History

This is an 1861 road map of Northern Virginia, including some of Maryland.

It gives a good view of where the roads were in those days.

The roads have changed substantially since then!

Centerville, now spelled Centreville, was a popular spot.

The busy Manassas Gap Junction was an important railroad meeting place.  From there troops and supplies could be distributed quickly and to many areas.

Centreville VA was where the South, and eventually the North, maintained army barracks. 

Different from the typical tent camp, these barracks were obviously made for the long term.  The Union Army used these barracks for various forays into Northern Virginia.

And it was a quick trip from here to Washington D.C., only 25 or so miles away.

Today this same location looks just a bit different.

Today the Centreville VA army barracks site looks like typical suburbia found most places in the United States!  Many townhouses abound, interweaving themselves where log cabins used to house the neighborhood's residents.

The roads in this neighborhood are named Field Encampment Road, Brass Button Court, Knapsack Lane, Eagle Button Court and Uniform Drive.  There are more road names than this!  When I do home inspections there and tell my clients about where they live, I have yet to run into anybody who knows anything of the area's history.  Or why the roads are named as they are!  I expect most of the people who live there don't have any idea either.  But when I go there, I feel a little reverence for what was once an important place in Civil War history.  It is what it is!