Once More into the Marsh

Our original plan for yesterday had been to go into DC and visit the Native American History Museum. Then I saw a calendar that reminded me that the Folk Life Festival was taking place this past weekend and next weekend. Traffic, crowds, parking issues, crowds. So we decided on a Plan B, which was yet another fresh water marsh, this one in Fairfax County: Huntley Meadows Park. 

The park's history is convoluted. Native settlements followed by European settlers and farming--first crops and then dairy. In the late 1920s there was a failed attempt at creating an airship terminal and historic park. The land then passed to the federal government which used it to test asphalt for highways, an aircraft battery protecting the capital, and finally a research site for radio communications. In the mid-70s the federal government donated it to Fairfax County for park or recreation usage. In the late 1970s beaver moved into the area and built dams which increased the water levels in the wetlands. 

The trails go through and over the wetlands, and there are no rails on the boardwalks. I've never been so close to beaver lodges. Just before we took the picture of me by the lodges we heard a splash on the other side of the boardwalk. We turned around to see a Great Blue Heron hunting in the marsh. We'd seen another one just a few minutes earlier, but this one was only about 10 feet from us. You have to look closely in the picture to the left, but you can see it.

We also saw evidence of beavers at work. It's one thing to see these things on TV but quite another to see them up close and in person.

On a hill overlooking the park stands an odd looking house that gives the park it's name. This picture shows the back side. It was built c. 1825 by Thomas Francis Mason, but there is no record of when its construction began. Nor have historians and archaeologists been able to locate a kitchen on the property. As a summer getaway, the kitchen would have been in a separate building. The Masons were a prominent Virginia family. Thomas' grandfather was George Mason IV who authored the Virginia Declaration of Rights. Thomas was an important figure in his own right.

The house is only open on Saturdays, so we didn't get to look inside. Another revisit added to the list.