Fort Hunt Park is a public park located in

Fort Hunt Fort Hunt is a census-designated place (CDP) in Fairfax County, Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atl ...

Fairfax County, Virginia Fairfax County, officially the County of Fairfax, is a County (United States), county in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia. With a population of 1,150,309 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the most p ...

. It is administered by the

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an List of federal agencies in the United States, agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, within the US Department of the Interior. The service manages all List ...

as part of the

George Washington Memorial Parkway The George Washington Memorial Parkway, colloquially the G.W. Parkway, is a limited-access road, limited-access parkway that runs along the south bank of the Potomac River from Mount Vernon, Virginia, northwest to McLean, Virginia, and is maint ...

. The park preserves the remains of the eponymous Fort Hunt, portions of which date to the time of the

Spanish–American War The Spanish–American War (April 21 – August 13, 1898) was fought between Restoration (Spain), Spain and the United States in 1898. It began with the sinking of the USS Maine (1889), USS ''Maine'' in Havana Harbor in Cuba, and resulted in the ...

. The park was named after Brigadier General Henry Hunt, who served as chief of artillery of the

Army of the Potomac The Army of the Potomac was the primary field army of the Union army in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War. It was created in July 1861 shortly after the First Battle of Bull Run and was disbanded in June 1865 following the Battle of ...

during the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

. Remains of several of the fort's original batteries, including Battery Mount Vernon, Battery Robinson, and Battery Sater, and Battery Porter (named after Lt. James Porter, an officer who was killed at

Custer's Last Stand The Battle of the Little Bighorn, known to the Lakota people, Lakota and other Plains Indians as the Battle of the Greasy Grass, and commonly referred to as Custer's Last Stand, was an armed engagement between combined forces of the Lakota Si ...

at the Little Bighorn.), have been preserved, and may still be visited today. The structures have been stabilized enough that visitors are able to climb on them without difficulty. Besides the batteries, the battery commander's station still stands; in addition, a

flagpole A flagpole, flagmast, flagstaff, or staff is a pole designed to support a flag. If it is taller than can be easily reached to raise the flag, a cord is used, looping around a pulley at the top of the pole with the ends tied at the bottom. The fla ...

has been erected as a memorial to the intelligence officers who served at the fort during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Fort Hunt Park is open from dawn until dusk, year-round; access is from the George Washington Memorial Parkway or from Fort Hunt Road.

History

Fort Hunt is located along the

Potomac River The Potomac River () is in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States and flows from the Potomac Highlands in West Virginia to Chesapeake Bay in Maryland. It is long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography D ...

just 11 miles south of

Washington, D. C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

Its proximity to the Nation's capital dramatically affected the land use history. What occurred on this site frequently mirrored the political and social history of the United States. The site began its existence as a portion of

George Washington George Washington (, 1799) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot (American Revoluti ...

's River Farm; though it passed out of Washington's family's hands around the beginning of the 19th century, it remained farmland until not long after the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

. A fort was constructed on the site as part of a plan, developed in the 1880s, to expand and strengthen fortifications around the city of Washington. Fort Hunt was planned to complement Fort Washington, located just across the Potomac River in

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

, and was completed in time for the Spanish–American War, though it did not see action in that conflict. The park was named after Brig. Gen. Henry Hunt, who served as chief of artillery of the Army of the Potomac during the Civil War. On June 11, 1932 General Douglas MacArthur established a field hospital at Fort Hunt to serve military veterans known as Bonus Marchers who were camped in the Anacostia and Hains Point areas of the District of Columbia. In the 1930s the site was converted into a

Civilian Conservation Corps The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was a voluntary government unemployment, work relief program that ran from 1933 to 1942 in the United States for unemployed, unmarried men ages 18–25 and eventually expanded to ages 17–28. The CCC was ...

camp. During World War II it was the setting for top secret World War II military intelligence operations (known as "P.O. Box 1142") as well as an interrogation center for high-value prisoners of war. At one time the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

ran a school of finance there, but this did not last long. Today, the park is a popular picnic and jogging area. A playground and sports facilities are also available, and the

United States Park Police The United States Park Police (USPP) is the oldest uniformed federal law enforcement agency in the United States. It functions as a full-service law enforcement agency with responsibilities and jurisdiction in those National Park Service areas ...

man a substation at the park, as well as stables for their police horses. Lieutenant Commander Werner Henke, the highest-ranking German officer to be shot while in American captivity during World War II, was killed while attempting an escape from Fort Hunt in June 1944. He was later buried in the post cemetery on Fort Meade, Maryland. In 1980, the remaining structures at the site were added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

as the Fort Hunt Historic District. The surrounding

community A community is a social unit (a group of people) with a shared socially-significant characteristic, such as place, set of norms, culture, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given g ...

of Fort Hunt, Virginia takes its name from the original fort.

Gallery

Fort Hunt Park Commander's Station 2016.jpg, Commander's Station Fort Hunt Park Battery Mount Vernon 2016.jpg, Battery Mount Vernon Fort Hunt Park Battery Porter 2016.jpg, Battery Porter Fort Hunt Park Battery Sater 2016.jpg, Battery Sater Fort Hunt Park Battery Robinson 2016.jpg, Battery Robinson

References

External links

* *
Fort Hunt Park
at the

website {{authority control Historic American Buildings Survey in Virginia Historic American Landscapes Survey in Virginia

Hunt Hunting is the Human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, and killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to obtain the animal's body for meat and useful animal products (fur/hide (sk ...

National Register of Historic Places in Fairfax County, Virginia National Park Service areas in Virginia Civilian Conservation Corps in Virginia Parks in Fairfax County, Virginia Coastal fortifications Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Virginia World War II prisoner-of-war camps in the United States George Washington Memorial Parkway 1897 establishments in Virginia