Fort Hunt Park

P.O. Box 1142 was a secret American military intelligence facility that operated during World War II. The American Military Intelligence Service had two special wings, known as MIS-X and MIS-Y. The MIS-X program focused upon the escape and evasion activities of Prisoners of War (POWs) held by the United States in Europe. MIS-Y's core duty was to interview the POWs. They were known by their codename, the mailing address "P.O. Box 1142." Many of the interrogators were Jewish immigrants who had fled Germany as children. These men were chosen due to their understanding of the German language and culture as well as their personal interest in defeating the Nazis.Notable prisoners housed at the facility included rocket scientist Wernher von Braun, spymaster Reinhard Gehlen, and Heinz Schlicke, inventor of infrared detection. German U-boat commander Werner Henke was also a prisoner, but was fatally shot when he tried to escape by climbing the fence.P.O. Box 1142 was started in 1942 based in Fort Hunt, Virginia, formerly part of George Washington's farmlands. German scientists, submariners and soldiers were questioned. P.O. Box 1142 obtained valuable intelligence from German POWs and also communicated with Allied POWs overseas. The camp was in violation of the Geneva Convention because the Red Cross was not notified of the transfer or location of the prisoners, but according to the surviving wardens, torture was not used.The work done at Fort Hunt contributed to the Allied victory of World War II. It also led to advances in scientific technology and military intelligence that directly influenced the Cold War. In 1946 the 100 barracks, ringed by barbed wire and watch towers, were bulldozed, and the existence revealed to the public only in the early 2000s, when the National Park Service uncovered parts of the fort's history. In October 2007, a group of the former intelligence workers gathered for the first time since the war's conclusion, and a flagpole and plaque recognizing their contributions were dedicated on the original grounds.

The Mount Vernon Trail (MVT) is a 17-mile (27 km) long shared use path that travels along the George Washington Memorial Parkway in Northern Virginia between Rosslyn and George Washington's home at Mount Vernon. The trail connects the easternmost portions of Arlington County, the City of Alexandria, and Fairfax County, and travels mostly on dedicated trail with a small portion on city streets. As part of U.S. Bike Route 1, the Potomac Heritage Trail and the East Coast Greenway, the MVT opened in April 1972 as a gravel path and was subsequently expanded and paved.The MVT is part of the much larger mid-Atlantic Potomac Heritage National Scenic Trail.

Waynewood is a populated place in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. It is located on the Potomac River and the George Washington Memorial Parkway.

Piscataway Creek is an 18.6-mile-long (29.9 km) tributary of the Potomac River in Prince George's County, Maryland. The creek is a tidal arm of the Potomac for its final 2.5 miles (4.0 km), entering the Potomac at Fort Washington Park. Tinkers Creek is a tributary to Piscataway Creek, converging from the north 4.5 miles (7.2 km) upstream of the mouth of the Piscataway. The United States Geological Survey records two variant names for Piscataway Creek: Pascattawaye Creek and Puscattuway Creeke.The Fort Washington Light was built to provide guidance for mariners entering Piscataway Creek from the Potomac River.

Fort Hunt High School was a public secondary school near Alexandria, Virginia from 1963 until 1985, when it was converted to a middle school. Constructed at a cost of $2.5 million, Fort Hunt High opened its doors at 8428 Fort Hunt Road in 1963, toward the end of the post–World War II baby boom, as part of the Fairfax County Public Schools.The school suffered $4.5 million in fire damage as the result of arson on December 30, 1978, when two seniors at the school and a 1978 graduate threw Molotov cocktails into the building. The fire resulted in the forced relocation of 1,700 students who were sent on a split shift to nearby Groveton and Mount Vernon High schools through the remainder of the 1978–79 school year. In 1985, due to declining enrollment, and after contentious political and legal battles to keep the school open, Fort Hunt was combined with Groveton High School to form West Potomac High School, located on Groveton's campus. The Fort Hunt campus was converted into Carl Sandburg Middle School, which replaced the older Stephen Foster and Bryant Intermediate Schools. A large community of Fort Hunt High School alumni remains active online, organizing regular all-school and all-year reunion gatherings, and granting annual scholarships to graduating seniors of West Potomac High School.

Tower House, also known as Edgewater and Marsland-on-the-Potomac, is a historic home located near Alexandria, in Fairfax County, Virginia. The original portion was built in 1888 by John Young, who inherited the land from his father, Lewis, in 1879. At that time it was in the Italian Villa style. An addition was added to the rear in 1888-9 by owner, Isaac N. Jones. The house was remodeled to its present form in 1900-1901 by railroad executive James Yeomans. James A. Drain, Sr. owned it from 1920 until 1936. He renamed it Marsland-on-the-Potomac after the maiden name of his wife Ethel. From 1941 until 1994, the religious group Baraca Philathea used it for various purposes. Since then, it has undergone extensive restoration by its present owner. It is a 2+1⁄2-story frame dwelling in a transitional Queen Anne-Colonial Revival style. It features a steeply pitched hipped roof and a prominent, semi-circular corner tower.It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2006.

The Raid on Alexandria was a British victory during the War of 1812, which gained much plunder at little cost but may have contributed to the later British repulse at Baltimore by delaying their main forces.

Around 1622, the Piscataway tribe, which led the Conoy Federation, built a town they soon called Kittamaqundi on Piscataway Creek near the modern day town of Piscataway, Prince George's County, Maryland. When English first visited the town, in 1634, they learned it was named after the relatively new Tayac (Emperor) Kittamaquund, who had assumed power the previous year after killing his brother Wannas.

Accokeek Creek Site, also known as Moyaone, is an archaeological site in Prince George's County, Maryland, located along the Potomac River across from Mount Vernon in today's Piscataway Park, which was inhabited intermittently since 2000 BC. Accokeek Creek Site was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1964.

Fort Hunt is a census-designated place (CDP) in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. The area is named after Fort Hunt, which was built on the bank of the Potomac River in 1897 to defend Washington, D.C. from naval attack and is now a public park. The area is also notable for its high population of senior citizens and for being one of the first suburbs in wealthy Fairfax County. The population was 16,045 at the 2010 census.Fort Hunt encompasses the 22308 ZIP code of Alexandria, composed of much of the most affluent section of southeast Fairfax County, close to the George Washington Memorial Parkway and Potomac River, including the neighborhoods of Riverside Gardens, Tauxemont, Herbert Springs, Waynewood, Plymouth Haven, Potomac Valley – River Bend, Collingwood, Stratford Landing, Stratford on the Potomac, Hollin Hall, Wellington, Arcturus and (in ZIP code 22307) Villamay and Marlan Forest. As of the 2010 census, Fort Hunt also includes the neighborhood of Hollindale in ZIP code 22306 and much of Hollin Hills in 22307. Prominent Fort Hunt residents include U.S. Senator Tim Johnson and former House Speaker Bob Livingston.

Collingwood was a historic mansion in Fort Hunt, Virginia listed on the Fairfax County Inventory of Historic Sites. The mansion was first built in 1859 on a subdivision of George Washington's former River Farm, and significantly altered and expanded in the early 20th century. In July 2019, it was reported that the mansion would be demolished later that year.

Fort Washington, located near the community of Fort Washington, Maryland, was for many decades the only defensive fort protecting Washington, D.C. The original fort, overlooking the Potomac River, was completed in 1809, and was begun as Fort Warburton, but renamed in 1808. During the War of 1812, the fort was destroyed by its own garrison during a British advance. The current historic fort—maintained by the National Park Service—was initially constructed in 1824. It is a stone structure with a good cannon shot down the Potomac River. The fort was extensively remodeled in the 1840s and 1890s. The Fort was turned over to the U.S. Department of the Interior in 1946 after its last military personnel departed.The expansive grounds of the present Fort Washington Park, with its extensive hiking/bicycle paths and river view, are a scenic venue for picnicking, fishing, and outdoor recreation. Historical re-enactments are held periodically at the Fort, and there is a small museum. In 2006, repairs were done to shore up the crumbling outer wall, in preparation for the 200th anniversary. The Fort Washington Light, located below the fort, was established in 1857. The current tower, standing 28 feet tall, was constructed in 1882.