Gum Springs, Virginia

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Welcome to Gum Springs Gum Springs welcome sign.jpg
Welcome to Gum Springs

Gum Springs is a community in Fairfax County in Hybla Valley along Route 1 (Richmond Highway). The African American community, the oldest in the county, [1] was established in 1833 by West Ford, a freedman who had been manumitted by Hannah Bushrod Washington (widow of John Augustine Washington), in 1805. [2] [3] A historical marker (Number E-04) was erected by the Virginia Department of Historic Resources in 1991. [4]

Contents

History

Founding

Gum Springs' founder, West Ford West Ford.jpg
Gum Springs' founder, West Ford

In 1833, Gum Springs was founded by West Ford, a freed slave, skilled carpenter, and manager on George Washington's plantation, Mount Vernon. [5] Ford was able to develop this 214-acre farming community from the sale of land he inherited from Hannah Washington, the sister-in-law of George Washington. By 1866, Ford was the second richest free black farmer in Fairfax County, Virginia. Gum Springs Farm became the nucleus of an African-American community throughout the 1800s.

Gum Springs School

The school was established after the Civil War. [6]

Bethlehem Baptist Church

Bethlehem Baptist Church Gum Springs - Bethlehem Baptist Church.jpg
Bethlehem Baptist Church

The church was established in 1863. [7]

Odd Fellows Hall

The Pride of Fairfax Lodge #298 building, formerly known as the Mount Vernon Enterprise Lodge No. 3488, is listed on the Fairfax County Inventory of Historic Sites and was listed to the Virginia Landmarks Register in 2021 and the National Register of Historic Places in 2022. [8]

Joint Stock Club

In 1890, the Joint Stock Club was formed by five men. This endeavor helped create a safe place for African Americans to obtain land. All land was collaboratively bought, sold and subdivided at cost to other African Americans at a price of $30 an acre. [2]

Snowden Cemetery

Woodland Baptist Church

Gum Springs Historical Society and Museum

Gum Springs Historical Society and Museum [9] is dedicated to preserving the legacy of Gum Springs Community and regularly disseminates information that tells the story of the Community's economic struggle and dedication to building an African-American community. [10] A historical marker is located at the corner of Richmond Highway and Fordson Road ( 38° 44.909′ N, 77° 4.965′ W). [11]

Notable people

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">West Ford</span> (1784–1863)Manager of Mount Vernon, founder of Gum Springs

West Ford was the caretaker and manager of Mount Vernon, which had been the home of George Washington. Ford also founded Gum Springs, Virginia near Mount Vernon. He was a man of mixed-race, and possibly of Washington family descent.

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Sarah Johnson was an African American woman who was born into slavery at Mount Vernon, George Washington's estate in Fairfax, Virginia. She worked as a domestic, cleaning and caring for the residence. During the process, she became an informal historian of all of the mansion's furnishings. After the end of the Civil War, she was hired by the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association, ultimately becoming a council member of the organization. She bought four acres of Mount Vernon land to establish a small farm. The book Sarah Johnson's Mount Vernon (2008) tells the story of her life within the complex community of people who inhabited Mount Vernon.

George William Ford was a U.S. military officer in the Spanish American War and a Buffalo Soldier. Born in Alexandria, Virginia, at George Washington's Mount Vernon Plantation, he joined the 10th Cavalry in 1867 at 19.

References

  1. "Gum Springs Historical Society and Museum". www.virginia.org.
  2. 1 2 "Preserving African American Heritage -Gum Springs". The Zebra. February 7, 2020. Retrieved March 16, 2022.
  3. Blechman, Barbara H. (March 21, 1985). "Black History Museum Considered for Gum Springs". The Washington Post. Retrieved April 9, 2022.
  4. Historical Marker Database. "E-94 Gum Springs Historical Marker". The Historical Marker Database. Retrieved September 29, 2020.
  5. "Did George Washington Have an Enslaved Son?". The New Yorker. March 4, 2022.
  6. Casper, Scott E. (January 20, 2009). Sarah Johnson's Mount Vernon: The Forgotten History of an American Shrine. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. ISBN   9781429931212.
  7. "Bethlehem Baptist Church Historical Marker". www.hmdb.org.
  8. "Pride of Fairfax Lodge #298, Fairfax County, DHR No. 029-6069". www.dhr.virginia.gov.
  9. "Taking Pride in 175 Years of History". Mount Vernon Gazette. May 21, 2009. Retrieved March 16, 2022.
  10. Newton, Grace (May 26, 2024). "'Your quiet community could be destroyed': Gum Springs residents fight to preserve local history". WTOP News. Retrieved May 28, 2024.
  11. "E 94 Gum Springs Historical Marker". Historical Marker Database. Retrieved March 16, 2022.

Further reading

38°44′25″N77°04′56″W / 38.74028°N 77.08222°W / 38.74028; -77.08222