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ANNANDALE AND SPRINGFIELD
The history of the Annandale and Springfield
areas in the Braddock District can be traced all the way back to the
pre-Revolutionary year 1695, when Col. William Fitzhugh purchased over
24,000 acres of land, originally named "Ravensworth."
Ravensworth was the largest single parcel of land granted in Northern Virginia. The land had been surveyed to include easy access to the Accotink drainage basin via a road bed that would later become Rolling Road. Tobacco, the most common commodity in 17th century Virginia, had to be packed in heavy hogshead casks and ''rolled'` to the waterways.
Upon the death of Col. Fitzhugh in 1701, his property was divided equally and left to his two eldest sons, William, Jr., who inherited the southern portion (North Springfield, Ravensworth, and Kings Park) and Henry, who inherited the northern portion (all of the land that is now Annandale).
Annandale's main road, Little River Turnpike (Route 236), was chartered as a private turnpike by the General Assembly in 1795. The toll house survived for 170 years where Route 236 intersects at Ravensworth Road. In 1830 the area was named "Anandale" by a Scottish settler after a village in Scotland at the mouth of the Anan River. In later years, the name was modified to become Annandale.
Several large colonial homes, including the Ravensworth mansion, were built in the 1700's. The Ravensworth mansion was home to the Fitzhughs and later the Lee and Custis families. It was a beautiful and spacious mansion, located in the present Ravensworth, North Springfield area. Sadly, it fell into a state of disrepair after the mansion was vacated by its last owner, Col. Robert E. Lee, III and his family. In 1925 it was mysteriously destroyed by fire and the land on which it stood was sold for development.
The Oak Hill and Ossian Hall mansions were built on the northern (Annandale) portion of the Fitzhugh property. Ossian Hall was a stately colonial home facing Braddock Road, but accessible by a private tree-lined entrance on what is now Ravensworth Road. The mansion was destroyed by fire in 1959 to make way for the current Bristow subdivision. Oak Hill, near Wakefield Chapel Road, is still standing today, a picturesque reminder of Annandale's rich cultural heritage.