The Pines

The Pines

1900s – 1960s

In 1905, William Collins, a descendant of enslaved people, bought 22 acres of land with his savings he earned while serving in the Spanish American War. Other families bought lots; Johnson, Robinson, Spriggs. The families operated truck farms and a sawmill and would drive to DC to sell their produce. The community once known as “Mason Tract” became known as “The Pines.” They built their own homes, worked, and went to school and church together. By the 1960s, five generations had lived in the secluded community. In 1964, the homeowners received letters from the County School Board stating that the County wanted The Pines to build a new intermediate school on their property. The owners could either sell their property or see it condemned. When the County had to desegregate all schools, the plan changed to build a new high school on the property. The families had sixty days to vacate before their homes were demolished. The families struggled to find neighborhoods that would accept Blacks. Obtaining mortgages for the first time was a hardship, also. The high school was never built and today the property is a county park. The family cemetery is in the woods adjacent to the Pine Ridge Park.

William Collins

Fairfax County Public Libraries Cemetery Survey: www.fairfaxcounty.gov/library_cemeteries/

Historical Marker Data Base: www.hmdb.org

Park Allure Hides Pain of the Past Washington Post by Jacqueline l. Salmon April 14, 2020

Explore a Park! Pine Ridge Park Displaced a Small Black Community, Annandale Today, April 27, 2021
https://annandaletoday.com/explore-park-pine-ridge-park-displaced/

Mason

Pine Ridge Park on Woodburn Road

Sons and Daughters of Liberty Cemetery - In 1907, one fourth of an acre was deeded to the Ebenezer Lodge, No. 14 of the Sons and Daughter of Liberty, an African American fraternal and philanthropic organization for the establishment of a cemetery. After the community was demolished, the cemetery was not maintained and suffered severely from neglect and vandalism. In 1990 the School Board cleared, fenced, and surveyed the site for burials, locating forty-five graves. Only one original gravestone survives.

At the turn of the 20th century, a close-knit African American community was established here. The Johnson, Robinson, Sprigg and Collins families were the first to purchase lots. They cleared pine trees to enable truck farming and sawmill operations. Residents created a vibrant community through worshipping at First Baptist Church of Merrifield, school functions and social gatherings. Situated in this park is the Liberty Lodge Cemetery where church members are buried. In the 1960s, during a period of school desegregation and population growth, the public school system purchased land through eminent domain, displacing numerous families. A school was never built.

Photo by Mary Lipsey