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1956 Map of Mount Vernon

Name: 1956 Topographic Map of Mount Vernon
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1959
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1959

About this map

Mount Vernon and its storied surroundings are captured here at a mid-century moment of transition, as the Fairfax and Prince George's borderlands across the Potomac River began to witness suburban expansion. On the Virginia side, the historic landscape is dotted with residential developments like Hybla Valley, Woodley Hills, and Stratford on the Potomac, while maintaining landmarks like Hosley Memorial Chapel and the Snowden Cem.

Across the river in Maryland, the landscape remains markedly more rural, centered around the Marshall Hall amusement site and the agrarian stretches of Accokeek. The mapping reveals a complex riverfront economy and defense network, with Fort Hunt and Fort Washington facing each other across the water, and the established community of Gum Springs persisting as a focal point of local heritage. Waterways such as Piscataway Creek and Little Hunting Creek define the jagged shoreline, still largely used for navigation and transport as indicated by various landings and flats.