|
history
The West Springfield Civic Association (WSCA) was formed in 1961
by residents of the West Springfield, Westview,
and Keene Mill Manor subdivisions, the new developments
between Accotink Creek and Rolling Road. The emblem to the left
(ç)
first appeared on the cover of the 1964 directory published for
the 400 members at the time. The motto Utile Dulci is
Latin for "the useful with the pleasant."
In the lower
portion of the shield, a spring bubbles from a field; hence,
Springfield. Above and to the left, a W and rolling hills
identify West Springfield. The building represents the Keene
family sawmill, shown on Civil War maps on Pohick Creek north of
the "Keene Mill road." The emblem, as well as the maps
inserted in early directories, were designed by Yvonne Dobyns,
then of Harwood Place in Westview Hills.
Community
activists also took part in combining several area civic
associations into a Greater Springfield Community Council,
designed to solve common problems. As the population of West
Springfield mushroomed, the next objective became political
representation on the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors. In
1967 then-WSCA President, Don Bowman, was elected the
first Supervisor from the new Springfield Magisterial District.
When a high school
was to be built, WSCA members exerted influence in naming it for
our community. The naming of West Springfield High School was a
departure from the Fairfax County Public Schools' custom of
using names of famous Virginians. They acted to prevent the
removal of oak trees, which today still screen the school from
Rolling Road traffic. Additionally, they secured an asphalt
sidewalk/bike path along Old Keene Mill Road and Harwood Place,
and worked for the replacement of the one-lane plank bridge
across the railroad tracks on Rolling Road. They spearheaded
finance drives for the Burke Volunteer Fire Department, which
served us until the West Springfield unit was formed at the new
Governmental Center located next to the new post office that
changed our zip code to 22152.
In the second
community directory, three-term President Norman Dobyns wrote:
| |
"Our
area is one of the fastest growing... Rapid growth
inevitably brings problems--schools, roads, services,
zoning, recreation, and resources. Our growth is
revolutionary, but the solution...of many of our problems
must be evolutionary--a step at a time, taken be people
who live here and care about where they live." |
-
Contributed by Alice Stout |
