Falls Church, Virginia

[agentsteel53]

I can't get around the image-hotlinking disable.  even if I copy and paste the URL.  they must have strict referer controls.

http://www.fairfaxunderground.com/forum/read/2/1009677/page-2.html

what am I looking at on that page?

[1995hoo]

Crap, I didn't know it wouldn't display. Here you go. I downloaded it to my PC and re-uploaded it.

I went back and edited the original post to use the new link, so hopefully it will be OK now. Sorry for the inconvenience. It displayed fine when I viewed it, but after seeing your comment I forced a hard refresh (Ctrl-F5) and indeed it didn't work.

[cpzilliacus]

Check out this find! It's Fairfax rather than Falls Church, but I didn't want to start a new thread for one photo. I believe the land where the gas station was located is the site that later housed a Best Products Co. store–I believe this is the corner of US-29, US-50, and VA-236. When I was in high school the term "Kamp Washington" referred to a small strip mall and trailer park located a short distance to the west at the corner of Jermantown Road and US-29 (Lee Highway)–a lot of us went to the DMV office there to get our driver's licenses because we knew their road test route was absurdly easy (drive through the trailer park).

Great find!

That intersection looks a little bit different today, doesn't it?

Two questions that I cannot answer:

(1) I think this place was barely within the corporate limits of the Town of Fairfax (from the cars (I see a 1949 Ford and a 1952 or 1953 Cadillac), I am assuming this is prior to 1961, when  the municipality of Fairfax went from being a town to a city).

(2) Curiously, I see U.S. 50 and Va. 236, but no shields for U.S. 29 or U.S. 211, both of which should  have passed through this intersection - I checked a 1950 USGS 24000 quad, and 29 and 211 are there - they followed a multiplex with U.S. 50 from this point east to Fairfax Circle).

[NE2]

(2) Curiously, I see U.S. 50 and Va. 236, but no shields for U.S. 29 or U.S. 211, both of which should  passed through this intersection - I checked a 1950 USGS 24000 quad, and 29 and 211 are there - they followed a multiplex with U.S. 50 from this point east to Fairfax Circle).

Those routes went straight through. Straight routes are often omitted to reduce clutter.

[Mapmikey]

Two questions that I cannot answer:

(1) I think this place was barely within the corporate limits of the Town of Fairfax (from the cars (I see a 1949 Ford and a 1952 or 1953 Cadillac), I am assuming this is prior to 1961, when  the municipality of Fairfax went from being a town to a city).

(2) Curiously, I see U.S. 50 and Va. 236, but no shields for U.S. 29 or U.S. 211, both of which should  passed through this intersection - I checked a 1950 USGS 24000 quad, and 29 and 211 are there - they followed a multiplex with U.S. 50 from this point east to Fairfax Circle).

I can answer both:

This intersection was outside the Town of Fairfax until Oct 1961 per the CTB.  In fact, I'm pretty sure I see the Fairfax town limit sign just up 236, in the distance (look just left of the telephone pole up close).  Here is the 1958 Fairfax County map showing a short distance of 236 remains outside Fairfax.



As for US 29-211 postings, you can see the backs of 3 US route shields on 236 WB approaching the intersection.  My guess is that for NB 29-211 approaching the intersection there was probably a larger assembly before the actual "ramp" to 236 pictured here.

Mapmikey

[cpzilliacus]

Two questions that I cannot answer:

(1) I think this place was barely within the corporate limits of the Town of Fairfax (from the cars (I see a 1949 Ford and a 1952 or 1953 Cadillac), I am assuming this is prior to 1961, when  the municipality of Fairfax went from being a town to a city).

(2) Curiously, I see U.S. 50 and Va. 236, but no shields for U.S. 29 or U.S. 211, both of which should  passed through this intersection - I checked a 1950 USGS 24000 quad, and 29 and 211 are there - they followed a multiplex with U.S. 50 from this point east to Fairfax Circle).

I can answer both:

This intersection was outside the Town of Fairfax until Oct 1961 per the CTB.  In fact, I'm pretty sure I see the Fairfax town limit sign just up 236, in the distance (look just left of the telephone pole up close).  Here is the 1958 Fairfax County map showing a short distance of 236 remains outside Fairfax.

The USGS Quad implied that the intersection was just inside the corporate limits of Fairfax (really "funny looking" boundary), but in such matters, I think the Commonwealth knows best.

Were the maintenance arrangements the same in Virginia in the 1950's as they are now?

Cities and towns maintained what was inside their boundaries, and VDH maintained everything in nearly all of the the counties? 

As for US 29-211 postings, you can see the backs of 3 US route shields on 236 WB approaching the intersection.  My guess is that for NB 29-211 approaching the intersection there was probably a larger assembly before the actual "ramp" to 236 pictured here.

Mapmikey

That makes plenty of sense.

[Mapmikey]

The concept of how towns and cities received $ from the CTB is largely unchanged from the mid-20th century.

The CTB Minutes show hundreds of resolutions changing the number of miles within town/city boundaries receiving VDOT funds because either they got physically larger through annexation or more non-primary streets within the borders became eligible for funds.

Primary funds received a higher $/mile than what they termed "other streets"

Mapmikey

[1995hoo]

I believe the current law on road funding was originally passed during the 1930s.

[cpzilliacus]

The concept of how towns and cities received $ from the CTB is largely unchanged from the mid-20th century.

That's what I thought.

The CTB Minutes show hundreds of resolutions changing the number of miles within town/city boundaries receiving VDOT funds because either they got physically larger through annexation or more non-primary streets within the borders became eligible for funds.

That's an excellent source for such things.

Primary funds received a higher $/mile than what they termed "other streets"

Mapmikey

Which leads to this question - does the City of Falls Church get more dollars per mile for its share of Va. 338 (Hillwood Avenue), when the city really cannot be bothered to sign it?

[Mapmikey]

This last question also applies/applied to:

VA 154 Covington
VA 402 and 420 Alexandria
VA 213 Manassas Park
VA 404 and 405 Norfolk
VA 410, 411, and 414 Virginia Beach
VA 416, 417, and 418 Richmond
US 60 Virginia Beach
VA 113 Bristol
VA 283 Norton
VA 220 ALT Roanoke
US 522 Bus Washington (although the $ given to the route isn't different because it carries 2 routes instead of one)
VA 253 Harrisonburg
VA 171 Poquoson

Mapmikey