Historic Background

The West County Recreation Center is located on land that was part of a 1,207-acre tract patented to Thomas Walker on August 17, 1726 in Truro Parish of Fairfax County. This land became part of Cameron Parish created in 1748. In 1757, this parcel fell within the bounds of the newly created Loudoun County. It remained part of Loudoun County until 1798 when the boundary between Loudoun and Fairfax counties was re-drawn.

By the early 19th century Richard M. Scott, whose primary residence was an estate known as Bush Hill located on Holmes Run, owned this land. His third and last wife was Lucinda Fitzhugh Scott. On his 600-acre estate on Cub Run also known as Farmington, Scott maintained a working farm as you could read in his will written in 1833. He bequeathed Farmington to his son, John M. Scott, who was born shortly before Richard’s death. Tax records show that John Scott owned this property at least until 1873. At that time, the land had improvements valued at $200. Sometime between 1873 and 1875, Scott conveyed the property to Thomas N. Latham. In 1882, Latham sold approximately 140 acres of his 600-acre estate to Charles H. Dodd (DB F-5:636). After survey, the land sold showed to be only 125 acres. The Land Tax for 1885 lists Dodd as owning 125 acres of Farmington with improvements valued at $50. Sometime between 1885 and 1887, Latham sold the remaining 475 acres of Farmington to his neighbor Philip D.C. Lee. Improvements at that time were still valued at $200, suggesting Dodd had added improvements to his potion of the estate.

In 1897 at public sale of the estate of Charles H. Dodd, James W. Yates bought his portion of Farmington. Shortly thereafter, Yates sold the property to R. E. Davis (DB Y-5:336). Davis bequeathed the property to his daughter, Virginia who later married J. B. Adams. In 1919, J. B. Adams and Virginia Adams added two parcels to their estate. They purchased one 15-acre parcel and one 6 1/3 acre parcel from C. W. Beach (DB N-8:274). Both parcels were located on the west side of Cub Run, and both had belonged to J. M. Hutchinson at the turn of the century (DBQ-7:421 and R-7:34). Virginia Adams owned the property until 1944 when she sold 159.25 acres to H. C. and Rubye Butkiewicz (DB 430:385). In 1972, Rubye Butkiewicz sold the property to Buck-Mar Associates, a limited partnership (DB 3609:519). In 1994 the property was acquired by the Fairfax County School Board (DB 9037:519).

The construction of the West County Recreation Center did not affect any structures located on the property according to a review of historic maps for the area. McDowell’s 1862 map shows Hutchinson’s Saw Mill, probably located on the west side of Cub Run. Hopkins’s 1878 map shows no improvements on the property, with Philip Lee the closest neighbor to the east and Silas Hutchinson’s residence located across Cub Run to the west. Maps that are more recent show no evidence of later improvements on the property.

 

 

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