BAILEY'S CROSSROADS, Va. — Situated between the cities of Falls Church and Alexandria in Northern Virginia sits Baileys Crossroads, a thriving area with an intriguing past.
In 1837, Hachaliah Bailey purchased 526 acres surrounding Leesburg and Columbia Turnpikes and named it Bailey’s Crossroads. Previously in 1796, Bailey had bought an elephant named "Old Bet," America’s first elephant, from China and went on to start a circus. This Northern Virginia intersection seemed perfect as a winter headquarters for his traveling show to stay. The circus would later join forces with P. T. Barnum to become “The Greatest Show on Earth.”
In time, the land at the Crossroads was deeded to Hachaliah’s daughter-in-law Mariah who along with her husband Lewis converted an existing mansion on their property into an inn called Maury. It was called “the house with a hundred rooms” and became a “getaway” retreat for those wanting to temporarily escape city life in the nation’s capital.
In 1861, during the Civil War, President Lincoln staged a huge military spectacle at Bailey’s Crossroads to build troop morale after their loss at the first Battle of Manassas. The president and his cabinet reviewed the troops as a show of the Union’s might.
A doctor’s wife, Julie Ward Howe, was visiting Munson Hill up the road from Baileys. During this event, she witnessed Union soldiers halt a small Confederate spying mission, assessing the strength of the Federal troops. As the Union warriors paraded, they sang the popular song “John’s Brown’s Body.” Mrs. Ward determined to capture these occurrences of this day with new words to that popular tune. On her return to the Willard Hotel, she penned the Battle Hymn of the Republic.
After World War II, the Bailey’s Crossroads community grew into a large suburban center. Later, with the construction of the high-rise Skyline Center complex, it exemplified the urbanization of Northern Virginia.
Bailey’s Crossroads early history was chronicled thoroughly in a book, "Elephants and Quaker Guns: Northern Virginia : Crossroads of History" by Jane Chapman Whitt.
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