Hickory Ridge is an extinct unincorporated town in
Prince William County
Prince William County is located on the Potomac River in the U.S. state of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population sits at 482,204, making it Virginia's second-most populous county. Its county seat is the independent city of Manassas ...
,
Virginia
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...
. The town was located on land that is now part of
Prince William Forest Park
Prince William Forest Park is protected forest in the U.S. state of Virginia within Prince William County (and very partially Stafford County), located adjacent to the Marine Corps Base Quantico near the town of Dumfries. Established as Chopawa ...
, a
National Park Service
The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propertie ...
property located adjacent to
Marine Corps Base Quantico
Marine Corps Base Quantico (commonly abbreviated MCB Quantico) is a United States Marine Corps installation located near Triangle, Virginia, covering nearly of southern Prince William County, Virginia, northern Stafford County, and southeaster ...
. The town was established shortly after the opening of the now defunct Cabin Branch Pyrite Mine in 1889 and was home to many of the mine employees.
Overview
The center of town was located about one-half mile west of the mine itself, at the junction of what is now Scenic Drive and Pyrite Mine Road. It consisted largely of an
Odd Fellows hall that also functioned as a church and school for
black
Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have o ...
families, Porter's Inn, one of the few restaurants that would serve blacks, and the company store. At its peak, the town consisted of about 171 homes scattered over the area.
Resettlement
Between 1933 and 1937 the Federal Government began implementing a
Resettlement Administration
The Resettlement Administration (RA) was a New Deal U.S. federal agency created May 1, 1935. It relocated struggling urban and rural families to communities planned by the federal government. On September 1, 1937, it was succeeded by the Farm S ...
program, where rural farmers were supposed to be relocated to more fertile areas. The RA bought 79 pieces of property in both Hickory Ridge and
Batestown and condemned another 48, to form the Chopawamsic
Recreational Demonstration Area The Recreational Demonstration Area program (also known as the Recreation Demonstration Area program) was a National Park Service program during the 1930s and early 1940s that built forty-six public parks in twenty-four states on , chiefly near urba ...
.
The area residents resisted the relocation efforts, sometimes retreating into the park boundaries to escape detection. This continued until the beginning of World War II, where the park was taken over by the
Office of Strategic Services
The Office of Strategic Services (OSS) was the intelligence agency of the United States during World War II. The OSS was formed as an agency of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) to coordinate espionage activities behind enemy lines for all branc ...
as a spy training ground. The park was surrounded by barbed wire and fences, and patrolled by dogs and armed guards. All remaining forty-four holdouts were evicted, some literally carried away screaming.
At the end of the war, the displaced residents hoped their land would be restored, but to date these families have received no compensation. Instead, the property was turned over to the National Park Service and renamed Prince William Forest Park.
"Stolen Land: Preserving the Past"
by Kari Pugh, ''WUSA9.com'', February 17, 2005, retrieved April 7, 2006
See also
*Former counties, cities, and towns of Virginia
Former counties, cities, and towns of Virginia are those that existed within the English Colony of Virginia or, after statehood, the Commonwealth of Virginia, and no longer retain the same form within its boundaries. The settlements, towns, and ...
References
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Unincorporated communities in Prince William County, Virginia
Washington metropolitan area
Unincorporated communities in Virginia
Ghost towns in Virginia