Annandale has grown rapidly in the past few decades
It’s amazing how rural this area was back then. The intersection of Little River Turnpike and Columbia Pike has just a few buildings in the photo, and it is surrounded by single family houses on large lots. Tribbett recently returned to Annandale after growing up here in the 1950s and 1960s.
He attended Annandale Elementary School in the fifth grade and went to Woodburn Elementary in the sixth and seventh grades, then to Annandale High School in the eighth grade. There were no middle schools back then. Annandale Elementary closed many years ago, and the building, on Columbia Pike, now houses Annandale Christian Community for Action (ACCA).
Tribbet remembers Shirkey’s Drug Store [not sure if that is spelled right] on the corner of Little River and Columbia Pike. None of the buildings in the photo appears to have more than two stories. Some of the current buildings visible in the photo include the firehouse, built in 1944, and the Annandale United Methodist Church on Columbia Pike and Gallows Road.
Tribbett says Martin T. Webb, who used to live across from the church, used to own a lot of property in Annandale. His house was torn down to make way for the Webbmont development after he died about 10 years ago. According to Tribbett, Webb was married six times. One of Martin Webb’s son, John, a lawyer and shopping center developer, lost a congressional race to Joel Broyhill (R) in 1952. Broyhill went on to serve 11 terms in Congress, then developed several neighborhoods in Northern Virginia, presumably including Broyhill Crest.
The opening of the Giant in the 1960s spurred a lot of growth in the area, Tribbet says, and the bowling alley, built in 1960, was a favorite hangout. He thinks the area has become overdeveloped, leading to traffic problems. We hope to continue the conversation on Annandale history.
3 responses to “Annandale has grown rapidly in the past few decades”
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Was there one time a very short lived stock car oval track in Annandale, Virginia? I heard that Columbia Elementary School, is now on the site (also in the shadows of Mason District Park), that was once a short lived dirt oval speedway, other than Hybla Valley Speedway, that was also in Fairfax County, as well. I think the name of this track was called Pinecrest or Pineridge Speedway, or Mason Hill Speedway. If you notice there is a speedway-like dishbowl carve out behind Columbia Elementary School. Some please check into this. Thank You.
I heard that there was a track there, in Annandale, Virginia, and I understand it was at the site that is now Columbia Elementary School. It was short lived. I believe it existed between the late 1940's to very early 1950's. It supposedly ran a very short seasons.
I believe the name was Pine Hill Speedway. It had a fair field of cars, but never exactly a large field of cars. It may had mostly local racers, a few may have come from Hybla Valley Speedway, in Mount Vernon U.S. Route 1 area, in Virginia, a few from Winchester (,Va.) Speedway, Hagerstown, Braddock Heights (Md.) Speedway, and slight possibillity two or three from Dorsey Speedway. Maybe if Pee Wee Poblets, or Shorty Bowers, or Bob Burns (Senior) to have run there, it would have more publicity. Those were the big name that raced Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina dirt tracks. Maybe those big names never ran there, it might be an indication that attendance was fair, and not like a sell out. I've heard from a few that Columbia Elementary School sits where most of the front stetch of where this track was possibly at.
There were actually three race tracks that were in Annandale, Virginia. There was a wood track oval, now covered by the Salvation Army, it raced barn storms. The site that is now Home Depot, that used to be Hechingers, then Michaels, and then MEMCO, was once the site of a horse track. Yes there was a stock car oval that was a dirt track at the now Columbia Elementary School adjacent to Mason District Park. You the anonymous writer, I believe you forgot about a couple of tracks not too far. One was Coffey Stadium Raceway (originally a horse track and one year as dirt oval), now a track and football field of Robinson Secondary School of Burke, Virginia. The other which was only three years of Longview Speedway, 1/4 mile dirt track in Manassas, Virginia. Al Gore (Not the Vice-President) father of Dick Gore, bought the track that was built in 1947 by the once previous owner. Al Gore bought that track in 1951, widened the track and paved it with asphalt, and built a drag strip facillity behind turns 3 and 4. The other tracks some of the other tracks you could have named were; Coffey Stadium Raceway (ran a stock car race only one year in the early 1950's), Long View Speedway (from 1947 to 1950), and Old Dominion Speedway (even though asphalt formerly Long View Speedway. Some of the stock car racers back then would go back and forth from dirt to asphalt. Today that would be harder, due to differentiated rules compared with asphalt tracks and dirt tracks.