Explore a Park: The woods in Poe Terrace Park draw homeless campers

Poe Terrace Park as seen from Hillbrook Drive.

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

Poe Terrace Park is a 14.3-acre undeveloped park at the intersection of Little River Turnpike and Hillbrook Drive in Annandale across from George Mason Regional Library. It’s a little different from other local parks as it is impenetrable, there are no recreational facilities, and it was so overgrown in July, we couldn’t find a clear path to get inside.

A campsite in Poe Terrace Park in 2020. [Marie Reinsdorf]

Features: Indian Run, in the Cameron Run Watershed, goes through Poe Terrace Park. There are remnants of a railroad bridge abutment that was part of the uncompleted Manassas Gap Railroad Line. Due to the undeveloped nature of Poe Terrace Park, it has become a haven for homeless campsites.

Improvements: A Master Plan for Poe Terrace Park – consisting of a map with no narrative – was approved in 1984 but none of the recommended improvements have been implemented. Those features include a picnic area, tot lot, open play area, seating, and trail.

Items left by campers. [Marie Reinsdorf]

“While there are no planned upgrades to the existing park, and it is primarily maintained as a natural wooded area, we will be sure to consider it in our future bond funding request for park improvements,” says Stephanie Leedom, director of planning and development at the Fairfax County Park Authority.

Related story: Board of Supervisors reauthorizes Park Authority for 30 years, despite complaints from Justice Park advocates

“Our area maintenance crews are aware of the homeless population in the area but have not heard of specific concerns recently related to Poe Terrace,” Leedom says. “We can consider an opportunity to engage community volunteers for a park cleanup day if there is interest, so that we can all ensure that the park is well maintained for the safety and enjoyment of visitors.”

Indian Run

History: There was a skirmish during the Civil War in what is now Poe Terrace Park. A historic marker in front of the library commemorates the “Action at Annandale.” Work on the Manassas Gap Railroad stopped in 1857 due to financial problems, but the roadbed provided a route that both the Federal and Confederate armies used, the marker states.

The Manassas Gap railroad abutment in Poe Terrace Park. [Wikimedia Commons]

“Where the roadbed crossed Little River Turnpike, approximately 200 Confederate cavalrymen overran a barricade defended by the 45th New York Volunteers on 2 December 1861,” the marker states. “The skirmish ended when reinforcing troops from the 32nd New York Regiment joined the fight and the Confederates retreated west toward Centreville.”

Related story: Explore a Park – Walk through history in Annandale’s Manassas Gap Park

Along Little River Turnpike, there are six single-family houses between Poe Terrace Park and the Indian River Townhomes.

The historic marker on Little River Turnpike in front of George Mason Regional Library.

Jo Ellen Walker grew up in one of those homes, at 6909 Little River Turnpike, built by her father, William P. Walker, and lived there all through high school (Woodson and Jefferson). “My dad kept that land mowed and he had a big garden which he shared with the other owners,” she says.

Another nearby house was owned by Mr. and Mrs. Ney, Jo Ellen says. When they died, in the late 1980s or 90s, they sold their land to a group of doctors who held it as an investment. The Fire Department burned down the Ney’s house and barn as a training exercise for firefighters, she recalls.

The former Walker family home at 6909 Little River Turnpike.

At one point, she says, the Park Authority took over the land owned by her father and two other properties by eminent domain for parkland, but ran out of money before they could improve it. “We had heard they would put up tennis courts and other things and make it a nice park,” she says. “That never happened.”

After her father died, Jo Ellen’s nephew lived in the house on Little River Turnpike for several years, then her family sold it. She now lives in a different Annandale neighborhood.

Now, she says, homeless people are living in Poe Terrace Park. Last summer she discovered a large clearing with chairs and evidence of drug use. “It’s just a weird situation,” she says. “It’s creepy and dangerous.”