All photos are from the wooded parcel on the SW corner of Centreville Rd. & Barnsfield Rd. (A small parcel of land shown is adjoining Barnsfield Rd. on the North). There is a family cemetery (The Turley-Hutchison-Wilcoxon Family Cemetery) on said SW tract, quite close to the corner. No gravemarkers were visible from the road. I have been assured by FCPA Cultural Resources Branch that the cemetery was delineated and will be appropriately held out from the coming development.
I remember that family cemetery well, and also the house that used to be there. My father would take us exploring around that property in the early 90s before the house was torn down. I remember it was still in excellent condition (on the inside at least). If memory serves, the cemetery is about 10 feet in from the Barnsfield Rd, and was quite overgrown, even in the early 90s. Do you know what they are planning to build there?
ReplyDeleteThat is awesome information, thank you! How big was the house? Was it facing Centreville Rd? There are a bunch of things going in along that road now: housing, shops, a hotel, not sure exactly what this parcel will be. Are you still in the area? If you are, pop by the site in a few months and make sure you still see the cemetery (as you are someone who has ALREADY seen it). The developer was aware of the cemetery and no removal & reinterment permits were pulled so it should be there and all should be fine... Still, we like to check. :)
DeleteTurley Hall was a medium-to-large-sized plantation home built sometime in the 1820s-30s. It was situated diagonal to the road, and its driveway was right off of the intersection of Centreville and Lees Corner Rds.
DeleteIt was lost to fire in 1995 or so.
For more: http://dullesareahd.50webs.org/boxes/turley.html
On a map:
http://dullesonline.info/maps.php (Point #32)
I stayed in that house around 1980-82. The parents of a friend of mine were living it as antique dealers and caretakers. The downstairs was mostly set up as antique shops. The house was beautiful on the inside and I actually cried when I found out it had burned down and then tore down completely. I was trying to find a photo of the house when I stumbled on this blog.
ReplyDeleteYou can google photos for Turley Hall. The two Turley cemeteries have been preserved on the Dulles Discovery properties.
ReplyDeleteThe Turley, Hutchison (or Hutchinson), and Willcoxon (or Willcoxin) Cemetery is Cemetery #62. The number of graves in the cemetery is unknown. The cemetery boundaries have been delineated. The Turley, Hutchison and Willcoxon families all resided at Turley Hall at one point or another. Turley Hall was built around 1824 and burned down in 1995.
The Turley Slave Cemetery (Cemetery #304) was delineated in 1996 and 11 graves were recorded. An elderly African-American gentleman who lived near the property was recorded as stating that this cemetery contained the graves of “the slaves and ‘help’” from Turley Hall. So it is possible that it also contains the graves of freedmen and/or other servants associated with Turley Hall post-Civil War. He also stated that the family cemetery (#62) was known as “King’s Hill” and the slave cemetery (#304) was known as “Little Hill”.
Neither cemetery contains headstones. Both cemeteries are protected and located on the Dulles Discovery properties. The buildings onsite are restricted federal government facilities and the property is off limits to the public, without clearance. The Archaeology and Collections Branch, Fairfax County Park Authority is currently
reaching out to the developers, the Peterson Companies, to determine how one gets access to the cemeteries. For further information, contact:
Elizabeth A. Crowell, Ph.D.
Archaeology and Collections Branch Manager
Fairfax County Park Authority
(703)246-5758