Huntley Meadows Park
| Huntley Meadows Park | |
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| Location | Hybla Valley, Fairfax County, Virginia, USA |
| Coordinates | 38°45′37″N 77°05′44″W / 38.760157°N 77.095592°WCoordinates: 38°45′37″N 77°05′44″W / 38.760157°N 77.095592°W |
| Area | 1,452 acres (588 ha) |
| Created | 1975 |
| Operated by | Fairfax County Park Authority |
| Status | Open all year |
| Website | Official site |
Huntley Meadows Park, the largest park operated by the Fairfax County Park Authority (1,452 acres (588 ha)), is located in the Hybla Valley area of Fairfax County, Virginia, south of the city of Alexandria. The park features a visitor center, a beaver-created wetland with boardwalk, wildlife observation platforms, and an interpretative trail system. The park is home to abundant wildlife and is known for attracting many birds, amphibians, and plants that are considered less common in the region. Secondary-growth forest, sprinkled with several small, native-grass and wildflower meadows surround much of the wetland habitat. The main bodies of water that flow through the park are Dogue Creek at the western border of the park, Barnyard Run, the source of the park's Central Wetland, and the headwaters of Little Hunting Creek.
In 1757 the land was purchased by George Mason. About 1825 his grandson built Huntley, on a hill overlooking the property. Huntley is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Another grandson held Okeley Manor which is now the northwest portion of the park. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries the area was used for dairy farming.
In colonial times, this land was part of the extensive property holdings of George Mason IV. Thomson Francis Mason, a grandson of George Mason, built a summer residence on the property in 1825. The house, now known as Historic Huntley, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the Virginia Landmarks Register, and the Fairfax County Inventory of Historic Sites.
Mason family ownership lasted into the early 1900s, with sections of the land being sold for family farms. In the late 1920s, entrepreneur Henry Woodhouse reassembled the parcels, purchasing 1500 acres from 10 landowners. He dreamed of transforming Hybla Valley's dairy farms into the George Washington Air Junction, which he claimed would be the largest airport in the world. After he lost nearly all of the property, the federal government acquired the land.
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