BELLEVUE FOREST
ITS HISTORY
Dedicated to the Children of Bellevue Forest so they may
appreciate one of their earliest "playgrounds" and with special
thanks to the late historians Eleanor Lee Templeman, Bellevue Forest resident,
and to C.B. Rose, Jr. Appreciation is
also given to John F. Weiler of the Pimmit Run Chronicler who provided
us with an historical chronology and to Jan M. Eakins who so carefully
researched the architectural history of Bellevue Forest for her Master of Arts
in Historic Preservation Degree in 1998 for Goucher College.
Bellevue Forest is a quiet
neighborhood of single-family homes in the northern reaches of Arlington
County. It nestles between Military
Road and the George Washington Memorial Parkway (overlooking the Potomac River)
on the west and east, and Gulf Branch and Donaldson Run and Potomac Overlook
Regional Park on its north and south.
Approximately 415 families make their home on large, wooded parcels of
land.
From an historical perspective, our neighborhood began its
march toward its present configuration nearly 2 billion years ago, and the
events of the Paleozoic, pre-Cambrian Age, as well as the Mesozoic's Triassic
and Jurassic periods had a dramatic effect on the development of our land into
modern times. It certainly
distinguished our development from that of our more southerly neighbors in
Arlington and Alexandria.
It was during the pre-Cambrian time when molten rock from
beneath the earth's crust, began to cool.
Granite bedrock in the area is found from 300 feet above sea level in
northern and western Arlington to 700 feet below sea level in the Potomac River
to the south and east. The result, in
a nutshell, was the formation of the "fall line," the broad,
irregular zone where the Piedmont and Coastal Plain meet, where abrupt changes
in stream gradients are marked by falls and rapids. The Palisades, steep embankments along the Potomac River between
Rosslyn and Chain Bridge, testify to our geological history.
Continued tilting, folding, and faulting ultimately gave
rise to the earliest swamps and first signs of life in Arlington, estimated at
100,000,000 years ago (Cretaceous).
Gravel, sand, and clay were washed into our area during the Mesozoic era
and the Tertiary periods of the Cenozoic era as well as during the
late-Tertiary and Quaternary periods (55,000,000 years ago).
The animals, contemporary residents as well as cougar and undoubtedly a few black bear, and before them the dinosaurs, wandered the hills of Bellevue Forest and surrounding areas. Trees and early ancestors of our smaller plants took root in the soil for millions of years before humans arrived.
Much is
known of the Necostin Indians, the Native Americans who first met Captain John
Smith in the early 1600's. However,
Bellevue Forest, because of its close proximity to the Potomac, Gulf Branch and
Donaldson Run, was also home, however
migratory, to the earliest known populations. Evidence around Bellevue Forest has been found to document the
presence of nomadic hunters during the Paleo-Indian Period (10,000 - 7,000
B.C.); during the Archaic Period (8,000 - 2,000 B.C.), when major climatic
changes occurred and food gathering was added to hunting as a means of
sustenance; during the Transitional Period (2,000 - 500 B.C.), when hunting and
gathering was supplemented with fowling, fishing, and oystering, and during the
Early Woodland (500 B.C. - 950 A.D.) when agriculture began and when small
dispersed villages appeared. During the
Late Woodland (950 A.D. - 1600 A.D.), agriculture became more widely practiced
and villages were established. Settlements moved from the highest grounds to
areas along streams and the Potomac River (but still out of reach of
flooding). The Indians began to grow
tobacco, mostly for ceremonial purposes, and to weave fabric. C.B. Rose's book, Arlington County,
Virginia has a map clearly showing an Indian village site between Gulf
Branch and Donaldson Run, today's Bellevue Forest. It was Native Americans from the Powhatan Confederacy who greeted
Captain John Smith in 1608. Just
seventy years later, there were no Indians residing in Arlington although the
Iroquois' practice of raiding continued to be a deterrent to development until
at least 1719.
Just as Smith was stopped by the falls during his first
visit to the area in 1608, so, too, was development much slower to reach North
Arlington than the communities to the east and south. Arlington, unlike Alexandria, had no natural ports. There were no easy routes to the west; the
topography was hilly, punctuated by soaring cliffs and steep ravines. Development was slow, and the area of North
Arlington remained relatively quiet and truly "country" during the
earliest periods of our country's settlement.
The history of Bellevue Forest that most closely parallels
the emergence of the American colonies begins with King Charles II who granted
land to his loyal followers. (See
Appendix I for a complete chronology).
In 1690, this grant was further defined as that land "between the
Potomac and Rappahannock Rivers to their first heads or springs" and was
consolidated under one proprietor, Thomas, Fifth Lord Fairfax.
Thomas Lee, proprietary agent for the Northern Neck,
patented lands (1719) immediately to Bellevue Forest's north, from Gulf Branch,
including the mouth of Pimmit Run, to control the riverbank. Five years later, Colonel George Mason
received a grant for two hundred fifty acres two miles below the Little Falls
(1724). The following year, Richard
Taylor received an inland grant for 280 acres adjoining the Mason patent
(1725). Moving forward to 1767,
Colonel George Mason's grant of 250 acres was regranted to his son, George
Mason of Gunston Hall. In 1778, Richard
Arrell received a grant for 15 unclaimed acres south of Gulf Branch between the
Lee and Mason grants. Arrell's tract
was regranted (presumably from colonial authorities -1796) as 12.5 acres to the
heirs of Lewis Hipkins, who had died in 1794.
Modern-day Bellevue Forest was carved from and is part of the land
history of the Taylor, Mason and Hipkins Grants. (See Appendix II for the title chain for Bellevue Forest and
Appendix III for the street breakdown of current homes.)
While development continued apace in the southern part of
Arlington County during the 1700's and early 1800's, the land that is now
Bellevue Forest remained virtually unchanged.
By the mid-1800's, because Bellevue Forest stems from three historical
tracts of land, the history gets somewhat complicated. The river portion of the Mason Tract had
been purchased by the Simmons family, "the first known residents of the
area". Their home was located
"about 100 feet northeast" of a holly tree, perhaps the oldest tree
in Northern Virginia, on what was the Horatio Reid home on Roberts Lane. The Simmons' daughter Mary and her husband
George Reid subsequently built a barn and storage shed for his strawberry
business. At its peak, 120 crates of
strawberries were taken daily to Washington wholesalers for shipment.
In 1851, the land abutting what is now Military Road was
acquired by Gilbert Vanderwerken to pasture a herd of horses that he used for
his omnibuses from Aqueduct Bridge to the Navy Yard. Many gardeners of the 21st century have noted how
fertile our soil seems! One notable
physical alteration was made to the landscape during the Civil War, when, in
the fall of 1861, Military Road was built to connect Fort Ethan Allen with Lee
Highway and forts further down the river.
"This road, about three miles long, was laid out mainly through a
broken and densely wooded country. In
part, it is the Military Road of today, and it was built in three days.
Shortly after the Civil War, a home that would figure prominently in the development of Bellevue Forest was built on Glebe Road. "Bellevue", at 3311 North Glebe Road, was built, in part, of timbers used in the construction of Fort Ethan Allen. The estate extended to the palisades "through a wilderness". The story of the home, which came to be known as Grunwell's Bellevue, is a story best told in the words of its source, Eleanor Lee Templeman:
Just after the Civil War, Lieutenant
Alfred Grunwell was stationed at a camp on Minor Hill to the west. One day he became lost in the woods of the
Vanderwerken farm while attempting a short cut to Chain Bridge. He emerged from the forest to find himself
on the lawn of a house. On the veranda
a pretty young lady was reading. With
cap in hand, he inquired the way, but added a few caustic remarks concerning
the worthlessness of the country through which he had been floundering. It happened that the criticized area
belonged to her father, and she promptly took exception to his uncomplimentary
remarks. However, her mettle must have
been amused and interested the young officer, for he henceforth formed a habit
of getting lost at every opportunity. By
the time the troops were demobilized, he had acquired an advancement to
captaincy and a bride (Jane Vanderwerken).
Their children were Charles Grunwell…and John Grunwell….
Captain Grunwell took Jane to
Florida where he was stationed during the difficult reconstruction period. His fairness and popularity in "alien
territory" are proven by his subsequent election to public offices in
Florida, first as county clerk and then as judge. They returned to Arlington at the time of the death of Mrs.
Grunwell's brother Charles Vanderwerken, who had been manager of the family's
quarry business. The elder Mr.
Vanderwerken asked Judge Grunwell to take over the management, and as an
additional inducement provided the home, Bellevue.
It was Charles and John who would one day develop Bellevue
Forest. (Charles Grunwell, as Chairman
of the Board of Supervisors and a member of the site selection Commission for
the new courthouse, pleaded to have the courthouse built in its current
location rather than in the more populated southern part of the county.)
At around the same time that "Bellevue" was built,
part of Bellevue Forest was surveyed in July of 1866 by Oliver Cox, pastor of
Mount Olivet Church. The Reid farm was
the object of the survey, in anticipation of a sale of part of the land to the
Gardiner family who purchased a ten-acre plot that "included the mouth of
Donaldson Run and property up over the crest of the palisades." In 1876, this plot was mortgaged to George
W. Linville who in turn foreclosed in 1893.
During the 1880's, Horatio Reid, the son of Mary Ellen
Simmons and George Reid, built a home "on the crest of the gentle rise
west of the homestead". It was
constructed of sturdy dovetailed timbers on a dry-wall stone foundation two
feet thick. (The Reid home burned down
before 1900, but its basic structure is that of the Rathbone (Wyatt) house
built in 1946.)
The 1900's arrived, and still the lands of Bellevue Forest
remained primarily farm and forest. In
the early part of the century, only one change appears to have occurred. In or around 1906, William Florian Roberts
purchased the ten-acre Linville tract and later the 31 acre Reid farm. On this land he built a summer home,
designed by his friend and noted architect Appleton P. Clark. The home was located at the brink of a
cliff with a wonderful view from the front porch. Stone for the structure was quarried from the palisades, and the
stone mantel was "donkey-hauled" up the cliffs. The trees on the property were cut for the
log walls. "Glenmore", the
name of the estate, was reached primarily by boat from Fletcher's Boat
House. Guests enjoyed horseback riding,
parties and oyster roasts.
Elsewhere
in Arlington, towns were developing, commerce was progressing. Abingdon, Barcroft, Virginia Highlands,
Nauck, Bon Air, High View Park, Hall's Hill, Cherrydale, Clarendon, Ballston,
Fort Myers Heights, Rosslyn and other "neighborhoods" were all establishing identities.
There were still few "cross county" roads in Arlington, with
the "Road to the Falls" (Glebe Road) being the most important. Most homes had no indoor plumbing. Sanitation was achieved through privies;
water came from wells, often several blocks away from most homes. Refrigeration was rare, and most lamps still
burned kerosene.
Many of the modern conveniences enjoyed by most
Arlingtonians today came during the first three decades of the 20th
century. The "Clean-Up"
campaign (a campaign to clean up the politics and some of the more nefarious
doings of the area) succeeded by 1903.
The first volunteer fire department was established that year. The first road (a portion of Wilson
Boulevard) was paved in 1909. Zoning
ordinances came into effect in 1914, and the first Boy Scout Troop, the
Chesapeake and Potomac Telephone Company, and the Civic Federation were created
in 1916 (some documents suggest 1914).
The first motorized fire fighting equipment was introduced in 1918, and
an Office of Public Health was established in 1919. By 1920, Arlington had been given its official name and the
beginnings of its legislative identity.
The 1920's and 1930's saw the completion of Arlington National Cemetery,
the completion of Key Bridge (1923), the first plumbing ordinance (1925),
hook-up to a water source (1926), the completion of Memorial Bridge (1932), the
installation of a sewerage system and sewerage treatment plant (1936),
completed plans for Arlington Hospital (1938), and the opening of Madison
School (1939).
Bellevue Forest was finally ready to emerge from its
woodland setting. On December 23,
1938, the Grunwell brothers filed the first section of a plat for the 120-acre
subdivision named Bellevue Forest after their family home. John Grunwell played a leading role in the
development, bringing to bare his skills as an architect and surveyor.
Bellevue Forest was platted in eighteen sections over a
period of twenty years. Similar to many
post-Depression, pre-World War II subdivisions, it was planned with broad,
curvilinear streets. T-intersections
and cul-de-sacs were carefully planned.
Lot sizes were also large, generally between one-third and one-half acre
at a time when most construction was built on 5,000 square foot lots. It was designed around its natural setting,
with irregularly shaped lots and relatively few sidewalks. Large, mature trees were left standing to
insure the feel of "a suburban haven set amidst peaceful natural
surroundings".
As was common in Virginia during at least the late 1930's
onward, covenants were put in place to "protect" and insure
"homogeneity" for the first platted section. There were twenty-one in all (See Appendix
IV), and although clear reproductions can no longer be made, they included some
of the following prohibitions. There
were to be no "use of any temporary structure as a habitation, …lot-line fences,
…noxious things, …nuisance to the neighborhood, …farm animals, …signs and
…disturbing noise". There were
other restrictions against "businesses and manufacturing establishments,
public entertainment, schools, dance halls, resorts, and other public
facilities." Two covenants
prohibited apartments. Another sought
to control the appearance of the streetscape.
'No structure shall be built upon or moved onto any lot unless it shall
conform to and be in harmony with existing structures in the immediate
locality.' The construction or
alteration of any structure was likewise regulated:
No building shall be constructed or
erected on the above described land and no alteration of any building shall be
made unless the specification and plans therefore and the lot plan showing the
proposed location of the dwelling and driveways shall be first submitted to the
owners of the subdivision aforesaid and approved by them, and no changes shall
be made by them without the written consent of said owners, and copies of said
lot plan and plans and specifications shall have been lodged permanently with
them.
The seventh
and 15th covenants set minimum lot sizes, initially of 6,000 square feet and
later of 8,000 square feet. The
approval of other property owners was required before a lot could be subdivided.
Final mention goes to a covenant typical of the time period,
one that "followed national convention by reinforcing racial and ethnic
homogeneity and…clearly set aside Bellevue Forest for mainstream, middle-class
families:"
No lot or lots hereby conveyed, or
any interest in it or them, shall ever be used, occupied by, sold, demised,
transferred, conveyed unto, or in trust for, leased, rented, or given, to
negros [sic], or any person or persons of Negro blood or extraction, or to any
person of the semetic [sic] race, blood, or origin, which racial description
shall be deemed to include Armenians, Jews, Hebrews, Persians and Syrians,
except that, this paragraph shall not be held to exclude occupancy of the
premises by domestic servants of the owner or owners of said lot or lots, his
or their heirs or assigns.
Part of our history, part of our past, the covenants on the
original section of Bellevue Forest expired in 1965.
It is thought that the Grunwells made it a policy to file an
additional section of the plat only after the majority of lots in the previous
section sold. Two more sections were
filed close on the heels of the first; Section Two was filed in 1940 and
Section Three in 1941. Altogether,
these comprised the first 146 lots in Bellevue Forest. A total of 28 houses were completed before
the shortages brought by World War II ground residential construction to a
halt.
After the war, the Grunwells formed Bellevue Forest
Corporation and hired real estate broker George Mason Green, "a very
prominent older gentleman and very well received and liked", as
corporation president and exclusive agent.
Post-war construction grew gradually.
One house was built in 1946; three in 1947; eight in 1948; nine in 1949;
nineteen in 1950. Construction accelerated
rapidly in the 1950's, with 70 houses being built between 1951 and 1953. The plats for Section Four were filed in
1947 and for Section Five, in 1951 for a total of 199 lots. Covenants for those and all other sections
platted after the war were amended to allow "Armenians, Jews, Persians and
Syrians" to purchase land.
Bellevue Forest Corporation was given decision-making powers previously
granted property owners.
The earliest homes built in Bellevue Forest reflected a
number of the styles that enjoyed national popularity at that time: English
Tudor, English Cottage and Colonial Revival.
Also incorporated into the neighborhood was the relatively
rare International Style.
The Art Moderne home of 1940 is another of the interesting
styles in Bellevue Forest.
The majority of the homes erected in Bellevue Forest before
the war were either story and a-half Minimal Traditional, as shown in this 1940
home,
or Basic or Middle Ranch houses.
This Contemporary style Ranch Rambler drew influence from
the International style.
Beginning in 1954, development patterns changed in Bellevue
Forest. Trees were stripped from the lots,
and houses with similar facades and plans were built side by side. Nearly 150 of these houses were built
between 1954 and 1958. Although they
were similar in appearance, they offered the luxuries of the time. Mr. Gene May was the principal builder of
many of the homes in Bellevue Forest during the 1950's. It was during this period that Bellevue
Forest experienced one of the few documented inconveniences during its
development -- the blasting of the area between it and the Potomac River to
make way for the completion of the George Washington Parkway.
Not all, however, were of the same style. Both high-style Contemporary or Split-level
plans were incorporated into Bellevue Forest.
By 1958, little open land remained in Bellevue Forest. Thirteen houses were constructed between
1959 and 1993. Few vacant lots remain.
Bellevue Forest has changed little over the years. Houses have been enlarged. Homes have been passed down from generation
to generation. New families have
arrived. A few new styles have been
added to the rich architectural panorama.
Efforts to depart from single-family homes or to reduce lot size
requirements have met with fierce resistance.
In 2001, Bellevue Forest is rich in history and takes great pride and thrives on its natural setting. In many respects, Bellevue Forest has changed little over the millions of years since its natural foundation was laid. It is still hilly, with steep ravines into meandering streams. It is still a forest, and in most cases, houses seem to have been carefully planted among the trees. While many residents of Arlington report seeing deer, foxes, raccoons, opossums, pileated woodpeckers, mice, snakes, and other wildlife during their walks in our county parks, Bellevue Forest residents routinely see all of these in their own backyards.
It is a neighborhood in which people truly seem to enjoy
living.
To
Continue to Appendices, please click here.