Flow Of Time

Flow Of Time. . , Four Mile Run winds through local history–and has been dramatically altered by human impacts., 1. For the region's first inhabitants, the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries provided transportation and an annual harvest of migratory fish. For at least 8,000 years, people have harvested the bounty of the Chesapeake, the name of which means "Great Shellfish Bay.", 2. In the colonial period, farmers cleared vast areas of Virginia, including much of what is now Arlington, to plant tobacco and other crops. The resulting erosion and sedimentation must have had a huge impact on Four Mile Run., 3. Arlington Mill, built in 1836 near the Columbia Pike crossing, provided locals with flour ground from corn and wheat that was both grown locally and also shipped up the creek on flatboats. After being rebuilt in 1890 it was known as the Barcroft Mill and featured one of the largest mill wheels in the East. This engraving shows that much of Arlington was again deforested during the Civil War., 4. In the late 1800s, a small resort at Carlin Springs became a favorite respite for Washingtonians who would ride the train out for bathing and dancing., 5. From 1906 to 1915, the Luna Park amusement complex operated on the banks of Four Mile Run near its confluence with the Potomac. According to publicity, it was an "architectural fashion plate," featuring "ballrooms, restaurants, roller coasters, shoot-the-chutes, circus performances, (and) exhilarating rides.", 6. In the early years of the 20th century, the area that was to become Arlington County contained a number of small villages surrounded by farmland and connected by trolley lines. The Southern Railway's Alexandria-Bluemont Line, later the Washington and Old Dominion Railroad, followed the stream valley. The W&OD Trail, the country's most popular rail trail, now follows its path., 7. Early residents frequently cooled off in the deeper pools of Four Mile Run, even though the water must have been polluted by sewage. Not until the 1930s did the county build a centralized sewage treatment, with a treatment plant on the site of the old Luna Park., 8. During the building boom following world war two, little regard was held for the impacts on local streams. In just a few decades, 35 miles of streams were encased in pipes so that more land could be built upon. Four Mile Run is visible in the foreground, hemmed in development in this 1972 photo., 9. Because of intensive development in the watershed, ordinary storm events began causing extraordinary flooding. Neighborhoods bordering the lower section of Four Mile Run were flooded many times during the 1960s and '70s. Eventually, the U.S. Congress was persuaded to step in and provided relief in the form of $63 million levee and floodway, completed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 1980.