Mason Neck, Virginia
Encyclopedia
Peninsula
A peninsula is a piece of land that is bordered by water on three sides but connected to mainland. In many Germanic and Celtic languages and also in Baltic, Slavic and Hungarian, peninsulas are called "half-islands"....
jutting into the Potomac River
Potomac River
The Potomac River flows into the Chesapeake Bay, located along the mid-Atlantic coast of the United States. The river is approximately long, with a drainage area of about 14,700 square miles...
to the south of Washington, DC. It is surrounded also by Belmont Bay
Belmont Bay
Belmont Bay is a body of water at the mouth of the Occoquan River between Fairfax and Prince William counties, Virginia. The bay covers about . The bay adjoins the Elizabeth Hartwell Mason Neck National Wildlife Refuge and Mason Neck State Park on the Fairfax County side and the Occoquan River...
to the west, Gunston Cove
Gunston Cove
Gunston Cove is an inlet of the Potomac River, at the confluence of Accotink Creek and Pohick Creek in Northern Virginia. The Cove forms the northern boundary of Mason Neck, once home to the revolutionary hero George Mason and now site of several regional parks and the Mason Neck National Wildlife...
to the east, and Pohick Bay to the northeast. The unincorporated community of Mason Neck forms the southernmost section of Fairfax County
Fairfax County, Virginia
Fairfax County is a county in Virginia, in the United States. Per the 2010 Census, the population of the county is 1,081,726, making it the most populous jurisdiction in the Commonwealth of Virginia, with 13.5% of Virginia's population...
, in Northern Virginia
Northern Virginia
Northern Virginia consists of several counties and independent cities in the Commonwealth of Virginia, in a widespread region generally radiating southerly and westward from Washington, D.C...
, and comprises an area of approximately 9000 acres (36.4 km²), two-thirds of which is preserved as parkland by regional, state, and national authorities. The Census Bureau defines Mason Neck as a census-designated place
Census-designated place
A census-designated place is a concentration of population identified by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes. CDPs are delineated for each decennial census as the statistical counterparts of incorporated places such as cities, towns and villages...
(CDP) with a population of 2,005 as of 2010.
History
ArchaeologicalArchaeology
Archaeology, or archeology , is the study of human society, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes...
evidence on Mason Neck indicates that the peninsula was inhabited by the Dogue Indian tribe prior to the arrival of European settlers. The recorded history of Mason Neck began around 1775 with the construction of Gunston Hall
Gunston Hall
Gunston Hall is an 18th-century Georgian mansion near the Potomac River in Mason Neck, Virginia, United States of America. The house was the home of the United States Founding Father George Mason. It was located at the center of a 5500 acre plantation...
, the plantation
Plantation
A plantation is a long artificially established forest, farm or estate, where crops are grown for sale, often in distant markets rather than for local on-site consumption...
home of Virginian statesman and author of the Virginia Declaration of Rights
Virginia Declaration of Rights
The Virginia Declaration of Rights is a document drafted in 1776 to proclaim the inherent rights of men, including the right to rebel against "inadequate" government...
, George Mason
George Mason
George Mason IV was an American Patriot, statesman and a delegate from Virginia to the U.S. Constitutional Convention...
. Mason Neck is also the location of Pohick Church
Pohick Church
Pohick Church is an Episcopal church in the community of Pohick near Lorton in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States.-History:Originally founded around 1695 as Occoquan Church, in the Anglican Truro Parish of Virginia, it was later renamed Pohick Church in 1732 after relocating near Pohick Creek,...
, frequented by both Mason and George Washington
George Washington
George Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...
, and Cranford Methodist Church, which was built in 1857 and served as a hospital during the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
.
During the 19th century and early 20th century, much of the land was used for logging of mature pine
Pine
Pines are trees in the genus Pinus ,in the family Pinaceae. They make up the monotypic subfamily Pinoideae. There are about 115 species of pine, although different authorities accept between 105 and 125 species.-Etymology:...
and hardwood
Hardwood
Hardwood is wood from angiosperm trees . It may also be used for those trees themselves: these are usually broad-leaved; in temperate and boreal latitudes they are mostly deciduous, but in tropics and subtropics mostly evergreen.Hardwood contrasts with softwood...
timber
Timber
Timber may refer to:* Timber, a term common in the United Kingdom and Australia for wood materials * Timber, Oregon, an unincorporated community in the U.S...
. Over time, pollution
Pollution
Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into a natural environment that causes instability, disorder, harm or discomfort to the ecosystem i.e. physical systems or living organisms. Pollution can take the form of chemical substances or energy, such as noise, heat or light...
and habitat destruction caused a decline in the bald eagle
Bald Eagle
The Bald Eagle is a bird of prey found in North America. It is the national bird and symbol of the United States of America. This sea eagle has two known sub-species and forms a species pair with the White-tailed Eagle...
population. By the 1960s, much of the forest
Forest
A forest, also referred to as a wood or the woods, is an area with a high density of trees. As with cities, depending where you are in the world, what is considered a forest may vary significantly in size and have various classification according to how and what of the forest is composed...
had grown back, but residential development as a suburb
Suburb
The word suburb mostly refers to a residential area, either existing as part of a city or as a separate residential community within commuting distance of a city . Some suburbs have a degree of administrative autonomy, and most have lower population density than inner city neighborhoods...
of Washington DC posed another threat. In 1969, local residents and conservation groups achieved the establishment of the Elizabeth Hartwell Mason Neck National Wildlife Refuge
Elizabeth Hartwell Mason Neck National Wildlife Refuge
Elizabeth Hartwell Mason Neck National Wildlife Refuge is a National Wildlife Refuge located on Mason Neck, Virginia, adjacent to Mason Neck State Park and along Belmont Bay...
, with the specific objective of protecting the bald eagle. This, along with Mason Neck State Park
Mason Neck State Park
Mason Neck State Park is located in Fairfax County, Virginia. The park is on a peninsula formed by Pohick Bay on the north, Belmont Bay on the south and the Potomac River to the east...
and Pohick Bay Regional Park, provides a variety of recreational activities while preserving the land's natural resources
Wildlife
In addition to bald eagleBald Eagle
The Bald Eagle is a bird of prey found in North America. It is the national bird and symbol of the United States of America. This sea eagle has two known sub-species and forms a species pair with the White-tailed Eagle...
s, Mason Neck is home to a surprising variety of different species for Northern Virginia. Other birds include the Great Blue Heron
Great Blue Heron
The Great Blue Heron is a large wading bird in the heron family Ardeidae, common near the shores of open water and in wetlands over most of North and Central America as well as the West Indies and the Galápagos Islands. It is a rare vagrant to Europe, with records from Spain, the Azores and England...
, Canadian geese, osprey
Osprey
The Osprey , sometimes known as the sea hawk or fish eagle, is a diurnal, fish-eating bird of prey. It is a large raptor, reaching more than in length and across the wings...
s, wood duck
Wood Duck
The Wood Duck or Carolina Duck is a species of duck found in North America. It is one of the most colourful of North American waterfowl.-Description:...
s, teal
Green-winged Teal
The Green-winged Teal is a common and widespread duck that breeds in the northern areas of North America except on the Aleutian Islands. It was considered conspecific with the Common Teal The Green-winged Teal (Anas carolinensis) is a common and widespread duck that breeds in the northern areas of...
, owl
Owl
Owls are a group of birds that belong to the order Strigiformes, constituting 200 bird of prey species. Most are solitary and nocturnal, with some exceptions . Owls hunt mostly small mammals, insects, and other birds, although a few species specialize in hunting fish...
s, and woodpecker
Woodpecker
Woodpeckers are near passerine birds of the order Piciformes. They are one subfamily in the family Picidae, which also includes the piculets and wrynecks. They are found worldwide and include about 180 species....
s. Whitetail deer are a common sight, along with beaver
Beaver
The beaver is a primarily nocturnal, large, semi-aquatic rodent. Castor includes two extant species, North American Beaver and Eurasian Beaver . Beavers are known for building dams, canals, and lodges . They are the second-largest rodent in the world...
s, muskrat
Muskrat
The muskrat , the only species in genus Ondatra, is a medium-sized semi-aquatic rodent native to North America, and introduced in parts of Europe, Asia, and South America. The muskrat is found in wetlands and is a very successful animal over a wide range of climates and habitats...
s, groundhog
Groundhog
The groundhog , also known as a woodchuck, whistle-pig, or in some areas as a land-beaver, is a rodent of the family Sciuridae, belonging to the group of large ground squirrels known as marmots. Other marmots, such as the yellow-bellied and hoary marmots, live in rocky and mountainous areas, but...
s, and fox
Fox
Fox is a common name for many species of omnivorous mammals belonging to the Canidae family. Foxes are small to medium-sized canids , characterized by possessing a long narrow snout, and a bushy tail .Members of about 37 species are referred to as foxes, of which only 12 species actually belong to...
. A diverse population of frog
Frog
Frogs are amphibians in the order Anura , formerly referred to as Salientia . Most frogs are characterized by a short body, webbed digits , protruding eyes and the absence of a tail...
s and toad
Toad
A toad is any of a number of species of amphibians in the order Anura characterized by dry, leathery skin , short legs, and snoat-like parotoid glands...
s is audible on summer nights. Eastern box turtle
Terrapene carolina carolina
The eastern box turtle is a subspecies within a group of hinge-shelled turtles, normally called box turtles. T. c. carolina is native to an eastern part of the United States....
s, Eastern snapping turtle
Snapping turtle
The common snapping turtle is a large freshwater turtle of the family Chelydridae. Its natural range extends from southeastern Canada, southwest to the edge of the Rocky Mountains, as far east as Nova Scotia and Florida and as far southwest as northeastern Mexico...
s, wood turtle
Wood Turtle
The wood turtle is a turtle endemic to North America. It is in the genus Glyptemys, a designation given to only one other turtle: the bog turtle. The wood turtle reaches a carapace length of , its defining characteristic being the pyramidal pattern on its upper shell...
s, and spotted turtle
Spotted Turtle
The Spotted turtle , the only current species of Clemmys, is a small, semi-aquatic turtle that reaches a carapace length of upon adulthood. Their broad, smooth, low dark-colored upper shell, or carapace, ranges in its exact colour from black to a bluish black with a number of yellow tiny round spots...
s can be found around pond
Pond
A pond is a body of standing water, either natural or man-made, that is usually smaller than a lake. A wide variety of man-made bodies of water are classified as ponds, including water gardens, water features and koi ponds; all designed for aesthetic ornamentation as landscape or architectural...
s, stream
Stream
A stream is a body of water with a current, confined within a bed and stream banks. Depending on its locale or certain characteristics, a stream may be referred to as a branch, brook, beck, burn, creek, "crick", gill , kill, lick, rill, river, syke, bayou, rivulet, streamage, wash, run or...
s, and marsh
Marsh
In geography, a marsh, or morass, is a type of wetland that is subject to frequent or continuous flood. Typically the water is shallow and features grasses, rushes, reeds, typhas, sedges, other herbaceous plants, and moss....
es, as well as snake
Snake
Snakes are elongate, legless, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes that can be distinguished from legless lizards by their lack of eyelids and external ears. Like all squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales...
s, such as the Northern Copperhead
Agkistrodon contortrix mokasen
Agkistrodon contortrix mokasen is a venomous pitviper subspecies found in the eastern United States.-Description:The Northern copperhead grows to an average length of 61-91 cm , with a maximum of 134.6 cm ....
and the Northern Black Racer
Coluber constrictor
Coluber constrictor is a species of nonvenomous, colubrid snakes commonly referred to as the eastern racers. They are primarily found throughout the United States, east of the Rocky Mountains, but they range north into Canada, and south into Mexico, Guatemala and Belize...
.