Seminary Overlook Property (±22.64 acres) City of Alexandria, Virginia WSSI #22385.01 Documentary Study Prepared for: Home Properties, Inc. 8229 Boone Boulevard, Suite 500 Vienna, Virginia 22182 April 2014 Prepared by: John P. Mullen, M.A., RPA and David Carroll 5300 Wellington Branch Drive, Suite 100 Gainesville, Virginia 20155 Tel: 703-679-5600 Email: [email protected] www.wetlandstudies.com ABSTRACT An archival and documentary study was conducted of the ±22 acre Seminary Hill/Seminary Towers property within the City of Alexandria, Virginia. Thunderbird Archeology, a division of Wetland Studies and Solutions, Inc., of Gainesville, Virginia, conducted the study described in this report for the Home Properties, Inc. of Vienna, Virginia. The current study is in compliance with the City of Alexandria Archaeological Protection Code and followed a Scope of Work approved by Alexandria Archaeology. This property was historically part of Fairfax County until 1952, when the City of Alexandria annexed a large tract of land west of Quaker Lane, which included the study area. The property was originally contained with the large Terrett family estate, located south of Falls Church in the 18th and 19th centuries; this estate was subdivided in 1851. The study area was contained within Lot 1 of the subdivision; this was a ±142-acre parcel purchased by William B. Scarce, the proprietor of the Virginia House Tavern in Alexandria. Scarce sold the property to his brother-in-law, Henry Bontz and it remained in the Bontz family until the early 20th century. Ruth Barkley Warfield and her second husband retired Brigadier General Duncan Kennedy Major, Jr. were the last individual owners of the property, but it is not clear if they resided therein. The study area remained primarily agricultural until the land was developed by Seminary Associates in the last half of the 20th century. This Documentary Study was initiated in anticipation of the planned redevelopment of the Seminary Overlook property. Phase I of the redevelopment will involve the construction of four new multifamily residential buildings within the southern half of the property. Seminary Overlook – Documentary Study WSSI #22385.01 – April 2014 Page i Seminary Overlook – Documentary Study WSSI #22385.01 – April 2014 Page ii TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................................ i TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................................ iii LIST OF EXHIBITS ........................................................................................................ v LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................................... vi INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................. 1 NATIVE AMERICAN OCCUPATION ......................................................................... 3 Prehistoric Overview .................................................................................................... 3 Historic Native American Occupants........................................................................ 11 Native American Sites in the City of Alexandria ..................................................... 12 EARLY EUROPEAN SETTLEMENT, 1608-1749 ..................................................... 14 Land Grants and Patents ........................................................................................... 18 THE GROWTH OF ALEXANDRIA............................................................................ 20 Early National Period (1789-1830) ............................................................................ 22 THE TERRETT FAMILY, 1750-CIRCA 1850 ........................................................... 25 William Henry Terrett ............................................................................................... 25 William Henry Terrett II ........................................................................................... 28 George Hunter Terrett ............................................................................................... 29 ANTEBELLUM ALEXANDRIA, CIRCA 1800-1860 ................................................ 43 Subdivision of the Terrett Estate ............................................................................... 46 Property Ownership - William B. Scarce and Henry Bontz ................................... 52 THE CIVIL WAR YEARS ............................................................................................ 53 Property Ownership During the War Years ............................................................ 57 RECONSTRUCTION, 1865-1917 ................................................................................. 62 Late 19th/ Early 20th Century Property History..................................................... 66 TWENTIETH CENTURY ............................................................................................. 67 World War I to World War II (1917-1945) .............................................................. 67 Property Ownership 1926-1945 ................................................................................. 70 The New Dominion (1945-present) ............................................................................ 76 Post-War Development and Property History ......................................................... 77 SUMMARY OF LAND USE AND OCCUPANTS ...................................................... 80 CURRENT CONDITIONS AND PROPOSED CONSTRUCTION .......................... 82 ARCHEOLOGICAL EVALUATION .......................................................................... 85 Archeological Site Probability ................................................................................... 85 Potential to Locate Archeological Sites and Recommendations ............................. 86 REFERENCES CITED .................................................................................................. 89 APPENDIX I: Scope of Work for Documentary Study ............................................ 101 APPENDIX II: Chain of Title ...................................................................................... 109 APPENDIX III: Transcriptions of Historic Documents ........................................... 113 Seminary Overlook – Documentary Study WSSI #22385.01 – April 2014 Page iii Seminary Overlook – Documentary Study WSSI #22385.01 – April 2014 Page iv LIST OF EXHIBITS Exhibit 1: Location Map ..................................................................................................... 2 Exhibit 2: U.S.G.S. Quadrangle Showing the Study Area.................................................. 4 Exhibit 3: February 2012 Aerial Imagery Showing the Study Area ................................... 5 Exhibit 4: Patents and Northern Neck Grants of Fairfax County ..................................... 19 Exhibit 5: 1807 Bishop Map Showing Fairfax County .................................................... 24 Exhibit 6: Reconstructed 1760 Map Showing Study Area ............................................... 26 Exhibit 7: Plat of Terrett Property Subdivision ................................................................ 47 Exhibit 8: Circa 1867 Copy of Terrett Subdivision Plat ................................................... 50 Exhibit 9: Circa 1867 Plat showing Bontz's Purchase ...................................................... 51 Exhibit 10: 1865 Barnard Map Showing Federal Fortifications Near the Study Area ..... 55 Exhibit 11: 1862 McDowell Map Showing Approximate Location of Study Area ......... 58 Exhibit 12: 1860s Army Corps of Engineers Map Showing the Study Area Vicinity ..... 60 Exhibit 13: Detail of 1860s Map Showing the Study Area .............................................. 61 Exhibit 14: 1878 Hopkins Map Showing the Study Area................................................. 64 Exhibit 15: Detail of 1879 Hopkins Map Showing the Study Area ................................. 68 Exhibit 16: 1894 Hopkins Map Showing the Study Area................................................. 69 Exhibit 17: 1932 U.S.G.S. Quadrangle Showing the Study Area..................................... 72 Exhibit 18: 1937 Black and White Imagery Showing the Study Area ............................. 73 Exhibit 19: 1945 U.S.G.S. Quadrangle Showing the Study Area..................................... 74 Exhibit 20: 1954 Black and White Imagery Showing the Study Area ............................. 75 Exhibit 21: 1956 U.S.G.S. Quadrangle Showing the Study Area..................................... 78 Exhibit 22: 1965 U.S.G.S. Quadrangle Showing the Study Area..................................... 79 Exhibit 23: Conceptual Plan for Phase I of Seminary Overlook ...................................... 83 Exhibit 24: Landbay A Perspective View From Seminary Road ..................................... 83 Exhibit 25: Landbay B Perspective View From Central Green ........................................ 84 Exhibit 26: Conceptual Plan for Seminary Overlook ....................................................... 84 Seminary Overlook – Documentary Study WSSI #22385.01 – April 2014 Page v LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Prehistoric Sites in Alexandria Recorded with the Virginia Department of Historic Resources .................................................................................13 Table