Belle View in Alexandria in Fairfax County, Virginia — The American South (Mid-Atlantic)

Wasteland or Wetland?

What is Your Point of View?

— George Washington Memorial Parkway —

Wasteland or Wetland? Marker image. Click for full size.

Photographed By J. J. Prats, July 3, 2015

1. Wasteland or Wetland? Marker

Inscription. Here, 400 years ago, the Piscataway tribe fed themselves on fish and waterfowl. In the early 1800s, Virginia farmers built retaining walls, called dykes, to drain this marsh and make farmland. The dykes proved too hard to keep intact. Without dyles, in a matter of decades Potomac tides reclaimed this marsh.

By the 1950s, metropolitan Washington D.C. was booming. Developers dug gravel out of Dyke Marsh and dumped debris in its place. Gravel mining stopped in the early 1970s, but the erosion that digging started still harms Dyke Marsh today.

In 1974, Congress directed the National Park Service to protect and restore Dyke Marsh. Even now, there is much left to do. What we do today will determine if these wetlands ever truly recover.

Erected by National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior.

Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Environment • Notable Places. A significant historical year for this entry is 1600.

Location. 38° 46.665′ N, 77° 3.057′ W. Marker is in Alexandria, Virginia, in Fairfax County. It is in Belle View. Marker is on the Bell Haven Marina access road just east of George Washington Memorial Parkway, on the right. It is at the beginning of the Dyke Marsh Trail. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Alexandria VA 22307, United States of America. Touch for directions.

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At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. Colonial Fort (about 600 feet away, measured in a direct line); Historic Jones Point (approx. 0.2 miles away); A Place to Rest—or Nest (approx. ¼ mile away); These Trees (approx. 0.3 miles away); Anatomy of a Tidal Marsh (approx. half a mile away); A Fine Improvable Marsh (approx. 0.6 miles away); Defenses of Washington (approx. 0.9 miles away); Fort Willard (approx. 0.9 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Alexandria.

More about this marker. Marker contains four images. They are the photograph reproduced on this page as image No. 2 and three maps, reproduced on this page as image No. 3.

It is easy to forget how rural Washington D.C. looked only 100 years ago image. Click for full size.

Photographed By NPS Photo

2. It is easy to forget how rural Washington D.C. looked only 100 years ago

Going ... Going ... Gone? image. Click for full size.

Photographed By NPS Photo, October 13, 2015

3. Going ... Going ... Gone?

1937, 432 acres. 1959, 371 acres. 2005, 244 acres.

Photographed By A. Taylor, November 9, 2015

4. Wasteland or Wetland? Marker

Marker is in the distance, on the left side of the trail (in the center of the picture).

Photographed By A. Taylor, November 9, 2015

5. Wasteland or Wetland? Marker

This is the NPS sign near the entrance to the trail.

Credits. This page was last revised on January 27, 2023. It was originally submitted on October 13, 2015, by J. J. Prats of Powell, Ohio. This page has been viewed 385 times since then and 20 times this year. Last updated on May 9, 2018, by A. Taylor of Laurel, Maryland. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on October 13, 2015, by J. J. Prats of Powell, Ohio. 4, 5. submitted on December 31, 2015, by A. Taylor of Laurel, Maryland. • Bill Pfingsten was the editor who published this page.