Page 99 - REALLY What A time Book IX

REALLY SO WHAT
What A Time

OUR BACK YARD

Right outside our home , in our backyard was a huge expanse
of land, down the hill across the valley to South Fairlington,
maybe a ½ mile away. This area was mostly open land, with
wild bushes and weeds, and a ravine that I occasionally
climbed around. Beside that the valley was mostly used as a
path way to school. But, there was a change coming that
would make our backyard a main thoroughfare out of
Washington.

The change would come through the Shirley Valley. A four
lane super-highway was planned. It would run from
Washington, past the Pentagon, the Army Navy Country Club,
the Shirlington Shopping Mall, right up between North and
South Fairlington and south through the Phantom Forest on
to Richmond Virginia.
The impact would be enormous. My playground which
included all of the apartments, near home, the woods, The
Fort, and Shirlington would now include the development and
building of this highway.

The ravine would be filled in, but before that it had an
interesting, but short, history.
Abbington Street, the longest in the community ran past our
triplex up over the hill past the Tennis courts, and down
around some more hills to the end of the apartments to King
street, extended. That’s the road that we took to Alexandria,
the hospital and, our round about way toward Washington.

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