OccoquanAlthough Native Americans have lived along the banks of the Occoquan for thousands of years, John Smith was the first European to visit the area, arriving at the river's mouth in 1608. Here he encountered the Dogue Indians, from whose language the river and town take their names. With the coming of settlers, Occoquan's location at the meeting of the Tidewater and Piedmont made it ideal for water-related industry and commerce. By the end of the 18th century, it boasted one of the first automated gristmills in the nation. During the Civil War, Occoquan housed both Union and Confederate troops and was the sight of several small engagements. In 1972, the river, which had provided so many commercial and recreational benefits, revealed a more dangerous side as flooding from Hurricane Agnes caused severe damage. The people of Occoquan rebuilt, and the town evolved into the wonderful mixture of old and new that gives it the unique character seen today. |
Contents
Acknowledgments | 6 |
The River and Its Bridge | 23 |
The Town and Its People | 55 |
Hurricane Agnes | 93 |
| 127 | |
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1878 iron Pratt 20th century Alexandria Water Company Alton Hotel building built Chesapeake Bay Colchester Commerce Street Confederate construction Cotton Mill Courtesy Fairfax Water destroyed Dogue Ebenezer Baptist Church Ellicott Streets end of town Fairfax County Fairfax County side fall line floodwaters Frank Hornbaker funeral home Hannibal Hamlin Harris and Sons Hurricane Agnes iron Pratt truss Janney family Janney's Jennings Drugs John later lumber Lynn Lynn's General Store Lyric Theatre main mill Merchants Methodist Church mill complex Mill Street millrace Nathaniel Ellicott Occoquan High Dam Occoquan Historical Society Occoquan Hotel Occoquan River Ogle Harris once photograph above shows photograph at left photograph shows Potomac Pratt truss bridge Prince William County prominent remained river's mouth Rockledge mansion Selecman shad side of Mill south bank Starkweather structure Tayloe tobacco town of Occoquan town's Tyson Janney Underwood unidentified Union Street Virginia Assembly Vulcan Materials Company warehouse Washington Street