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Rapidly urbanizing areas need to think long term in planning for transportation (another Fairfax disaster area) and open space/recreation. Communities differ in the initial assets they bring to the table, but historic sites and streams are obvious places to begin.

Chantilly was destroyed in the 1980's for nothing more than another string of cookie cutter malls like you can find along every major highway in NOVA. A shame. It could have been a major, permanent asset to the region. Now it's just part of the congestion belt.

And I wonder how many people in Fairfax County, besides yourself, ever stop to think what an asset an appropriately preserved battlefield park, available for innumerable mixed uses, would be to the surrounding area.

Yup. But also, in fairness, the Parks Authority in Fairfax and preservations groups/preservation-minded individuals, are doing much better than they were 25 years ago. Or even 5-10 years ago.

My interest in Chantilly/Ox Hill is more a matter of happenstance then anything else. I saw Welker's "Tempest at Ox Hill" sitting on the shelf at a local used bookstore and picked it up. Really picqued my interest in the battle, enough that I picked up Mauro's "A Monumental Storm" (which does a very good job of overlaying the current development with the original battlefield boundaries) during a Christmastime visit to Sully Plantation, and went and visited what remains of the battlefield for the first (of many) time.

That was five or six years ago. The few acres of the battlefield that are "preserved" were a real mess. Couple interpretive markers, but otherwise overgrown with dog cr*p-infused weeds and trash. There were empty beer cans and beer bottles all around the "Ballard Rocks", for instance. Picked up and tossed a bunch of them and sent a note to the Parks Authority b*tching about the situation, but never heard back.

BUT ... there has been a major reworking of the remaining battlefield in the last year or two. It's been cleaned out and up, and now has a dedicated parking lot, a BIG sign indicating what it is, and a very nice set of large interpretive displays, both a centralized and at key points throughout. It also looks like they're trying to plant wheat and/or corn rows, in an interpretive manner for sure, to recreated some of the lost "feel" of the park.

I can't say that I really agree with all of what they're doing. Especially the walking paths. But lots of people reasonably differ on that sort of thing and at least there's a renewed interest in calling attention to the battlefield and what happened there.

Not only at Chantilly/Ox Hill, but elsewhere as well. I read recently where there is a big movement afoot to put up markers at other, lesser, scenes of battle in Fairfax. One in particular that's going to put up markers at the site of a significant Moseby skirmish on the site of the Reston South Park 'n Ride lot ...