Explore a park: Monch Farm Park

This article is part of our series on parks in the Annandale/Mason District area. The last piece in the series explored Deerlick Park.

Monch Farm Park, at 6570 Edsall Road in the Alexandria area of Mason District, consists of a former farmstead that has evolved into a 10-acre meadow. There is a trail around the perimeter, but there are no recreational amenities.

The Fairfax County Park Authority purchased the property in 2014 from Gertrude Roat of the Monch family for $4.3 million.

Access: Monch Farm Park is located between busy Edsall Road and Braddock Road and is bordered by single-family houses along Clifton Street, Clinton Road, and Canard Street. Parking is available on the side streets.

Improvements: “The parcel was designated as a local park to eventually support the recreational needs in this densely populated area,” says Park Authority spokesperson Ben Boxer. No date has been set for beginning the master planning process as no funds have been appropriated for implementing any potential improvements. Development of the park will be considered as part of the 2026 bond process.

The Park Authority intends future planning efforts for Monch Farm Park to reflect and honor the family history on the site, Boxer says.

History: George Monch purchased the land in 1896, reports his great-granddaughter, Georgia Hill in a document titled “A Brief Personal History of the Monch/Dove Family Farm,” written in 2019.

George Monch cleared the land by hand and continued to farm it until shortly before his death in 1943. At first, he and his wife, Lola Rowe Monch, lived in a log cabin on the farm with their seven children.

They built a two-story farmhouse in the mid-1920s, Georgia Hill continues. The house was made of used lumber from the barracks at Fort Humphrey (now called Fort Belvoir). They brought the wood to the farm by horse and wagon. [According to Boxer, the house was demolished before the Park Authority purchased the property.]

Every Saturday, Lola drove a horse and wagon along a route through Alexandria to sell the produce they raised.

After Lola died in 1935, Gertrude Roat’s father, Mark Edward Dove, and her mother, Ethel Row Monch Dove, returned to the farm to assist George Monch. Ethel and Mark maintained the property and continued farming until Mark died in 1978.

Mark Dove farmed with a horse and plow and “never using mechanical means to plant or cultivate his crops,” Georgia Hill wrote. Mark took his crops to the Alexandria Farmers Market every Saturday. He also had a vegetable stand on the farm near Edsall Road.

Spring, summer, and fall were dedicated to farm produce and cut flowers. Beginning in November, Ethel collected hemlock, pine, holly, and other greens on the property to make Christmas wreaths, which they sold at the Alexandria Farmers Market. Ethel also used walnuts from a tree on the farm to bake fruit cakes for Christmas, which they shared with a large group of friends, neighbors, and family members.

Mark and Ethel raised two daughters, Virginia and Gertrude. After Mark’s death. Virginia remained on the farm with Ethel.

“Virginia provided financial support to supplement the farming revenue, allowing the farm to remain in the family far beyond the days of farm production,” Georgia Hill says.

Mark’s parents, John Henry Dove and Margaret “Maggie” Harrison Dove, owned a farm located at the intersection of Little River Turnpike and Guinea Road.