Gravelly Point


Gravelly Point is an area within the National Park Service's George Washington Memorial Parkway in Arlington County, Virginia, in the United States. It is located on the west side of the Potomac River, north of Roaches Run and Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.

History

In 1746, a house, on a plantation later named Abingdon, existed near Gravelly Point on property that Gerrard Alexander owned. The name of Alexandria, Virginia, commemorates Alexander's family. In 1778, John Parke Custis, the son of Martha Washington and stepson of George Washington, purchased the plantation. Martha Washington's granddaughter Eleanor Parke Custis was later born on the plantation. A house at Abingdon was destroyed by fire in 1930 and its ruins stabilized.

Proposed renaming

In 2016, Rep. Jody Hice introduced a bill in the United States House of Representatives to rename Gravelly Point as Nancy Reagan Memorial Park, but it did not proceed beyond referral to a subcommittee. Hice introduced a similar bill in 2017 which received approval from the House Committee on Natural Resources on January 17, 2018, in a party-line vote. Hice introduced another bill for the same purpose in 2019 which was referred to a subcommittee and saw no further action as of 2020.

Plane Spotting

Gravelly Point is a popular spot among plane spotters, aviation enthusiasts and pilots to come and watch planes take off and land from Reagan National Airports runway 19 and runway 1. Because of the uniqueness of National Airports river visual runway 19 approach and the departure from runway 1, Airplanes pass between 200 and 100 feet MSL above the park when landing on runway 19 and takeoff directly over the park when departing from runway 1.

Recreation

The paved Mount Vernon Trail travels through the area. A rugby pitch hosts high school rugby matches. The area also has a boat launch.