Timeline
A SUMMARY OF MILESTONES FROM 1741 THROUGH 2006
1700
1741
Belvoir Manor Constructed
1775
Corps of Engineers Established
Quartermaster Corps Established
1783
Belvoir Manor Destroyed by Fire
1800
1800
Woodlawn Mansion constructed
1860
Quartermaster Corps responsible for construction of all quarters at permanent installations. (Corps of Engineers primarily focuses on public works projects.)
1900
1912
U.S. War Department acquired 1500 acres on what had been the Belvoir Plantation to establish a rifle range and summer camp for engineer troops stationed at Washington Barracks
Titanic sinks, April 15
1914
Archduke Franz Ferdinand assassinated June 28, leading to World War I
1917
President Wilson asks Congress for a declaration of war with Germany, April 6
The United States passes the Selective Service Act empowering the Federal Government to draft men for the armed forces, May 8
Secretary of War authorized the establishment of a training cantonment, Camp A.A. Humphreys, for engineer soldiers on the Belvoir peninsula. Temporary barracks, warehouses, and other structures constructed, Dec. 1
1918
Second authorization was given to increase the cantonment capacity to 30,000; subsequent wave of construction completed, Oct. 31
World War I ends as Germany and Allies sign an Armistice, Nov. 1
1919
Inter-War Period
38 bungalows built at Fort Belvoir to house officers (Park Village, Snow Loop and Jadwin Loop Village )
1920
1920
18th Amendment, Prohibition, comes into force, Jan. 16
Construction Service of the Quartermaster Corps formed, July 15
19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution ratified, giving women the right to vote, Aug. 26
1921
War Department created the District of Washington, predecessor of the Military District of Washington
1926
Congress passed Public Law No. 45 authorizing the Secretary of War to sell off property and use funds on permanent construction at other military posts (for housing and hospitalization needs), March
1927
First $7 million made available for construction (primarily for barracks and hospitals) from Public Law No. 45
Fort Belvoir's new post plan is approved by Congress
Charles Lindbergh flies nonstop across the Atlantic
The Jazz Singer is released, first talking motion picture
1929
Stock Market on Wall Street crashes, Oct.
1930
1930
23 single-family NCO quarters were scheduled to be completed, June (Gerber Village)
1931
Within continental United States, permanent housing had been provided for 19,800 enlisted men, 304 non-commissioned officers (NCO), and 292 commissioned officers. Construction to that date totaled just over $30 million, Feb.
35 single family NCO quarters completed at Fort Belvoir (Gerber Village)
Fort Belvoir archaeological project at the plantation ruins of Belvoir Manor
1932
Revised Fort Belvoir Post Plan
Franklin Delano Roosevelt elected president of the United States, Nov. 8
Gerber Village single-family home, general view, ca. 1930
1933
21st Amendment passed, repealing the 18th amendment, Prohibition, Feb. 20
Additional money made available with the National Industrial Recovery Act (NIA) to assist trades and industries during the Great Depression, $61 million for 660 projects at 65 installations, September
1934
Belvoir Village constructed
National Housing Act to set up the Federal Housing Administration (FHA)
Camp Humphreys gets permanent children's school
Four Warrant Officer's and two NCO quarters completed, July 30. (Gerber Village)
1935
Fort Humphreys renamed Fort Belvoir
20 Field Officers' quarters were built
1937
Glenn Miller Orchestra debuts in New York City (often visits Fort Belvoir afterward)
U.S. Housing Act created U.S. Housing Authority
1938
Title I of the Work Relief and Public Works Appropriation Act gave $13,942,572 in WPA funds and $52,283,400 in PWA funds for Army housing. Spent at 64 posts, 285 projects, 1091 sets of quarters. These projects had to be substantially completed by Jan. 1, 1940
Officer's swimming pool is built at Fort Belvoir
1939
Six duplexes, housing for NCO Senior Officers, completed (Gerber Village)
The Committee of the Participation of Negroes in the National Defense (CPNND) was formed to work toward inclusion of blacks in the military organization, May
Britain, France, Australia, and New Zealand declare war on Germany. Second World War begins, Sept. 3
1940 (World War II 1939-1945)
1940 Fort Belvoir expansion includes an additional 3,000 acres north of U.S. Route 1 to make room for the new Engineer Replacement Training Center (ERTC). Temporary Emergency Construction Program starts constructing 643 new buildings at Fort Belvoir
Construction of 41 houses comprising 110 units (Grays Hill Village)
Gone with the Wind sweeps the Oscars
1941
Army transfers all construction responsibilities to the Corps of Engineers, December, ending the involvement of Quartermaster Corps in military housing
41 additional houses completed at Fort Belvoir (Grays Hill Village)
Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor, Dec. 7
1942
Congress passed Public Law 490 to provide benefits and an allotment of the servicemen's pay to surviving dependents
First U.S. GIs arrive in Britain, Jan. 26
Frank Sinatra debuts at the New York Paramount Theater, Dec. 30
1944
D-Day landings, June 6
Grays Hill Nursery opened, October
1945
V-E (Victory in Europe) Day, May 8
Japanese sign the surrender agreement; V-J (Victory over Japan) Day, Sept. 2
Korea divided into U.S. and Soviet occupation zones along 38th parallel, Aug. 15
Gillem Board formed to examine and prepare a directive on the role of African Americans in the postwar Army
1946
123 housing conversions, 108 temporary housing units and a block of bachelor officers' quarters built at Fort Belvoir
United Nations holds its first session in San Francisco
President Truman established the President's Committee on Civil Rights to investigate racial violence and to improve civil rights of all Americans, Sept. 19
1947
The Truman Doctrine pledges to provide American economic and military assistance to any nation threatened by Communism, March 12
Fort Belvoir converts existing buildings to 30 family housing units in "B" area; also converting buildings in the hospital area to provide 10 housing units; additional 80 units in "J" area to be awarded soon, 120 total
20 additional family housing units built to boost total to 120 two-bedroom apartments, four to a building, to be ready about Feb. 1, 1948, near Post Headquarters, comprising five buildings (Rossell Loop Village)
The manual Planning of Family Housing at Army Installations published
President Truman's National Security Act creates U.S. Department of Defense, July 26
Gray’s Hill Civilian Dispensary opened, Aug.
1948
Congress passed Public Law 626 authorizing military construction at installation for the fiscal year 1949. Based allowable construction on size limits and repealed cost limits, provided for family housing for enlisted men, repealed the $5,000 spending limit on buildings or installations without approval of the Secretary of War, June
President Truman signed Executive Order 9981, which provided equal treatment and opportunities for African American serviceman, July 26
U.S. Military turns over power to Republic of Korea, Aug. 15
1949
Thermo-Con House constructed
Department of Defense creates Personnel Policy Board, which drafted a racial policy that abolished all racial quotas and established uniform draft standards, Feb.
Wherry Bill signed by President Truman, Aug. 8
1950 (Cold War Era)
1950
Korean War begins
First Peanuts cartoon strip
U.S. President Truman orders construction of Hydrogen Bomb
1951
350 + 100 rental apartment units completed; started at the end of 1949 (Lewis Heights Village)
Engineer Officer Candidate School began its first classes at Fort Belvoir
A contract study "on the Army's experiences with black troops in Korea," known as Project CLEAR, confirmed that African American soldiers in integrated units fought as well as whites, Nov.
First color TV broadcast in U.S.
1953
Cease fire signed in Korea
Queen Elizabeth II is crowned in Great Britain
Housing and Home Finance Agency publishes Design Standards for Construction of Permanent Family Housing for Federal Personnel
1954
Engineer Officer Candidate School closed its doors
Army inactivated the last all black unit in the 94th Engineer Battalion, Nov.
1955
300 family units being built; 24 duplex buildings located in area north of ERDL near ruins of old Fairfax Mansion (Fairfax Village area); 270 units erected just north of Jadwin Loop Village in wooded shelf area along Dogue Creek (Dogue Creek Village); six more units on 9th street near the Post Hospital (Building 813 in Colyer Village)
Capehart Bill signed by President Eisenhower
Disneyland opens
1956
Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a segregated, Birmingham, Ala., bus
Elvis on The Ed Sullivan Show
Grace Kelly marries Prince Rainier III of Monaco
1957
Dewitt Hospital and SM-1 Nuclear Plant opened at Fort Belvoir
Soviet satellite Sputnik launches Space Age
1958
NASA founded
Dr. Seuss writes Cat in the Hat
1959
Lewis Height Village acquired by Fort Belvoir
618 housing units being completed (Colyer, Fairfax, George Washington, River Villages)
Castro becomes dictator of Cuba
1960
1960
John F. Kennedy elected president
1961
Berlin Wall built
Bay of Pigs Invasion
1963
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gives his "I Have a Dream" speech in Washington, DC
President Kennedy assassinated, Nov. 22, Dallas
1964
Beatles invade the U.S.
Cassius Clay (later Muhammad Ali) becomes World Heavyweight Champion, the first of three times
1965
FHA became part of Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) Office of Housing
U.S. sends troops to Vietnam
1966
The 100th Engineer Company of the Fourth Battalion started demolition of 42 buildings of Grays Hill Village
1968
Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy assassinated
Richard Nixon elected president
1969
Apollo 11 landed on the moon
Concert at Woodstock
Map of Fort Belvoir, 1965
1970
1970
Beatles break up
Computer floppy disks introduced
1971
The Defense Systems Management College (DSMC) was established at Fort Belvoir, a graduate-level institution that offers advanced courses of study in weapon systems acquisition management for both military personnel and civilians
1972
Defense Mapping School (DMS) opened at Fort Belvoir to provide instruction in tactical mapping, land geodetic surveys, and cartographic drafting
Terrorist attack at the Olympic Games in Munich
M*A*S*H television show premiers
1973
End of military draft announced
Last American troops withdraw from Vietnam
Fort Belvoir's SM-1 Nuclear Plant decommissioned
Belvoir Mansion Ruins and the Fairfax Grave Site listed on the National Register of Historic Places
1974
President Richard Nixon resigns
1975
150 units planned for Fort Belvoir with 90 enlisted and 60 company grade officers
1977
Star Wars movie released
1979
Anti-royalist Iranians took American hostages in Tehran
Margaret Thatcher first woman prime minister of Great Britain
1980
1980
Fort Belvoir's Accotink Bay Wildlife Refuge established; over 1,300 acres of marsh and hardwood forest in the southwestern corner of the post
First cul-de-sac of Woodlawn Village turned over to the Housing Office for occupancy, Oct.
Ronald Reagan elected president
1981
Sandra Day O'Connor first woman appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court
Royal wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer
1983
Initial National Register nomination completed for the Fort Belvoir Historic District. The district was determined eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places. (Resources listed on the Virginia Landmarks Register)
Sally Ride becomes the first American woman in space
U.S. invades Grenada
President Reagan signed Military Construction Authorization Act, 1984 legislation that established Section 801 and 802, Oct. 11
Typical Colonial Revival Administration Building in the Fort Belvoir Historic District, ca. 2006
1986
Challenger space shuttle explodes
Chernobyl nuclear accident
1988
Fort Belvoir transferred from the Training and Doctrine Command to the Military District of Washington
Engineer School left Fort Belvoir and relocated to Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri
1989
Intelligence and Security Command (INSCOM) relocated to Fort Belvoir, Summer
Berlin Wall comes down, Nov. 9
1990 (Post-Cold War Era)
1991
U.S. leads Operation Desert Storm
Collapse of the Soviet Union
1992
First boundary increase to the National Register-eligible Fort Belvoir Historic District
Riots in Los Angeles after the Rodney King verdict
Military District of Washington adopted a set of Stewardship Standards to be applied to the preservation and rehabilitation of historic family quarters at Forts Myer, McNair, and Belvoir, Dec.
1993
World Trade Center bombed
Cult compound in Waco, Texas, raided
Rabin and Arafat sign peace accord
1994
O.J. Simpson arrested for double murder
Rwandan genocide begins
1995
Department of Logistics Agency (DLA) headquarters moved to Fort Belvoir
Oklahoma City bombing
Yitzhak Rabin assassinated
1996
Second boundary increase to the National Register-eligible Fort Belvoir Historic District
Camp A.A. Humphreys Pump Station and Filter Building determined eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places. (Resources listed on the Virginia Landmarks Register)
U.S. Army Package Power Reactor determined eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places. (Resources listed on the Virginia Landmarks Register)
Military Housing Privatization Initiative (MHPI) authorizes in a program called the Residential Communities Initiative (RCI) to privatize Army Family Housing
1997
Thermo-Con House listed on the National Register of Historic Places
Hong Kong returned to China
Princess Diana dies in car crash
Scientists clone sheep
1999
Euro, the new European currency, established
Killing spree at Columbine High School
2000
2001
Sept. 11 terrorist attacks
2002
Wave of corporate scandals starting with Enron
2003
Military housing at Fort Belvoir became privatized under the Army's Residential Communities Initiative program
Invasion of Iraq begins with Operation Iraqi Freedom, March 19
