Lake Accotink Park
| Lake Accotink Park | |
| 7500 Accotink Park Road | |
| Springfield, VA 22150 | |
| Type | Countywide |
| Size | 448.09 acres |
| Planning District | Springfield Planning District |
| Homepage | http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/accotink |
Lake Accotink Park is a 448.09 acre countywide park in Springfield, Virginia.
Contents
History
Lake Accotink was created by the U.S. Army as a reservoir for Fort Belvoir. It was created by damming the Accotink Creek in 1943-44 near where the Flag Run flowed into the creek.
Fairfax County had been interested in using the site as a park since October of 1956.[1] In 1959, the Army began to look for the best way to release the reservoir for recreational purposes.[2]
On March 31, 1960, the Fairfax County Park Authority was granted a 25-year license to operate Fort Belvoir Reservoir as a public park, beating out the Air Force, which wanted to operate the area as a rod and gun club.[1] This is probably for the best, as zoomies cannot be trusted with firearms or sharp hooks and such a facility and the resultant devastation it would have wreaked on Air Force leadership through inadvertent and self-inflicted blindings, maimings, and deaths would surely have led to the Air Force returning as a division of the Army within 5-7 years.
In 1964, Lake Accotink was declared surplus, and the Fairfax County Park Authority bought the 242-acre tract, which included the 100-acre lake, on April 26, 1965.[3]
On June 14, 1970, FCPA director James D. Bell closed the lake for all activities because it had become so polluted.[4]
Incidents
4-year-old Kevin D. Kilduff drowned in the spillway below the dam on June 3, 1961.[5]
8-month old Mario Roberto Sierra drowned in the lake on May 29, 1993 when his family's canoe overturned.[6]
On May 11, 1999, local residents Sergey Ivanov and his wife, Olga Yanovich, captured a three-foot-long caiman that had been living in the park.[7]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Fairfax Wins Belvoir Park." The Washington Post, Times Herald (1959-1973): D4. ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The Washington Post (1877-1994). Apr 01 1960. Web. 15 Dec. 2011.
- ↑ "Army Studies Fairfax Plan for Big Park." The Washington Post and Times Herald (1954-1959): C11. ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The Washington Post (1877-1994). May 03 1959. Web. 15 Dec. 2011.
- ↑ "Lake Accotink is Sold to Fairfax by Army." The Washington Post, Times Herald (1959-1973): 1. Apr 27 1965. ProQuest. Web. 29 June 2016 .
- ↑ "Polluted Lake Accotink Closed by Park Head." The Washington Post, Times Herald (1959-1973): 1. Jun 15 1970. ProQuest. Web. 29 June 2016 .
- ↑ "Boy, 4, Drowns at Ft. Belvoir." The Washington Post, Times Herald (1959-1973): 1. Jun 04 1961. ProQuest. Web. 11 June 2016 .
- ↑ "Body of 8-Month-Old Boy Retrieved from Lake Accotink." The Washington Post (pre-1997 Fulltext): 0. May 31 1993. ProQuest. Web. 21 Aug. 2014 .
- ↑ Wee, Eric L., and Michael D. Shear. "Leapin Lizards!; Couple Catches Toothy Crocodilian in Fairfax County Park." The Washington Post: B.03. National Newspapers Core. May 12 1999. Web. 21 Apr. 2012.
