(In case you missed it, “A History of Lake Accotink- Part 1” can be found at https://burkehistoricalsociety.org/a-history-of-lake-accotink-part-1/)
Where did we leave the story of Lake Accotink? Ah yes. In 1922 the first dam that created the first Lake Accotink was rendered unusable (that happens when you blow a big hole in it).
In 1933 the United States elected President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who promised to ease the pains of the Great Depression. In 1929, the nation had suffered the worst stock market crash in its history. By 1933, the unemployment rate had increased to thirty-three percent. Many businesses and banks had closed and thousands of Americans were homeless. Food riots broke out in several cities.
In Baltimore, Maryland on April 19, 1861, Union soldiers of the 6th Massachusetts Infantry, who were traveling to defend Washington DC, were badly injured by Confederate sympathizers. Learning that the men were being cared for in the US Senate Chambers, Clara Barton, who grew up in Massachusetts. used her own supplies to minister to her “Massachusetts boys.” Barton’s requests to friends and relatives for additional supplies were quickly answered.
By Debra DeLoose
Accotink Creek is around 25 miles in length. It begins north of Lake Accotink in the area of Fairfax City and ends at Accotink Bay where it empties into the Potomac west of Fort Belvoir. However, there has not always been a Lake Accotink.
The current post office for Burke opened in 1989 but the history of postal service and post offices in Burke goes back over 150 years beginning in 1852 with the appointment of John A. Marshall as postmaster of what was then Burke’s Station. The history continued through 1903 when the name was changed to Burke to 1972 when the Burke post office became a branch of Springfield to today.
Over the years the post office was located in a wide variety of buildings (generally provided by the Postmasters), sometimes in the depot, sometimes in separate buildings, and often in stores. The Post Office usually announced, with varying degrees of precision, when an office changed its location. On the grounds of Sunrise at Silas Burke House on Burke Lake Road stands a small white building that is part of that long history. This small building, that has survived three moves in its lifetime, served for many years as the Burke Post Office.
By Brian Slawski One of the pleasures of studying Burke’s history is discovering how many notable and interesting individuals have lived in our ostensibly small and sleepy stretch of Fairfax County. Any list of these individuals would surely include Walter Macomber.
Walter Mayo Macomber was born February 25, 1894, in Revere, Massachussetts, just outside Boston. While he was still a boy, his family moved to nearby Waltham, “The Watch City,” and by the age of 16 he was working as an “errand boy” in the city’s major employer, the American Waltham Watch Company. Soon, however, he would find his way to much bigger things.
Burke was rural and sparsely populated in the early 19th century. The 1810 Federal Census counted only 13,111 people in the entirety of Fairfax County. “Burke” was part of the Providence District; the “Burke” name was still decades away. The Coffer family settled in Burke through a 378 acre land grant to Francis Coffer in 1728. Much of this land is now in Burke Centre’s Woods and Ponds neighborhoods. Thomas Coffer (born 1773, died abt. 1862) and his brother Francis Coffer (born 1784, died abt. 1863), were the great-grandsons of Francis Coffer. These Coffer brothers were born too late for the American Revolution, but served their country in the less remembered War of 1812.
Historian John Browne speaks to Burke Historical Society. Burke Connection Last Sunday, March 31, the Burke Historical Society hosted historian John Browne at the Pohick Regional Library where he spoke to about 50 guests about his new book, The Story…
Historic Burke family grave has been target of vandals over the years. Burke Connection By Mike Salmon Members of the Marshall family, Burke Historical Society and student history group broke out the weed trimmers and shovels to beautify and preserve…
Burke Connection By Mike Salmon In 1799, a 17-pound nugget of gold was found near Charlotte, N.C., starting the lesser known East Coast Gold Rush, that spread into Virginia. As the years passed, and gold coins were produced in Charlotte,…