National Park Week

It’s National Park Week and Child’s Play has tagged me for her meme to write about a National Park that I love. She’s particularly interested in Virginia. I could write about so many great and well-known national parks in this area, but I decided to write about a little-known park that is near and dear to my heart.

Fort Hunt Park in Alexandria, Virginia, was originally built to protect Washington, DC during the Spanish American War. About two years ago, however, a more nefarious use as a World War II Nazi interrogation center came to light. Follow the links in this Wikipedia article for some very interesting reading.

I grew up in a neighborhood very close to this park, and we played here all the time. Back then, though, the forts were all covered with overgrowth and the openings had not been blocked off. We used to take flashlights and explore. Of course, those were the days when kids would leave the house in the morning with the promise of being home for lunch or by dark with no mention of exactly what they would be doing! As I grew older (late 1970s, early 1980s), this park was our hang out place. They have since closed the section of the park where most of the “hanging out” went on though, and they’ve even renumbered the remaining sections so people don’t even realize there was another section.

For us now though, Fort Hunt Park is the ultimate place to play. The old forts have been uncovered and the kids love to climb on them and explore the parts that are open. A couple of weeks ago, they even got to look inside a previously inaccessible section of the main fort because someone had broken through the barriers.

I wish I had more pictures to share, but I never seem to have my camera with me when we go.

April 2003

Fort Hunt 1

Fort Hunt 5

Fort Hunt 2

Fort Hunt 6

October 2007

Fort Hunt 3

Fort Hunt 4

Fort Hunt 7

April 17, 2008 | Filed Under Trips and Travel 

Comments

9 Responses to “National Park Week”

  1. debra on April 17th, 2008 8:36 pm

    Looks like a beautiful place. we’re also in a National Park–the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. I’ve written about this beautiful place on my blog.

  2. tribeofautodidacts on April 18th, 2008 7:51 am

    Wonderful pictures! It looks like a lovely park, with a fascinating (albeit somewhat dark) history.

  3. childsplay on April 19th, 2008 1:30 am

    I love the 4 year timespan between pic’s. :)

    Thanks for the links, I’m off to read more about it. I had no idea we did any kind of ‘nazi interrogation’ over here. I love learning this stuff.

    As a kid, this must have been so COOL with all the overgrowth, hidden bunkers, and running around!

    Thanks for sharing.

  4. eman (pronounced A-mon) on April 19th, 2008 1:14 pm

    I am very familiar with the park as I grew up in that area as well. Rumor has it that people even used to go up there to “make out” much like sitting on the Parkway to watch the submarine races.

  5. childsplay on April 19th, 2008 3:20 pm

    I read through the links…wow. This only confirms that I need to start planning another trip to Va. and this time go outside of Jamestown/Williamsburg. My kids would love this.

    I also had to laugh when reading this part:

    “From the colonial era to the present, this site was used as a farm, a Spanish American War coastal fortification, a Civilian Conservation Corps camp, the setting for top secret World War II military intelligence operations (known as “P.O. Box 1142″), and now as a popular picnic area.”

    All these super secret wartime shenanigans…and now I picnic area. Who would’ve thought?

  6. Not June Cleaver on April 19th, 2008 7:32 pm

    Sure eman, I think I may have heard rumors of that sort of stuff. That and activities that required a lighter. Ah, but that was another time, another world…

  7. Not June Cleaver on April 19th, 2008 8:11 pm

    Oh, and Childsplay, a lot of growing happened during those 4 years, for all of us. It is fun to look at pictures over time though, isn’t it?!

  8. Glenda on April 21st, 2008 7:35 am

    Hey, I LOVE those pictures!!

    And no, hiring a nurse isn’t an option. We barely keep the bills paid. We have money for respite care but not nursing. And, since our daughter isn’t disabled enough to actually need a NURSE, there is no help to hire one.

    I am grateful for support from a HS mom. Many people say ” well put her in school, that would give you a break”. It doesn’t actually, but thats another story for another day.

    It’s a new day. I had a good nights sleep and can carry on again. :)

  9. Dawn on April 23rd, 2008 10:31 pm

    You do realize that in the third and fourth pictures those sunglasses are wearing your son upside-down!

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