Online Digital Archives

Yesterday I uploaded five photos to the Northern Virginia Digital History Archive. I wanted to show a mixture some of the changes and developments in Northern Virginia I've seen as well as how our history has been influenced by these changes, and how we coexist with our history. The site was very easy to use. It took me more time figuring out which pictures I wanted to upload than to actually submit them to the archives!

One of the first photos I submitted was one I located online while doing research for my project. It was through Google Earth, and located in an area I'm almost positive belonged to the Grubb family. It's a log cabin on Ash George Road in Loudoun County, and may have been built by Benjamin Grubb in 1847. It is still inhabited and, as you can see from the photo, has been maintained and updated over the years. I would sincerely like to do more research on this dwelling when I have the time.

Another photo I submitted was taken at the water feature in Fairfax Corner, an open air shopping center located in Fairfax County near Fair Oaks Mall. Behind the water feature is the movie theater, designed in a modern neoclassical style. In the warmer months you can see lots of children playing in the water feature or riding the train around the center plaza. There is often family friendly live entertainment on the weekends.

This photo reminded me of how historic architecture styles are still used to generate nostalgia or create a certain ambiance. You can see this in the new row houses that were built in Historic Occoquan right on the waterfront. The townhomes are completely modern on the inside, but ornate and Victorian on the outside.

After uploading pictures of the new, I wanted to go back to the old. While searching for inspiration I came upon the Stone House at Manassas Battlefield Park. I wanted to show just how close the structure is to the main highway and new traffic light and crosswalk that has been put in within the last few years, reminiscent of the U.S. Capitol gatehouses in Washington, D.C., in the way that the city has grown and developed around them. There is always a steady stream of traffic right in front of the house at the intersection of Highway 29 and Route 234 in Manassas.

Finally, I uploaded a photo of a historic marker located at the Walney Visitor Center in Chantilly, in Ellanor C. Lawrence Park. This marker was placed there in 2007 by a local chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution. As much as Northern Virginia has grown and developed in the past few decades, it's encouraging to see people remembering the past.

What made this assignment difficult was that none of these photos were taken by me. I tried to find a source for each photo in order to give credit, but wasn't always successful. I would have much rather used my own personal photos to submit, but was unable to at the time.