, Maryland on April 14, 1918. These same men would be building bridges under German fire in France just a few months later. Victory over Germany would come in November of that year.

When the Fort Belvoir Military Railroad was finished, the power to pull the numerous boxcars, flatcars, coaches and Pullmans came from large steam engines supposedly used in building the Panama Canal. Two engines stayed busy during the First World War. When peace came, one became a stand-by engine. These locomotives ran from 1918 until about 1941 when diesels replaced them. Different engineering schools, including the Light Railway School, took advantage of the railroad as an instructional tool. There were units often learning the hands-on skills needed in building, maintaining and operating a railroad.

The Washington Southern Railway would remain under federal control for a total of 26 months. On February 29, 1920, by proclamation from the President of the United States, operational control of the railway returned to the RF&P Railroad, who officially absorbed the Washington Southern Railway into their own system and the Washington Southern name relegated to the history books.

Over the years, Camp Andrew A. Humphreys continued to grow in size. Many of the area Quaker families lost their land to the fort’s continued expansion and moved away. The name changed in 1935 to Fort Belvoir after President Franklin Roosevelt visited nearby Gunston Hall and learned of the historical associations with the Army property. The military railroad operated until 1997, a span of 79 years. The Base Realignment and Closure agreement, as well as the widening of Richmond Highway, meant the tracks and bridges were finally destroyed to bring the military and the surrounding community into the twenty-first century.