Lake Barcroft History Book

Residents of Lake Barcroft should appreciate the fact that
the community’s attractive surroundings did not come
about by chance. The natural beauty of Lake Barcroft
may often be taken for granted when driving, walking or
cruising through the area. It is easy to overlook the obvious
and never think to question why or how the present setting
evolved. Trees and bushes planted thirty-five years ago turned
mud flats into gardens. Street signs unique to Lake Barcroft
grace the landscape. Curbs and gutters prevent flooding and
erosion. Moreover, the lake itself is a glittering gem.
Small Sanitary District
On May 24, 1962, LABARCA’s president, Rex Lauck, and the
Executive Board unanimously endorsed a resolution requesting
the formation of a Small Sanitary District within the
geographical limits of Lake Barcroft’s subdivisions. At a general
meeting of the association, the members voted for the
proposal, which would fund continuing silt removal and other
local projects designed to enhance the lake and protect
property values. The Fairfax County Circuit
Court approved the petition, which
imposed a county tax on property owners
in Lake Barcroft. For the first year, at a
budgeted rate of 25¢ per $100 on the
$13,034,275 total assessed valuation
for all Lake Barcroft properties, the levy
amounted to $32,585.69 for the entire
community—about $35 per year for each
homeowner.
The money from the Small Sanitary
District financed dredging every two years.
For the alternate years, Fairfax County—
reasoning that self-help programs stretched
the county’s treasury—matched the Small
Sanitary District funds to improve front
footage, that is, curbs and storm sewers.
Colonel Barger’s original concept—to
retain the area’s natural, rustic beauty—had
featured open culverts for water runoff, but
with the passage of time, some of these
became unsightly and dangerous ditches.
On Whispering Lane, for example, one
hole became “large enough to swallow a
Volkswagen,” according to Stuart Finley’s
CHAPTER SEVEN
Signs of the Times
25
engineering report. Considerable work was undertaken on
Whispering Lane, Jay Miller Drive and Woodland Circle as
well as on Blair Road and Stoneybrae Drive. Storm sewers,
curbs and gutters mark the results of the special taxation on
Lake Barcroft residents.
Beautification
The creation of the peninsulas and an island from dredged silt
gave birth to a unique “rurban” (presumably, rural/urban)
project. LABARCA and the Northern Virginia Soil
Conservation District cooperated on a project to plant
hundreds of trees and shrubs to accomplish three objectives:
(1) to prevent the silt from eroding back into the lake; (2) to
assure that the plantings were attractive and provided a habitat
for wildlife; and (3) to provide an opportunity for the Soil
Conservation District to compare growth characteristics of
several plants under unfavorable soil conditions. Glen
Anderson, a soil conservationist from the U.S. Department of
Agriculture, recruited specialists to assist in designing the
Marshall Augustine and Glen Anderson of the Soil Conservation Service of the U. S.
Department of Agriculture install erosion control jute netting to a newly established
demonstration planting at Beach 5. (June 1963)