Any Deserted / Abandoned / "Ghost Town" areas to check out in NOVA?

[MINGO95]

Search out Midgetville in Vienna... it is/was a real town. Can't remember the particulars but a few years ago it was bought by one person to be preserved .......... it was cool place of small roads and small houses.

[South Jersey Styx]

Originally Posted by MINGO95

Search out Midgetville in Vienna... it is/was a real town. Can't remember the particulars but a few years ago it was bought by one person to be preserved .......... it was cool place of small roads and small houses.

There were some midget-towns in NJ as told in Weird New Jersey. Evidently, they were housing areas for midget-performers in circuses. Also, I remember when I was a kid we took a school field trip into Pennsylvania (towards the Poconos) and while driving through some hills and woods, saw a clearing/housing area of tiny houses. We (school kids) thought they were play houses for children.

Seems a little creepy, especially when these midget-towns are in remote areas. Not sure about the history of the midget-town in Vienna, but wondering if it has a similar history.

[saganista]

Originally Posted by MINGO95

Search out Midgetville in Vienna... it is/was a real town. Can't remember the particulars but a few years ago it was bought by one person to be preserved .......... it was cool place of small roads and small houses.

Mmmm, no. It was bought a decade ago by developers to be plowed under and turned into more big-box, brick-and-brass colonials. There was some popular outcry and back and forth with the county on zoning issues, but the place was completely levelled in 2008, and thanks to the recession, it sat there buck-naked for a good long while. A few new nondescript houses have now gone up. They do nothing for the area. In 30-40 years, the trees will have grown back and maybe it will be nicer once again. This is a little of what it was like pre-bulldozer...



There were never any midgets living there, of course. It was owned by the Wedderburn family for more than a century and was originally a summer resort hotel reached from DC via the W&OD railroad which had a stop just adjacent to the property. The hotel burned down in the early 20th century and was never properly replaced. At some point, a number of small cottages were added to the site. These -- plus a thirst for spooky myth among local school kids -- were what gave rise to the legend of Midgetville.

[JEB77]

Originally Posted by saganista

Mmmm, no. It was bought a decade ago by developers to be plowed under and turned into more big-box, brick-and-brass colonials. There was some popular outcry and back and forth with the county on zoning issues, but the place was completely levelled in 2008, and thanks to the recession, it sat there buck-naked for a good long while. A few new nondescript houses have now gone up. They do nothing for the area. In 30-40 years, the trees will have grown back and maybe it will be nicer once again. This is a little of what it was like pre-bulldozer...



There were never any midgets living there, of course. It was owned by the Wedderburn family for more than a century and was originally a summer resort hotel reached from DC via the W&OD railroad which had a stop just adjacent to the property. The hotel burned down in the early 20th century and was never properly replaced. At some point, a number of small cottages were added to the site. These -- plus a thirst for spooky myth among local school kids -- were what gave rise to the legend of Midgetville.

During the same period, though, Sekas continued to sell similar houses in Vienna and the Maymont development near Route 7 (even more expensive) largely, though not completely, sold out. Makes me think Wedderburn Estates is far more haunted than Midgetville ever was.