Willard Crossroads (Burke, Chantilly, Herndon: crime rate, live, plantation)

[CuriousGeorgeForeman]

I was at Sully Plantation last week and the women there was telling me about a town that was there before Dulles was built called Willard Crossroads... Anybody here know anything about it or live there before the airport was built? I find it weird that i've never heard of it since i've lived here my whole life. Maybe if Dulles wasn't built then it'd be like a second Herndon or something??! (hopefully the crime rate wouldn't be as high )

[Bigfoot424]

Dulles Airport Has Its Roots in Rural Black Community of Willard

by Eugene Scheel
A Waterford historian and mapmaker.
More on Dulles Airport history
On the airport's 10th anniversary, at a gala called "Transpo," one of the hostesses, a young African American woman, was asked, "Just where is Dulles?" She paused, smiled and said, "Why, at Willard, of course." I mention her race because Willard was largely a black community, and it's doubtful that a young white person would have given that answer. He, or she, most likely would have said Chantilly, for mail leaving the airport then bore a Chantilly postmark.



History of Dulles Airport

[car54]

If Dulles had been built where it was originally planned....modern people might be asking, "Does anyone remember anything about Burke or live there before the airport was built?".

[SudleyManorGuy]

AFAIK Willard was a small town kind of like Clifton or Sterling that was demolished in the 1960s when Dulles was built. On wikimapia I read that the "crossroads" were where today's Stonecroft Rd met some other road that doesn't exist anymore.

there's more here: dullesareahd.50webs.org/willard.html and that link above.