Prince William Forest Park, with its 15,000 acres just 35 miles from Washington, is a place to convene with nature. But the park also has a rich history, says Cohen, the park’s interpretation chief. The National Park Service is holding a heritage festival — including a visit from a spy who trained there — on Sept. 12 to explore that past.
Spies used the park for training in World War II? What exactly did they do?
They did a little bit of everything. Prince William Forest Park was the special operations and communications branch in the area for the Office of Strategic Services, which was the forerunner to the CIA. … So during World War II from 1942 to 1945, military personnel were brought to Prince William Forest Park to learn basic military maneuvers, disguise, code breaking, how to ruin the enemies’ morale. They learned demolition training, how to blow things up, both bridges and rail. They learned parachuting, how to get dropped behind enemy lines.
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A few towns and a gold mine used to be on the site of the park. What remains of those?
We actually have 45 family cemeteries in the park, and we’re so very proud of being able to maintain what’s left on the land of these once vibrant communities. There were three main areas, Hickory Ridge, Joplin and Batestown. … At least for Hickory Ridge and Batestown, most of the people in those communities worked at the pyrite Cabin Branch Mine.
The Civilian Conservation Corps built the park during the Depression. Is the park getting any stimulus money in the current economic crisis?
We are. We actually got a little bit over $5 million of the Recovery Act money. Most of it is going to repave our central park road, which is about 15 years overdue. … Another portion of the funds is going to be used to rehabilitate 14 of the very historic cabins. – Kytja Weir
