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Munson’s Hill is a geographic eminence located in eastern Fairfax County, Virginia. Its summit rises to above sea level.〔Falls Church quad, U.S. Geological Survey map.〕 == Location and Name == Munson’s Hill is located at . The hill is adjacent to Upton’s Hill (410 ft) on its north. It is located at an area called Seven Corners, where Leesburg Pike, U.S. Route 50, Sleepy Hollow Road, and Wilson Boulevard intersect. Until recent decades the area of heights where the roads intersect was called Perkins’ Hill and was considered a geographically distinct hill by local residents. Geographers, however, appear to consider the two as one. The junction of the Potomac River with the Anacostia River occurs in a natural depression. The lower portion of Washington, D.C. and its Monumental Core thus are located in a naturally-occurring "bowl" circled by hills and bluffs on every side. Munson's Hill is a part of this encircling chain, along with Mason's Hill to its immediate southeast and Upton's and Minor's hills to its northwest. Munson’s Hill takes its name from Daniel O. Munson, who moved to a farm on the hill in 1851 and opened an extensive nursery, later called Munson Hill Nurseries, which operated into the mid-1900s. Munson was joined on his farm by his father, Timothy Bishop Munson, and they built a fine home on the south side of the Leesburg Pike, at the crook where it curves around the summit of Munson’s Hill. The home was demolished 100 years later, in 1962, to make way for a large apartment building, Munson Hill Apartments (now Towers), which still stands on the site at 6129 Leesburg Pike.〔Melvin L. Steadman, Jr. ''Falls Church by Fence and Fireside''. Privately published, 1964, p. 381.〕 In 1955 the summit of Munson’s Hill was bulldozed and flattened to create more land on which to build single-family homes. The hill as it appears today is somewhat shorter than before.〔Bradley E. Gernand. ''A Virginia Village Goes to War--Falls Church During the Civil War''. Virginia Beach: The Donning Company. P. 233.〕 Munson’s Hill overlooks the broad, flat plain that is Bailey’s Crossroads. During the Civil War Confederate Army officers and Southern journalists visited frequently and never failed to remark upon the view, which included much of Washington, D.C. and Northern Virginia. One war correspondent of the ''Charleston Mercury'' newspaper visited in September 1861 and offered the following description: :''Standing on the crest of the hill, the panorama unrolled before you, is one of exquisite beauty. The river sweeps around the base of the hills beyond, hidden from view, but easily traced by the blue line of mist which marks its course. Beyond the unseen boundary of our contending countries an infinite plain stretches south to the horizon, relieved here and there by a solitary farmstead nestled down in the deep foliage. Right in front of you, and only four miles and a half away, in an air line, the great steeple of Alexandria, banner-crowned, stands up against the clear sky. The town itself is obscured by an intervening strip of woodland; but the works on Seminary Hill, which command the approach, can be seen with the naked eye. To the left of these fortifications, the dome of the Capitol lifts its ponderous head from the white shoulders of the city, which slope away on either side...'' 〔''Charleston Mercury'', September 10, 1861 as quoted in Gernand, ''A Virginia Village Goes to War'', p. 81.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Munson's Hill」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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