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Fort Hunt High School

1963 establishments in VirginiaDefunct schools in VirginiaEducational institutions disestablished in 1985Educational institutions established in 1963High schools in Fairfax County, Virginia
School buildings in the United States destroyed by arson
Cannon in front of Fort Hunt High School, Alexandria, VA, USA
Cannon in front of Fort Hunt High School, Alexandria, VA, USA

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.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Fort Hunt High School (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Fort Hunt High School
Fort Hunt Road,

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Geographical coordinates (GPS)

Latitude Longitude
N 38.728222222222 ° E -77.057722222222 °
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Fort Hunt Road 8415
22308
Virginia, United States
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Cannon in front of Fort Hunt High School, Alexandria, VA, USA
Cannon in front of Fort Hunt High School, Alexandria, VA, USA
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P. O. Box 1142
P. O. Box 1142

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.