The house is now fenced off while the exterior is being stabilized. Photo by John Fagan/Mount Vernon Resident
Most residents in Mount Vernon are familiar with the grounds at Fort Hunt Park off the George Washington Parkway. Besides the old fort and acres of picnic sites, there is a farm house that started as a family residence in the early 1900s, and now it is known as “NCO (Non-commissioned Officer) Quarters at Fort Hunt,” the National Park Service said. Recently the park service started work on the house that the NPS calls an “exterior stabilization,” project.
John Fagan walks around Fort Hunt Park a few times a week and was surprised to see the work going on at the old house on park grounds. Through the years he’s noticed the house slowly weathering but was happy to see it being restored.
This house was used in the 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps and after that the Park Police used it as a residence through the years until 1970s. The construction is scheduled to go on until August 2024, but after the construction is over and the fence is removed, it will remain as it is. The house will not be opened to the public or rented for anything, a park ranger said.
In addition, Fort Hunt park is also getting a new playground, and two of its bathrooms are being rehabilitated this summer, NPS said.
In years past the house has faced the elements and still remains standing.
Other Park Amenities
In another section of the park, there are the remnants of an old fort that housed the cannons from the days when there was a danger of ships attacking Washington, D.C. There is a circular road that goes around the interior of the park that connects to the GW Parkway Bike Trail and a well-known water fountain out front that the riders look forward to on a hot summer day.
Located on the Potomac River just south of Washington, D.C. Fort Hunt was originally a part of George Washington's Mount Vernon estate. The War Department purchased the land in 1892 as part of a plan to modernize coastal defenses. In 1930, Congress authorized the land to be transferred into the new George Washington Memorial Parkway.
Batteries at Fort Hunt defended the Potomac River during the Spanish American War; the Civilian Conservation Corps operated a camp there during the Great Depression; and soldiers at Fort Hunt interrogated prisoners, trained pilots in escape and evasion, and combed German documents for intelligence during World War II. At that time it was known as “P.O. Box 1142,” and in 1980, Fort Hunt Park was added to the National Register of Historic Places.
There are two other locations along the GW Parkway where work is ramping up before the warm weather and the picnickers. At the location where the Potomac Heritage National Trail portion goes under Glebe Road, work is underway for painting operations, and the Visitor Center at Great Falls Park is temporarily closed for construction, but the restrooms remain open and overlooks and trails remain open.