Oxon Hill, Maryland
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Oxon Hill is part of the Oxon Hill-Glassmanor census-designated place (CDP) in southern Prince George's County, Maryland, United States.[1] Oxon Hill is located immediately south of Washington, DC and east of Alexandria, Virginia. It is the home of the new 300-acre (1.2 km2) National Harbor development on the shore of the Potomac River .
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[edit] Classification
Because it is not formally incorporated, it has no official boundaries, but the United States Census Bureau has defined a census-designated place consisting of Oxon Hill and the adjacent community of Glassmanor, designated Oxon Hill-Glassmanor, for statistical purposes. According to Rand McNally, the latest population estimate for Oxon Hill is around 26,750.
[edit] History
Oxon Hill was named for the colonial 18th century manor home of Thomas Addison (which burned in 1895 but was replaced in 1929 by a large 49-room neo-Georgian-style home called Oxon Hill Manor, standing on a bluff over the Potomac River). The current Manor is now owned by the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission, and is used for cultural activities as well as being rented for weddings and special events (it reopened in Oct. 2007 after repairs). Oxon is an abbreviation for the Latin Oxoniensis, meaning "of Oxford." The area now known as Oxon Hill reminded Addison of the area near Oxford, England.[2] The Revolutionary patriot John Hanson died while visiting the first Manor, and may be buried there in an unmarked grave.
Today the community is bisected by the busy Capital Beltway (I-95/495) and is near the interstate Woodrow Wilson Bridge, whose wider replacement opened to traffic on December 15, 2008, bringing great relief to the 250-300,000 daily vehicles which formerly backed-up daily into Oxon Hill for decades. (Thousands of white-collar commuters working in Northern Virginia's booming economy find that housing is cheaper in Prince George's County, Maryland). Highway interchanges and ramps near the bridge were also re-aligned and re-configured.
Oxon Hill includes many garden apartment and townhouse communities along with single-family detached homes built mostly between the 1940s when suburban development began, through the early 1990s, including the incorporated town Forest Heights. In earlier decades, many residents were scientists from the adjacent U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, Air Force personnel, or musicians in military bands, but very few are now, as today such professionals prefer newer and more upscale communities. Oxon Hill's two principal shopping centers ("Rivertowne" built about 1980 which includes a K-Mart and Home Depot, and "Eastover" built about 1955) attract neighborhood customers as well as shoppers from nearby Southeast Washington, D.C. Eastover, located at the D.C. state line, is a hub of many bus routes, some of them operating 24 hours a day, and has a Prince George's County Police station. The apartment communities closest to the D.C. line are informally called by their original name "Glassmanor" although rental companies have officially given them newer names. A rather unusual community feature is a nursing home operated for an ethnic Filipino population who are numerous in Oxon Hill and Fort Washington.
Until about 1960, the community used the mailing address Washington, D.C. before getting its own postal designation. About 1980, the United States Postal Service detached the two-thirds of greater Oxon Hill that was furthest from Washington, D.C. and re-defined that part as a new postal designation Fort Washington, MD. To make mail sorting easier at that time, the new postal boundary line separating the two Maryland communities was drawn along already existing zip code boundaries (the former zip 20021 portion of Oxon Hill remained Oxon Hill with the new code 20745, while everything in the former zip 20022 portion of Oxon Hill about 1980 was automatically re-named the new Fort Washington 20744). Illogically, this partitioning re-assigned some areas that seem to be almost in the heart of Oxon Hill (such as all of the Bock Road, Tucker Road, Murray Hills, and Brinkley Road areas, including several large prominent churches, Rosecroft Raceway, the ice rink, and ironically even Oxon Hill Middle School) to instead Fort Washington mailing addresses, which can cause confusion.
[edit] Educational Institutions
Oxon Hill has many schools, including the very large Oxon Hill Senior High School, part of the Prince George's County public school system; the school has a magnet science and technology program. Other students attend Potomac, Friendly, or Crossland High Schools.
Another magnet school in Oxon Hill is the K-8 John Hanson French Immersion School whose mission is to ensure that all students acquire knowledge and skills, through speaking, reading and writing the French language. The French Immersion school is also attached to the John Hanson Montessori School which upholds the teaching ideals of Italian educator Maria Montessori.
The town has a very large, modern public library, completely remodeled in 2005,[citation needed] part of the Prince George's public library system. Originally built in 1967,[3] the Oxon Hill Library Branch contains the Sojourner Truth Room, an African American research collection. This comprehensive collection of reference materials on African American history and culture includes over 16,000 cataloged items (many are rare or out-of-print), periodicals, sheet music by African American composers, pictures and posters. Vertical files contain pamphlets, clippings and bibliographies. Copies of selected materials are also in the Oxon Hill Branch's circulating collection. An extensive collection of current and historical periodicals, including the NAACP's Crisis from 1910, the Journal of Negro History from 1916 and Ebony from 1945.
The collection includes original editions of some slave narratives, as well as many reprint editions and the thirty-one volume Writer's Project series. Other topics are antislavery and slavery tracts, literary criticism, and the history of African Americans in Maryland and Prince George's County.
[edit] Outdoor recreation
Rosecroft Raceway (since 1949, harness horse racing) and Henson Creek Golf Course are among Oxon Hill's recreational attractions, although the racing audience has declined (the Maryland slot machine referendum in November 2008 did not include Rosecroft in its list of possible sites to add slots). The Parks Commission's 1974 Henson Creek ice skating rink was enclosed and expanded to year-round use in 2005; across from it is a private club swimming pool. A double gymnasium and recreation and learning center are planned in the future adjacent to the rink and pool. The Henson Creek paved hiker-biker trail extends 5-1/2 miles along a stream. Oxon Cove Farm (formerly Oxon Hill Children's Farm) is a free of charge, educational facility operated daily for families by the National Park Service. Its future is uncertain because it is located in the shadow of the National Harbor. The farm also has a bicycle trail used by a few commuters to nearby government facilities. General public indoor and outdoor swimming pools are also on Allentown Road near Padgett's Corner.
Oxon Hill is also the site of the National Harbor, a major development on the Potomac River: a 7,300,000 square feet (680,000 m²) mixed-use community including 2,500 residential units, 4,000 hotel rooms, a convention center, 1 million square feet (90,000 m²) of retail, dining, and entertainment, and 500,000 square feet (46,000 m²) of class-"A" office space, along with the largest marina on the Potomac River.[citation needed] The first phase of the development began opening in April 2008.
[edit] Barnaby Knolls
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This small subdivision is a neighborhood of green lawns and brick colonials just 10 miles (16 km) from the White House, a place where bumper stickers proclaim: "Proud to Be An American." Residents of the Prince George's County development call it Barnaby Knolls. The late local politician Sue Mills and family once lived there.
Documents filed in a recent court case show that a leader of the Palestinian group Hamas, which is formally known as the Islamic Resistance Movement and has been declared a terrorist group by the U.S. government, invested about $1 million to develop the neighborhood in Oxon Hill in the early 1990s. Among the other investors named in the project: relatives of Osama bin Laden and a Saudi businessman now accused of ties to al Qaeda.[4]
U.S. officials have argued in court that the Oxon Hill development was intended, in part, to make money for Hamas and the leader, Mousa Abu Marzook, at a time when neither was on the terrorist list in the United States. Abu Marzook's attorney denies his client was investing money for Hamas.
What drew such an unusual cast of investors to a sleepy development of cul-de-sacs and broad streets, flanked by homes decorated with flowerpots and concrete birdbaths? Abu Marzook's attorney, Stanley Cohen, said the Hamas leader wanted "to make a profit," like any normal, free-enterprise-loving businessman. He disputes the government's allegations that his client continued to benefit from it after he was placed on the U.S. terrorist list.
[edit] Notable former residents
- Dr. John Bayne, 19th century founder of the University of Maryland, superintendent of county schools, Union Army physician, and one of the first Americans to grow and eat a tomato, proving they were not poisonous as had been thought. His home, "Salubria", across from National Harbor, was recently demolished.
- Sumner Welles, U.S. Undersecretary of State to Franklin D. Roosevelt, lived in the second "Oxon Hill Manor" home and hosted Roosevelt and possibly Sir Winston Churchill there. The home was later occupied by Fred Maloof (a wealthy oilman, timberland tycoon, and art collector) before coming into ownership of the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission.
- Roger L. Easton, Naval scientist, the chief inventor of GPS and winner of a 2004 Presidential National Medal of Technology, lived on Oxon Hill Road (more information is on "Google images").
- U.S. Senator George McGovern, Democratic presidential candidate, lived briefly in Glassmanor while a freshman U.S. Congressman. (source: Washingtonian Magazine biographical article)
- Sammy Nestico, distinguished band music composer/arranger, lived in Birchwood City in the 1960s
- Arnie Sachs (1928-2006), photojournalist. He took a famous photo of teenager Bill Clinton shaking hands with President John F. Kennedy[5]
- Singer Eva Cassidy, who rose to prominence in the United Kingdom before an untimely death in 1996 at age 33 from cancer.
[edit] References
- ^ USGS GNIS: Oxon Hill, Maryland
- ^ Nathania A. Branch Miles and Jane Taylor Thomas (2006). "Oxon Hill". Arcadia Publishing. http://www.arcadiapublishing.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=arcadia&Product_Code=0738542555. Retrieved on 2007-07-31.
- ^ "Sojourner Truth Room". Prince George's County Memorial Library System. June 24, 2008. http://www.pgcmls.info/SpColl/Sojourner/Sojourner.html. Retrieved on 2008-11-03.
- ^ Sheridan, Mary Beth (April 19, 2004). "Oxon Hill Development Has Ties to Terror". The Washington Post. p. B01. http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&contentId=A22576-2004Apr18¬Found=true. Retrieved on 2007-03-05.
- ^ Bernstein, Adam (November 7, 2006). "News Photographer Arnie Sachs; Took Pictures of 11 Presidents". The Washington Post. p. B07. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/06/AR2006110601080.html. Retrieved on 2008-04-14.
Coordinates: 38°48′12″N 76°59′23″W / 38.80333°N 76.98972°W
