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Remey Tomb/Crypt
Posted by: Alan Rogers ()
Date: December 13, 2009 02:03PM

Has anbody seen the Remey Tomb/Crypt and knows its history?

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Re: Remey Tomb/Crypt
Posted by: GMU Hokie ()
Date: December 13, 2009 02:33PM

I lifted the details from the link below:

http://www.uer.ca/forum_showthread_archive.asp?fid=3&threadid=13951&currpage=2


The real story:

“Mr. Remey contracted with Pohick Episcopal Church for 5.2 acres of land to build a mausoleum for his family. Remey reportedly chose Pohick Church because GEORGE MASON IV, his great grandfather, was a vestryman. Remey was an architect of international reputation and a man of some wealth. Construction of the "Remeum" began in 1939 and was finished in 1948, with more than 2 million bricks, and In 1962 the church vestry, motivated by concerns over the size of the ediface and serious problems with vandalism, began to negotiate with Remey to break the 1937 contract. An agreement signed in Federal District Court in 1968 gave Remey until April 1973 to remove anything he wanted from the mausoleum, thereafter ownership reverted to the church. Relatives had @15 burials removed to Pompey, N. Y., and by 1973, the year the building was demolished, only Remey's wife GERTRUDE was still there. Her remains were reinterred at Pohick Church before demolition began.”

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Re: Remey Tomb/Crypt
Posted by: GMU Hokie ()
Date: December 13, 2009 02:35PM

You might want to play with this link also:


http://www.norvapics.com/images_lorton.htm

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Re: Remey Tomb/Crypt
Posted by: bledbetter ()
Date: December 14, 2009 03:53PM

Remey was also something of a nutcase... By which I mean he considered himself to be the President of the Embryonic Universal House of Justice.

(How's THAT for the name of a band?)

http://www.charlesmasonremey.net/

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Re: Remey Tomb/Crypt
Posted by: bledbetter ()
Date: December 14, 2009 03:57PM

BTW, the obelisk from the Tomb is still standing, judging by the satellite imagery. I'd imagine that'd make for some exciting photography on the off chance that we get any significant amount of snow this year.

Hmmmm....

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Re: Remey Tomb/Crypt
Posted by: otis bopalotis ()
Date: December 14, 2009 04:01PM

The cript was bulldozed over they say to stop vandalism. I say that was a crime to do all of those sculptures distroyed.
The actual monument for Remy is still there. Kinda creepy to see that thing out in the middle of the woods.

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Re: Remey Tomb/Crypt
Posted by: repost ()
Date: December 14, 2009 04:03PM

It was over thirty three years ago in Lorton Virginia. I was fifteen years old and on a dare was exploring an ancient mausoleum by flashlight. This was a custom designed private estate mausoleum in the woods behind Pohick Church., George Washington and George Mason supervised the construction of the church building in 1774, completing it just before the outbreak of the Revolutionary War.

I grew up in a town just a few miles away. We used to hear stories of this creepy haunted burial grounds guarded by demons. None but the bravest “coolest” kids in school had ever been inside the walls let alone enter the catacombs.

We drove there listening to Black Sabbath which in retrospect may have been a bad idea. We parked the car half a mile down the road and crept through a thick forest to reach the massive brick walls of the forgotten haunted catacombs.

The entrances to the underground tombs were in a sculpture garden courtyard formed by vaults and a twelve foot brick walls with oversized iron gates at one end. Of course the gates were locked by heavy chains. To enter one climbed trees that had grown up beside the wall. Once on top of the wall, we merely lowered ourselves over the side by a short piece of rope we found tied to the tree and draped over the wall. The rope didn’t reach nearly half way down the wall so we just hung and dropped when we reached the bottom.

We mad our way through numerous smaller courtyards and by statues and carvings, searching for entrances to the underground crypts rumored to be much larger then the five acres above ground. I remember feeling the stare of stone eyes from the grotesque statues and wanting very badly to leave. But we hadn’t thought out our plan very well for the short rope wouldn’t be much help getting us out and there were no trees on the inside that would help us climb out. We were going to have to boost one another up, with the last of us not having a boost, having to really rely on someone up top somehow pulling them up from above. None of us wanted to be the first to ask to leave.

We pressed on looking for the legendary entrance to the underground world rumored to have more fantastic statues and carvings than on the surface. From the distant side of the courtyard we heard a pinging noise like a ball peen hammer on a train rail. We turned off our flashlights hushed each other to get a better listen. Suddenly we heard footsteps rushing toward us. We took cover behind the sculptures when appearing out of the darkness were the familiar figures of three of our classmates, apparently also exploring but now for whatever reason “fleeing” and unaware of our presence.

Without even knowing what they were running from, I decided to join them in their exit except as I emerged from my hiding space they practically fainted at the site of me. They calmed themselves and caught their breath, claiming to have gotten a metal vault door partially open and seeing “something”: … the hideous face of someone or something just inside the door...

“No way!“ we said but they didn’t take time to debate and just resumed their getaway. Our group stood frozen for a moment as we thought about going to see the face for our selves or running for our lives. We paused for a few moments and since no demons were pursuing our friends we decided it was safe to go investigate what they might have seen.

Along one brick wall we found a metal door partially bent back and pried open. We approached cautiously but soon we were all tugging on the door. One of my friends put a big foot on the wall and leaned back pulling the door back telling me to slip in. while he held it. Anxious to show courage I proceed to do so thinking this was going to make me a legend in my school. I put my flashlight in first and looked around the dusty cobwebbed room. I decided that the first three explorers were pussys… because there was no way anyone had opened this door in years, there was an inch of dust.

We pried back the door just enough for me to get the top of my torso and one arm in. I shown the light around and spotted a wall of open vaults to my right but something moved in front of me causing me to jerk the light in that direction. There in the darkness was a partially illuminated hideous snarling face looking right at me. I screamed in horror and started to back out but my friends dropped the door and bolted backward momentarily trapping me in the door, face to face with the demon creature of the underworld or whatever was inside. Still yelling I looked up at the creature again…. And realized it was not moving from it spot …merely writhing in place… I looked closer and finally realized I was looking at my own reflection in a polished granite wall … holding the light below my own face screaming at my own reflection.

I still don’t know how I got out of the door. My buddies had ran. I was the last one out but managed to scale that wall. I got my fingers on the ledge and one of my buddies pulled me over. We ran like rabbits threw the woods, jumped in the car and squealed wheels. Later and for years there was lots of laughter… but no further explanation… just too creepy!

About fifteen years later I briefly reexplored in daylight hours. It had been partially demolished, but some of the statues and carvings were still there. I don’t know if anything is left now.(12/04) Researching years later I discovered this was the Remey Family Mausoleum (Remeum) built in In 1937 CHARLES MASON REMEY (1874-1974) County records say it was completely demolished because of a problem with vandals. It was located @1/2 mile southwest of Pohick Episcopal Church, 9301 Richmond Hwy., Lorton, Va.. The church is still there and is very much an active church.

The real story:

“Mr. Remey contracted with Pohick Episcopal Church for 5.2 acres of land to build a mausoleum for his family. Remey reportedly chose Pohick Church because GEORGE MASON IV, his great grandfather, was a vestryman. Remey was an architect of international reputation and a man of some wealth. Construction of the "Remeum" began in 1939 and was finished in 1948, with more than 2 million bricks, and In 1962 the church vestry, motivated by concerns over the size of the ediface and serious problems with vandalism, began to negotiate with Remey to break the 1937 contract. An agreement signed in Federal District Court in 1968 gave Remey until April 1973 to remove anything he wanted from the mausoleum, thereafter ownership reverted to the church. Relatives had @15 burials removed to Pompey, N. Y., and by 1973, the year the building was demolished, only Remey's wife GERTRUDE was still there. Her remains were reinterred at Pohick Church before demolition began.”



[last edit 12/16/2004 3:37 AM by Rogue - edited 1 times]

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Re: Remey Tomb/Crypt
Posted by: Mofo ()
Date: December 14, 2009 07:57PM

Does anyone have pics of this place? I've never heard of it and it sounds very intereting, I've looked at the links and don't see anything.

Thanks.

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Re: Remey Tomb/Crypt
Posted by: The Real Sculler ()
Date: December 15, 2009 10:36AM

I'm with Mofo. I need to see pictures of this place from back in the day IMMEDIATELY. It sounds like it was pretty badass back in the day, and it would probably be cool to poke around today as well.

GMU Hokie, that GoGomag site won't let you see those pictures from the 70's without a donation. Any other source of photos you know of?

The nerd in me has a HUGE hard-on for good pictures from back in the day.

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Re: Remey Tomb/Crypt
Posted by: GMU Hokie ()
Date: December 15, 2009 11:59AM

Sculler,

You might try the Virginia Room at the Fairfax City Regional Library or even the office at Pohick Church.

Perhaps your luck will be better there.

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Re: Remey Tomb/Crypt
Posted by: The Real Sculler ()
Date: December 15, 2009 12:52PM

That is an option (and I might take the time to do it), but if I'm gonna take the time I'll probably just go down to Lorton and poke around in the woods. I have a pretty good idea of where it was, based on Historicaerials.com. Based on the aerial photo from '62, it was pretty impressive at about 500 feet long and 200 feet wide. It seems pretty accessible through about 300 feet of woods. If you look at the 2005 aerial you can see that the trees that have overgrown the area are a different shade, practically making a perfect outline of where it was. I'm pretty sure ticks are out of season right now. Hopefully this link works:

Fuck. Nevermind. I can't get the link to work. But if you have the patience to deal with Historicaerials.com, it's pretty cool.

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Re: Remey Tomb/Crypt
Posted by: The Real Sculler ()
Date: December 16, 2009 08:35AM

So I'm pretty curious, can anyone who was around back in the mid-late 70's remember whether or not they dug up and destroyed the underground chambers of the mausoleum, or did they just mow down all the statues and structures above ground? I was wondering if there is anything still underground and if there's still access to it somehow. If the vandals from the 70's really caused that much damage and people frequented the place that often, I'm thinking for safety purposes that they probably dug up and destroyed all the underground passages/chambers, but I was just hopeful.

The link to the norvpics.com forum has a guy saying in the 90's that the ground where it was is still 4 feet higher than anywhere else in the woods. So it makes me wonder.

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Re: Remey Tomb/Crypt
Posted by: Alan Rogers ()
Date: December 17, 2009 09:17PM

I have been there in 1979. The entrance to the crypt was blocked by a large mound of dirt, accessable by a small opening at the top. Inside was a fairly large main room with statues, off to each side of this room were two smaller rooms with sarcophagus; their lids were pushed aside. At the back of the main room was a T passageway with smaller rooms branching off of it. The outside of the tomb was a large overgrown mound with metal vent pipes. Just outside the entrance to the tomb was a long 20ft. tall brick wall that had artistic reliefs of American History on it; the Pilgrims Thanksgiving with the Native Americans etc. Also there was a 30ft. tall obelisk dedicated to Charles Manson Remeys father's Naval service. The mausoleum cost over 2 million to build. Remey was involved in the Baha'i Faith of Iran, born 1874- died 1974; search Remeum.

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Re: Remey Tomb/Crypt
Posted by: CBLB78 ()
Date: December 17, 2009 09:19PM

I frequented the cyrpts back in the mid 70's. The pics of norvapics.com show what it was like down there; it's worth going to the Lorton section and viewing the pics. They show some of the fabulous statues, marble entombments, etc. left behind.

They did not dig up and destroy the underground passages. They plowed dirt over the structure in an attempt to bury it but that was only superficial. There was a dirt tunnel you had to climb down through to come in from the ceiling of the mausoleum. There were statues whose heads were broken off with candles lit on top, other marble structures, passages and other rooms. All were littered with remnants of the parties that went on there regularly. You needed a flashlight to get there through the woods and for light down inside the structure. Plenty of beer drinking and pot smoking down there. You never knew who might already be down there when you entered. All types of people were down there at any given time.

I'm sure we had a real risk of a cave in or some other calamity but nobody seemed to be worried about it. The bigger risk was dealing with the cops on your way to and from the crypts. I understand the vast majority of vandalism took place in the sixties which is why the court ordered the place to be shut down and gave Remy 5 years to remove all the bodies, etc. before demolition.

See the following link:

http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/library/branches/vr/cem/cem100.htm

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Re: Remey Tomb/Crypt
Posted by: The Real Sculler ()
Date: December 18, 2009 07:24AM

Wow. Thanks for the replies. I didn't think anyone would answer.

That's awesome that they didn't dig up the underground chambers. I figured for sure that they would have. Finding an entrance should be interesting, if it's at all still accessible. I'm not counting on the entrance being easy to find because I feel like if it was people would still go down there, unless a generation of kids just didn't find that interesting anymore (which would be their loss). I'm not too worried about the cops because I don't plan on vandalizing anything, and I don't imagine that they still have anyone on the Force that has any idea what they hell's back there anymore!

For the obvious reasons, there will be no exploring this weekend.

CBLB78, was the entrance to the dirt tunnel near the main structure? I have a rough idea of where that was based on Historicaerials.com, but I was hoping for more details.

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Re: Remey Tomb/Crypt
Posted by: The Real Sculler ()
Date: December 18, 2009 08:42AM

Seeing as this monstrousity was over 500 feet long, was the entrance into the chambers on the end that was torwards Old Colchester Road (South), or Route 1 (North)?

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Re: Remey Tomb/Crypt
Posted by: BB*X ()
Date: December 18, 2009 10:00AM

Haven't been back there in a long time but a friend and I heard about this place back in the early nineties from an older sister who had hung out there. We went to check it out and all we could find was the marble memorial, I rememeber it being about 100 feet tall and it was just really weird that it was the only thing in the middle of the woods. There is a large mound of dirt in front of the memorial, you would walk past the mound if you enter from Rt. 1 to get to the memorial. There is a square brick structure that sticks out of the end of the mound opposite the memorial, it appers to be a vent since there are small openings at the top of it but not anywhere near large enough for a person to fit in. I remember going out there at least five or six times and we searched all around that mound of dirt for an entrance but could not find one. I do remember that if you walked in from Rt. 1 and then went behind the memorial there where some small square cement markers that stuck out of the ground maybe a foot or so and they seemed to be arranged in a semi circle around the back of the memorial, they were probably 50 feet or so behind the memorial in the woods. We could never figure out what they were for and even went to the church and asked about it but no one seemed to know anything about them. I haven't been out there in years but when I used to go we would always access the area by walking down the driveway of the house that is to the right of the church and about half way down the driveway there is an old overgrown road that leads off to the right, you don't have to get very close to the house and we were never bothered when walking back through there. Follow that old road back into the woods and you will eventually see the mound of dirt and the memorial. The house I'm talking about would be to the right of the church if you came down Pohick Rd to where it dead ends into Rt. 1.

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Re: Remey Tomb/Crypt
Posted by: The Sculler ()
Date: December 18, 2009 10:18AM

Thanks, I'm definately planning on checking it out. That helps out as far as what to expect, and like I said, I wasn't expecting an entrance to be at all obvious much less existing.

But if anyone else has been there lately and knows of an entrance, let me know!

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Re: Remey Tomb/Crypt
Posted by: CBLB78 ()
Date: December 18, 2009 03:49PM

It was right over the top of the main structure but I'd be shocked if they didn't go back and do a better job of sealing it off.

The info from the 90's is better than any specific location information I can remember. You have to realize that my visits were around 35 years ago. They were also always under the dark of night and the haze of Strohs, Schlitz or Schaefer beer and good columbian weed. :)

You don't see much of any of that anymore.

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Re: Remey Tomb/Crypt
Posted by: Cary ()
Date: December 18, 2009 08:47PM

The following image was uploaded anonymously using the anonymous image upload tool available here: http://www.fairfaxunderground.com/media/uploadfile.html

PohickCrypts1.jpg

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Re: Remey Tomb/Crypt
Posted by: The Real Sculler ()
Date: December 21, 2009 10:39AM

Cary, fucking awesome. Period.

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Re: Remey Tomb/Crypt
Posted by: 496 ()
Date: December 21, 2009 11:56AM

Creepy looking place. That shot would be fantastic with snow falling.

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Re: Remey Tomb/Crypt
Posted by: The Real Sculler ()
Date: December 22, 2009 07:52AM

Hey Cary,

I tried my hand at using the upload tool and failed. If you have a minute, can you work your magic and post a few more pics. Now that I've gotten a taste I need more.

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Re: Remey Tomb/Crypt
Posted by: Hippie ()
Date: December 22, 2009 07:13PM

I uploaded the picture above using the upload tool. Not sure how it made to this thread but I assume Cary is an administrator on this sight and did it. I uploaded five more pictures last night using the upload tool. Waiting for them to show up on this thread.

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Re: Remey Tomb/Crypt
Posted by: trogdor! ()
Date: December 22, 2009 07:25PM

Hippie Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I uploaded the picture above using the upload
> tool. Not sure how it made to this thread but I
> assume Cary is an administrator on this sight and
> did it. I uploaded five more pictures last night
> using the upload tool. Waiting for them to show up
> on this thread.


Very cool pic. I'm interested in seeing more. I believe you can upload them right into the tread too if you want.

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Re: Remey Tomb/Crypt
Posted by: Genevieve ()
Date: December 22, 2009 07:44PM

Are there any pictures of the original building? It seems like such a shame to cover up something like that. Stupid vandals. Nowadays they'd be fighting off the kids that think they're vampires.

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Re: Remey Tomb/Crypt
Posted by: Dirty Jersey ()
Date: December 22, 2009 08:22PM

And if anyones having a hard time using historicaerials.com, heres the '62 aerial photo of the crypt.



And from 'birds eye' on Bing maps you can clearly see the monument still standing (hit the rotate arrows on the left to see different angles)

http://www.bing.com/maps/?v=2&cp=qfj0b28k07p6&scene=22944946&lvl=2&sty=b



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/22/2009 08:35PM by Dirty Jersey.

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Re: Remey Tomb/Crypt
Posted by: The Real Sculler ()
Date: December 23, 2009 07:17AM

Thanks for the links, especially the bing.com! That monument should make it pretty hard to miss when I go looking for it. I'm kinda curious about whether or not Poes Road is still in existance and if you can follow it in.

If anyone can post those uploaded pictures that'd awesome!

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Re: Remey Tomb/Crypt
Posted by: Cary ()
Date: December 23, 2009 07:01PM

The following images were uploaded anonymously using the anonymous image upload tool available here: http://www.fairfaxunderground.com/media/uploadfile.html

PohickCrypts2.jpg
PohickCrypts3.jpg
CRYPT0.JPG
CRYPT1.JPG
CRYPT2.JPG

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Re: Remey Tomb/Crypt
Posted by: Hip ()
Date: December 23, 2009 09:26PM

In the above pictures, the last big picture is an outside view of the hole that you had to enter and then climb down to enter the chamber of the crypt. What you had to climb down on the inside is shown in the first small picture. Looks like it's a gate that they tried to block off.

The second small picture shows the inside of the crypt which was really dark (most of the time people went there at night) and the ground had a lot of stones on it which made it hard to walk. In the back was a smaller room where people would sit and party. I remember there being some kind of stone slab which you could sit on. I also remember there being a marble plaque of a battleship in one of the walls.

The large pictures above were taken in the fall of 1982 when I was driving home from college for fall break. I stopped at the Pohick Crypts to show them to a friend who I was giving a ride home. I'm mad at myself for only having taken three pictures. I found the three small pictures on a high school web site.

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Re: Remey Tomb/Crypt
Posted by: The Sculler ()
Date: December 24, 2009 06:55AM

Oh Man! Just fuckin' sweet! Thanks alot for the pictures!

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Re: Remey Tomb/Crypt
Posted by: The Sculler ()
Date: December 24, 2009 06:57AM

Hey, in relation to the tall, skinny tower (first large picture), where is the entrance (2nd picture) with what looks like "91" over it?

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Re: Remey Tomb/Crypt
Posted by: Hip ()
Date: December 24, 2009 06:38PM

The very first picture of this thread (the landscape view) was taken looking towards Route 1. I stood basically in the same spot and turned to the left and took the picture of the tower. (I never noticed this until now, but the first two pictures posted both contain the same shadow which can be used to relate the pictures) The entrance that you climbed down (the 91 picture) is in the back middle of the landscape picture but you can't really make the connection looking at the pictures. But if you walked straight through the arch in the very first picture and through a courtyard, you would have ended up at the entrance you had to climb down (the 91 picture).

Walking through the woods from Route 1 and past the house in the woods on the left (as described in previous posts) the first thing you would have come to on your right was the "91" picture. You can see they tried to block the entrance gate by piling up a bunch of dirt in front of the gate but it didn't work at keeping people out.

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Re: Remey Tomb/Crypt
Posted by: native 63 ()
Date: December 26, 2009 09:01AM

It was the summer of 1977 my buddies Donald, Tommy and Adam and I went to see the movie The Sentinal at mount vernon theater then went down to the crypts as we did many times. This night we took a couple of 9 volt flood lights with us. We met this older dude out side the gate. He asked us for a beer and when we gave it to him he poped it open and asked us if we wanted to check out the lower level. We nearly pissed our pants. We crawled down to the main level and walked back to the smaller room off to thr right as shown in photo #4 above. Our lights really let us see well for the first time. This older guy had us help him lift a big broken piece of marble that was laying flat on the floor. It took all of us to lift it and the old guy made us promise to put it back before we moved it, which we did. Under the slab was a metal grate with a stairwell leading down. The opening was about 5ft by 3ft there were about ten stairs. The room below was about 25ft by 20ft. In the room was a large "family tomb" (marble casket) and two really small tombs. The celing was about ten ft high with a large metal candlelabra. The walls had some really cool marble plaques inbedded in the brick walls. Our lights only lasted about ten minuets and putting the slab back in the total darkness was a bitch but we promised the old dude. The only time I went back after that was with chicks and I wasn't to check out the crypt.

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Re: Remey Tomb/Crypt
Posted by: Stoney ()
Date: December 27, 2009 09:54AM

I always heard about there being additional underground levels but never knew how to get to them. I have a local newspaper article about the mausoleum and it says it "had five levels of underground chambers". When I get a chance I scan it and post it.

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Re: Remey Tomb/Crypt
Posted by: The Sculler ()
Date: December 28, 2009 12:31PM

"And "The Crypts!" Ahh, yes, popular place for the "heads" to hang out in my high-school years. What you're talking about is the "Remeum" - the Remy family mausoleum. It's still there, but most of the structures are destroyed or inaccessible because they bulldozed dirt over the entrances (yes they did it once before and someone dug a hole in the mound to get in the door you had to slide down in - very spooky. Fairly complex inside with several unused stone sarcophagi in the back rooms. Any residents had long sense been moved. Google Remeum if you're curious.

It's on the back property of the old Pohick Episcoal Church (George Washington's family church) on Rt 1 in Lorton. Along with many No Tresspassing signs - and the holes are once again filled over. It's a shame because back when it was new, it must have really been something to see. There was a bas-reilef of a WW2 battleship set in one of the exterior wall and other stuff of that sort. Statues, etc."

I found this post from "John B" from the "Western Theme Park" thread when people were talking about the good old days around Fairfax. Seeing as the "91" picture is at least 15 years old, I'm guessing that the entrance has in fact been bulldozed over once again and that there are more than enough "No Trespassing" for one not to be able to play stupid should the cops show up.

Major bummer, but I should've guessed that someone would plow over it in order to keep people out. I'm thinking that if it was still accessible kids would still be going down there to have a good scare. Even with kids being as lame as they are today, 3 potential stories of underground burial chambers just sounds like ALOT of fun to explore!

Regardless, I still plan on taking a look for myself.

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Re: Remey Tomb/Crypt
Posted by: Area Man ()
Date: December 28, 2009 01:18PM

I don't think that the 91 in the photo is indicative of a year. I went out there in the winter of 87/88 with some friends who had been going there for years and almost everything had already been bulldozed over. The only thing left was the obelisk. A large area around the obelisk was raised about 4 feet, we had to scramble up an incline with lots of rubble mixed in with loose dirt to get to where the entrance had been. We didn't look around too much, it was dark and we were scared that people from the nearby house would come over because their dog kept barking. My friends looked for any kind of way down into the crypts, but they said that the one remaining entrance had been demolished.

My friends later heard that they decided to raze the whole thing because one of the local biker gangs, The Pharaohs, had been going into the crypt area to party.

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Re: Remey Tomb/Crypt
Posted by: The Sculler ()
Date: December 28, 2009 01:36PM

It'd probably still be worth having a look around in the daylight.

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Re: Remey Tomb/Crypt
Posted by: The Sculler ()
Date: December 28, 2009 02:14PM

Are you sure it was the Pharoahs? When I look them up, all I find is sight about an African-American Motorcycle Club that's all about helping the community and crap like that. They don't really come across as the kind of hell-raisers that would drive the county to tear it down due to their wild parties. Sounds more like something the Pagans would do.

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Re: Remey Tomb/Crypt
Posted by: native 63 ()
Date: December 28, 2009 03:02PM

here is a pic of the ol man.
Attachments:
Remey_In_Later_Years.jpg

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Re: Remey Tomb/Crypt
Posted by: Area Man ()
Date: December 28, 2009 04:01PM

Not sure about the exact biker gang. My friends grew up in that area and when we went there they were also nervous about running into bikers. Someone else might remember if any bikers did really use that place to party.

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Re: Remey Tomb/Crypt
Posted by: Hatemotor ()
Date: December 28, 2009 04:29PM

Area Man Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Not sure about the exact biker gang. My friends
> grew up in that area and when we went there they
> were also nervous about running into bikers.
> Someone else might remember if any bikers did
> really use that place to party.


It was the Pagans hangout,,,,,they had a big rumble with the Hell's Angels on halloween night in the early 80's--tons of ambulances out in front of the church--after that we never saw any Pagans in Lorton again
I assume the rumble did not go well for them

They lived in Lorton in the late 70's-early 80's,,,raised hell etc

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Re: Remey Tomb/Crypt
Posted by: GMU Hokie ()
Date: December 28, 2009 06:15PM

Which gang had the house on Guinea Road where the black girl was raped?

I heard the Klan, not fond of race mixing, once showed up there after the news got out and had a rumble with the bikers.

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Re: Remey Tomb/Crypt
Posted by: bob saget ()
Date: January 15, 2010 03:18PM

.

Start living, or start dying.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/07/2010 07:03PM by bob saget.

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Re: Remey Tomb/Crypt
Posted by: Jimbo ()
Date: January 16, 2010 01:52AM

I used to visit the crypts a lot in the mid and late 70's. The church Rector or some caretaker had a house 100 yards from the path. He had dogs that he would let loose if he heard you walking down the path. That is why we only went by that entrance in the summer (leaves hid our approach). In the winter, we would go through the woods and arrive on the opposite side of the crypts.

We heard about the extra underground floors to but could never get to them.

Once, we had to wait out the cops for about 45 minutes with no lights or sound while we watched their legs pass by the outside of the entrance.

My younger went back there about ten years ago and it has been completely leveled. He said that there was no way of getting back in.

It sure was a cool and scary place to bring friends when you had no money to do anything else.

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Re: Remey Tomb/Crypt
Posted by: Jimbo ()
Date: January 16, 2010 01:57AM

Here's a photo I took of some of my highschool buddies posing behing the statue of Remey & his wife.
Attachments:
crypt963.jpg

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Re: Remey Tomb/Crypt
Posted by: Jimbo ()
Date: January 16, 2010 01:59AM

Here's another friend lying in the large stone sarcophagus in the left rear room. I thinks he was class valedictorian! Seriously.
Attachments:
drunkagain.jpg

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Re: Remey Tomb/Crypt
Posted by: Elle Diabla ()
Date: January 16, 2010 09:56AM

Ewwww, is that sewage that he's lying in??


And did Remey's wife have no legs???

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Re: Remey Tomb/Crypt
Posted by: The Sculler ()
Date: January 18, 2010 07:05AM

Hip Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The very first picture of this thread (the
> landscape view) was taken looking towards Route 1.
> I stood basically in the same spot and turned to
> the left and took the picture of the tower. (I
> never noticed this until now, but the first two
> pictures posted both contain the same shadow which
> can be used to relate the pictures) The entrance
> that you climbed down (the 91 picture) is in the
> back middle of the landscape picture but you can't
> really make the connection looking at the
> pictures. But if you walked straight through the
> arch in the very first picture and through a
> courtyard, you would have ended up at the entrance
> you had to climb down (the 91 picture).
>
> Walking through the woods from Route 1 and past
> the house in the woods on the left (as described
> in previous posts) the first thing you would have
> come to on your right was the "91" picture. You
> can see they tried to block the entrance gate by
> piling up a bunch of dirt in front of the gate but
> it didn't work at keeping people out.


Bob, I think this is the best description thus far on how to find the entrance. Granted, the archway leading into the courtyard may not be there anymore, but it does let you know where it would be in relation to the large "tower" that is obviously still there based on the www.bing.com pictures.

If anyone can recall how far it might have been from the tower that would help, even an approximate distance.

Let us know what you find. The underground chambers are sure to still be there. I'm thinking they just plowed alot of dirt over everything to discourage people from going in, and also confuse them as to where the entrance is. But if you're armed with some good information and willing to do some digging I'm sure it'll be worth your while, based on the pictures (thanks for the latest addition, Jimbo).

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Re: Remey Tomb/Crypt
Posted by: MrMephisto ()
Date: January 18, 2010 07:29AM

Jimbo Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> My younger went back there about ten years ago and
> it has been completely leveled. He said that there
> was no way of getting back in.

That is very disappointing.

--------------------------------------------------------------
13 4826 0948 82695 25847. Yes.

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Re: Remey Tomb/Crypt
Posted by: The Sculler ()
Date: January 18, 2010 07:56AM

Where there's a will, there's a way.

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Re: Remey Tomb/Crypt
Posted by: MrDoctor ()
Date: January 18, 2010 11:37AM

subscribed

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Re: Remey Tomb/Crypt
Posted by: Rob ()
Date: January 18, 2010 05:07PM

Maybe the 1st annual fairfax underground get together?

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Re: Remey Tomb/Crypt
Posted by: Hip ()
Date: January 20, 2010 07:42PM

Last Monday afternoon I went out to the Pohick Crypts. The same old gate was there in front of the path that leads to the Crypt. Did not see any No Trespassing signs. They tried to block the path with a bunch of cut down trees but it wasn't that hard to climb around it. I ended up walking through the woods on the right side of path, away from the Rector's house. The brick cross is still there and was easy to find. I haven't been out there since 1983 but the area is now overgrown with sticker bushes and trees (must be really bad to walk around there in the summer). It looks like the whole area where the actual crypts were is now buried and there's a hill there now. The area used to be pretty flat and only had tall grass. Could not see anything from the original crypt except two brick structures that look like some type of vents.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/20/2010 08:59PM by Hip.

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Re: Remey Tomb/Crypt
Posted by: Hip ()
Date: January 20, 2010 07:48PM

Pictures from 1/18/2010
Attachments:
IMG_2990v1.jpg
IMG_2982v1.jpg
IMG_2976.jpg
IMG_2979.jpg
IMG_2975.jpg
IMG_2978.jpg

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Re: Remey Tomb/Crypt
Posted by: Hip ()
Date: January 20, 2010 07:51PM

Looking from the cross towards where the crypts used to be.
Attachments:
IMG_2980.jpg

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Re: Remey Tomb/Crypt
Posted by: Hip ()
Date: January 20, 2010 08:01PM

Here are some pictures of the two vent like structures. They're close together, separated by about 10 feet.
Attachments:
IMG_2995.jpg
IMG_2997.jpg
IMG_2994.jpg

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Re: Remey Tomb/Crypt
Posted by: The Sculler ()
Date: January 21, 2010 07:33AM

After seeing the pictures of the vents (which are great, by the way. Thanks alot Hip), I'm thinking that those are probably the best way in.

If there are not any 'No Tresspassing' signs (which is GREAT news) then I feel like that leaves you alot of options. If someone's out in the middle of the woods and they were to take a few swings at the vents with a hammer in order to create a hole in the side of the vent large enough to fit in, hopefully no one will notice. And I'm thinking if those structures are over 65 years old, it won't take much to get some of the bricks out with that old mortar holding it together. Then it's just a matter of tying a rope to one of those sturdy looking trees and having the balls to drop yourself down the vent with a decent flashlight. No digging required! Hell, you can see right through that one vent!

Of course, make sure you've got the upper body strength to pull your ass out. Because that would all kinds of suck to be stuck down there. Those batteries are only gonna last for so long, and ain't NOBODY gonna hear you yelling from down there.

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Re: Remey Tomb/Crypt
Posted by: MrDoctor ()
Date: January 21, 2010 10:10AM

The vent is the access point. Lets schedule a fairfax underground dig

Edit: "and ain't NOBODY gonna hear you yelling from down there."

Dont tempt anyone



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/21/2010 10:12AM by MrDoctor.

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Re: Remey Tomb/Crypt
Posted by: Access ()
Date: January 21, 2010 04:56PM

Access via the vents may be difficult; they look like they are not hollow. Here are photos my friends took when they visited in 2005.
Attachments:
DSCF2811.JPG
DSCF2730.JPG

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Re: Remey Tomb/Crypt
Posted by: Numbers ()
Date: January 21, 2010 06:56PM

I've been there many times. When we were teenagers, we used to take chicks there and party. You'd have to climb down a few levels to get to the area where people partied. Rumor was that the Pagans Motorcycle gang are responsible for destroying the statues and stuff. It used to be that on any given friday or saturday night, there would be people down there drinking and smoking pot.

It was a great way to get chicks to hang all over you because they were so spooked by it. There was only candles or flashlights and if either went out, you were fucked. The only scary part for me was getting in and out of it and sometimes the cops would stop by and people would scatter like roaches.

I wish there were more creepy places like that still around for kids today.

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Re: Remey Tomb/Crypt
Posted by: Mofo ()
Date: January 21, 2010 09:54PM

Fantastic photos, a very interesting part of local history.

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Re: Remey Tomb/Crypt
Posted by: The Sculler ()
Date: January 22, 2010 07:25AM

Well, Access, that certainly is another potential wrinkle. If all the vents are constructed like that it probably means they're not very accessible, at least not without ALOT more demolition than I'd had in mind. The flu pipes obviously look too skinny for the average person to fit down, and that's a shitload of concrete in between the 3 of them. I still wanna get a look at them myself with a flashlight and see if I'm able to get a look down into them and try and get an idea of how far down they go.

But looking back at your friend's pictures, one of those vents has 3 holes in the side and one has 4. So maybe they're not all constructed the same way and some are potentially more accessible than others (we can only hope). I'm gonna have to take a look for myself in the near future.

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Re: Remey Tomb/Crypt
Posted by: The Sculler ()
Date: January 22, 2010 10:20AM

Just for a reference, can anyone from back in the day give me an idea of how far underground the entrance to the crypts were back in the 80's before they buried the whole thing. I'm trying to get a picture of how far down the vents go that are still above ground.

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Re: Remey Tomb/Crypt
Posted by: JImbo ()
Date: January 23, 2010 04:21PM

We used to light candles and lie down on the slabs to creep out any newbies that we would bring down there. It backfired once because someone came to the entrance while we were down in the crypt and we had little birthday candles lit all over the place. It's hard to hide and pretend no one is down there when they see candles everywhere (that only burn for 5-10 minutes max).

One night, the place filled with people who came in after us. They got too wild and too loud, knocking over things, shouting and screaming. We knew it was only a matter of time before the cops came so we left for the road. On the way to our car, we walked through the Pohick Church Cemetery and rang the huge bell in the graveyard. Man, it was really loud! We ran like scared rabbits, running into each other and tripping over grave markers. As we pulled away in our car, we saw a Police paddy wagon pulling onto the access road. Good timing for us!

It sure was a lot of fun!
Attachments:
crypt961.jpg
crypt967.jpg

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Re: Remey Tomb/Crypt
Posted by: Jimbo ()
Date: January 23, 2010 04:30PM

That huge stone coffin/sarcophagus just to bury one little Budweiser can, hmmm.

I brought my then future wife to the crypts one evening before going out to the movies in Springfield. We got about 1/3 down the path from the street when we heard dogs running through the woods towards us. We turned to run just when they popped out onto the path to bark and growl at us. I think they were golden retrievers, but I am not sure. I remember that they did not look that menacing but I wasn't going to put it to the test. My girlfriend/wife could barely run in her sandals. I never did get her into the crypts.

It made for a good creepy mood for the horror movie we were going to see.
Attachments:
Crypt638.jpg

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Re: Remey Tomb/Crypt
Posted by: Jimbo ()
Date: January 23, 2010 04:34PM

I wonder if someone could lower a video camera down one of those vents (the kind with the infra red light source that will work in total darkness.. Sony makes them) from a rope and see what is down there? I have a cheapo Sony handycam with 'nightshot' feature but I do not live close enough to try this.

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Re: Remey Tomb/Crypt
Posted by: The Sculler ()
Date: January 25, 2010 07:04AM

Jimbo Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I wonder if someone could lower a video camera
> down one of those vents (the kind with the infra
> red light source that will work in total
> darkness.. Sony makes them) from a rope and see
> what is down there? I have a cheapo Sony handycam
> with 'nightshot' feature but I do not live close
> enough to try this.

I was thinking of something along those lines when I was brainstorming this weekend. I don't have access to that kind of equipment. But maybe someone could at least get their upper body into the opening in the side of the vent, tie flashlight to a rope and lower it down the flu pipe to get an idea whether or not the vents go straight down and how far down they go.

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Re: Remey Tomb/Crypt
Posted by: The Sculler ()
Date: January 25, 2010 07:06AM

By the way, Jimbo, thanks for the new pictures. That is one big fucking sarcophagus.

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Re: Remey Tomb/Crypt
Posted by: bob saget ()
Date: January 25, 2010 04:32PM

.

Start living, or start dying.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/07/2010 07:04PM by bob saget.

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Re: Remey Tomb/Crypt
Posted by: Munkey_D ()
Date: January 25, 2010 05:53PM

If you find the entrance, I have NVG I would like to to try out =]

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Re: Remey Tomb/Crypt
Posted by: Cary ()
Date: January 25, 2010 09:02PM

The following image was uploaded anonymously using the anonymous image upload tool available here: http://www.fairfaxunderground.com/media/uploadfile.html


f7_thumb.JPG
thumbnail, click for full-size original

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Re: Remey Tomb/Crypt
Posted by: The Sculler ()
Date: January 26, 2010 07:18AM

Hip Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The very first picture of this thread (the
> landscape view) was taken looking towards Route 1.
> I stood basically in the same spot and turned to
> the left and took the picture of the tower. (I
> never noticed this until now, but the first two
> pictures posted both contain the same shadow which
> can be used to relate the pictures) The entrance
> that you climbed down (the 91 picture) is in the
> back middle of the landscape picture but you can't
> really make the connection looking at the
> pictures. But if you walked straight through the
> arch in the very first picture and through a
> courtyard, you would have ended up at the entrance
> you had to climb down (the 91 picture).
>
> Walking through the woods from Route 1 and past
> the house in the woods on the left (as described
> in previous posts) the first thing you would have
> come to on your right was the "91" picture. You
> can see they tried to block the entrance gate by
> piling up a bunch of dirt in front of the gate but
> it didn't work at keeping people out.


Bob, this is the best written description on this thread that describes where the entrance was. The problem is that the structure with the arch is is completely gone (from what we've been told) so you would have to get your bearings from the tower and basically face Route 1. As far as distance is concerned, that might be tricky.

Another place to start would be the picture that Hip contributed, since he remembers the entrance being there. Scroll up to the picture of the clearing with the thorn bushes in the foreground, burn that into your memory and try and go from there.

Good luck. From what's been said, you've got about 4 to 8 feet of digging to do.

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Re: Remey Tomb/Crypt
Posted by: The Sculler ()
Date: January 26, 2010 07:22AM

Hip Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Looking from the cross towards where the crypts
> used to be.

Hip, is it possible that you could give us an idea of where this location (the picture that you took of the clearing) was in relation to the vents and the cross/tower? I.E., from what direction if you're standing at the vents or tower, possibly even distances if you can remember.

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Re: Remey Tomb/Crypt
Posted by: Munkey_D ()
Date: January 26, 2010 12:01PM

I think I may be checking this place out within the next week to do some surveying.. I'll post some pics up if I can

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Re: Remey Tomb/Crypt
Posted by: The Sculler ()
Date: January 26, 2010 01:33PM

Thanks, Munkey, any additional pictures of the site would be great. I plan on getting down there in the near future myself.

The fact that you say you're going to be doing some surveying down there got my attention. There aren't any plans to dig up the crypts that still exist underground, are there? Any chance that you have access to some tools that might help us find the entrance?

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Re: Remey Tomb/Crypt
Posted by: bob saget ()
Date: January 26, 2010 03:07PM

.

Start living, or start dying.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/07/2010 07:05PM by bob saget.

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Re: Remey Tomb/Crypt
Posted by: The Sculler ()
Date: January 26, 2010 03:20PM

From the accounts that I've read on this forum and else where, they pretty much leveled everything that was above ground (with the exception of the vents and the tower) and dumped alot of dirt on top of that. From what I've read, you know for sure that you're at the right spot due to the fact that the ground is raised and leveled about 4 feet high. I'm not sure how large this area of raised ground is because I've still yet to get out there myself.

Unless someone from back in the day can tell us where the entrance is in relation to the raised ground, you'd have to go off the vents and tower.

Let us know what you find, a tip of the hat to your dedication.

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Re: Remey Tomb/Crypt
Posted by: The Sculler ()
Date: January 26, 2010 03:26PM

Bob, here's the account that I read about the "4 feet" of raised ground, from NorVApics.com:

"Back in 1995 I worked for a company and was doing renovation work at the Lower Potomac Pollution Plant on Route 1. At some point I brought up the mausoleum to my co-worker who knew a little about it. He told me his brother used to frequent the place but didn't have any more info. He talked to his brother who said it might have been buried by the county and remembered a newspaper article to that effect. He also found out that the mausoleum was directly between the Pollution Plant and Pohick church on Route 1.

One day we finished a little early and decided to trek through the woods and see what we could find. After an hour or so we came upon a large raised area of earth, it was about 4 feet tall, and overgrown with weeds and grass. There were several brick stacks which had something similar to chimney caps on them, I assumed some sort of ventilation stacks? We also discovered a couple of small memorials and a rather large obelisk (about 30 feet tall) dedicated to Charles Remey's father (Rear Admiral Charles Collier Remey). I was still curious and vowed to return one day with a shovel and search for an entrance but never did. Now finding out that it was bulldozed I'm glad I never went back, I don't think I would ever have found an entrance. "

Hope that helps.

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Re: Remey Tomb/Crypt
Posted by: John G ()
Date: January 26, 2010 03:28PM

I'd be more worried about a cave in of some sort... it is getting old with age...

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Re: Remey Tomb/Crypt
Posted by: Munkey_D ()
Date: January 26, 2010 04:14PM

Correct, an old crypt like that with probably hundreds of pounds of dirt piled over it would create stress down there.. If anyone does venture in, make sure you have someone you know aware that your going in as well as an emergency plan on how to get out in case of an emergency. I think the last thing we would want is someone on this forum getting hurt.

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Re: Remey Tomb/Crypt
Posted by: The Sculler ()
Date: January 27, 2010 09:18AM

Legitimate concerns, I'll give you that. But the entrance still needs to be found first, before we start coming up with worst-case senarios. True, it is a 70 year old structure we're talking about, but Remey paid literally millions of dollars (back in the 1930s) to have it built to last. And if all they did 20 years ago was demolish what was above ground and spread a few feet of dirt over an area that's hundreds of feet across, we're not talking about that much additional weight. And as I've said before, if it's true that there really is up to 3 underground levels down there, had they been destroyed there would be a sizable hole in the earth (and no vents above ground). So I'm thinking that it's stood the test of time down there, and should be structurally sound. But I can appreciate the concern for safety.

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Re: Remey Tomb/Crypt
Posted by: Charlie Schmidts ()
Date: January 27, 2010 10:05AM

Where is it on this picture?
Attachments:
church.bmp

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Re: Remey Tomb/Crypt
Posted by: The Sculler ()
Date: January 27, 2010 10:53AM

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=38.70739,-77.196829&num=1&t=h&sll=38.709188,-77.193299&sspn=0.006295,0.006295&gl=us&hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=38.707306,-77.19684&spn=0.003893,0.006856&z=17

The green arrow is approximately the center of what used to be the entire above-ground structure.

Having said that, let's not let the wrong people get wind of what we're interested in. If hordes of people start showing up in the woods behind this church, someone's gonna put 2 and 2 together and THERE WILL be nothing but a hole in the earth where there used to be incredible history, and no one will have the chance to appreciate it. Exploration and vandalism are two different things. As far as I can tell, none of us are the knuckle-dragging bikers or spray-painters that had The Crypts buried in the first place. We're merely curious and interested in what others have long-since forgotten, but the wrong uptight, pencil-pusher working for the County will probably not see it that way. So, please be smart when you're there.

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Re: Remey Tomb/Crypt
Posted by: The Sculler ()
Date: January 27, 2010 12:57PM


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Re: Remey Tomb/Crypt
Posted by: The Sculler ()
Date: January 27, 2010 01:14PM

Bah! The stupid link didn't work.

Anyway, this is the book that I found on-line that's available in the Virginia Room at the Fairfax City Regional Branch. Given the title, I'm thinking it would be somewhat of a help. It was published in 1954, so I'm hoping that there's some kind of drawing that gives the location of the entrance if the mausoluem was completed in the 40's. I feel like someone may have already suggested looking in the Virginia Room earlier, but I can't remember.


"A series of twelve of the preliminary architectural studies for a mausoleum for the Remey Family"
Remey, Charles Mason, 1874-1974.

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Re: Remey Tomb/Crypt
Posted by: whobe ()
Date: January 27, 2010 04:04PM

I've been there back in the late 80's and it was already covered up, from what I could tell they only covered the whole thing with dirt and maybe broke down the front entrance first? From the pics it looks like it was very well made with the roof being a vault design which is very strong, I don't think they actually busted the roof off the place or anything just the entrance and then piled dirt on top. If you find that you'll probably have alot of bricks/block etc. to get through first. If it had collapsed there'd be a big depression somewhere and we haven't seen that so you should be safe inside if you get in.

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Re: Remey Tomb/Crypt
Posted by: Hip ()
Date: January 27, 2010 08:01PM

When I took the recent picture of where the crypts used to be (post January 20, 2010 07:51PM) I tried to take it from the same area and viewpoint that the very first picture (post December 18, 2009 08:47PM) in this thread was taken. Kind of hard to do though because the area is so different, but that was my goal.

Regarding the vent like structures, I don't remember those at all when I was there in the early 1980s. They must have been behind the filled in gate entrance you had to climb down to get into the crypt. One thing to keep in mind is that the vent structures are pretty close to the rector's house. You can see the rector's house from the vents.

It would be interesting to know how the original structures were demolished. I'm guessing they knocked down all the above ground structures and then covered the area with a few feet of dirt. But from what's been posted here and from what I've read, there were some underground levels. Those would have been a lot of work to fill so I'll bet they still exist.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/27/2010 08:02PM by Hip.

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Re: Remey Tomb/Crypt
Posted by: Hip ()
Date: January 27, 2010 08:19PM

Here's a 1992 Springfield Connection article about the mausoleum. I added a pointer to the part about five levels of underground chambers.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/27/2010 08:22PM by Hip.
Attachments:
Part1.jpg
Part21.jpg

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Re: Remey Tomb/Crypt
Posted by: joedirt ()
Date: January 27, 2010 08:57PM

I just wanted to inform everyone on this subject that the remey Crypt was completely and utterly caved in and distroyed with excavation equiptment around 1982'ish. My dads friend worked for a grading company and he told me about the Crypt and demolition he performed there. The church paid for a all out demolition of the underground structure with Excavators then filled it in with dirt from a local construction site that was digging out a foundation for a building in DC. Im sure if you dig around you might find a brick or 2.

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Re: Remey Tomb/Crypt
Posted by: The Sculler ()
Date: January 28, 2010 08:16AM

"They did not dig up and destroy the underground passages. They plowed dirt over the structure in an attempt to bury it but that was only superficial. There was a dirt tunnel you had to climb down through to come in from the ceiling of the mausoleum. There were statues whose heads were broken off with candles lit on top, other marble structures, passages and other rooms."

joedirt, that's a quote from CBLB78 from when this thread first started. So, I'm not sure who to believe. Of course, I'd much rather believe CBLB78, although he doesn't have a date to reference. As myself and a couple of other people have said, if they were to excavate FIVE underground stories (didn't realize there were that many till Hip posted the article, thanks alot by the way), I feel like someone else would've posted it by now. We've only been talking about this for a month and half now, and no one else has said anything else about the Crypts being filled in. Granted, joedirt, your "1982'ish" date does jive with alot of the accounts on here as far no one having stated they've been down there after that date.

I'm tempted to just call the church and ask if it wouldn't (a) seriously raise suspicions about people going out there again, and (b) just prompt them to think fast and indeed concur that it was filled in just to discourage anyone from going out there at all. So I doubt I'll do that.

I did call the FFX County Planning and Zoning office yesterday to see if they had blueprints of the Crypts from the 30's, however I posed the question as "I'm looking for blueprints of any mausoleums in Lorton from the 1930's". The woman immediately responded with, "Oh, you mean the one behind Pohick Church?". So some people working for the County still know about it.

So, joedirt and CBLB78, give us some more info. to back up your claims.

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Re: Remey Tomb/Crypt
Posted by: i > u ()
Date: January 28, 2010 08:30AM

The Sculler Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>
> I did call the FFX County Planning and Zoning
> office yesterday to see if they had blueprints of
> the Crypts from the 30's, however I posed the
> question as "I'm looking for blueprints of any
> mausoleums in Lorton from the 1930's". The woman
> immediately responded with, "Oh, you mean the one
> behind Pohick Church?". So some people working
> for the County still know about it.

So are the blueprints being made available to you or is this a FOIA request in waiting?

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Re: Remey Tomb/Crypt
Posted by: The Sculler ()
Date: January 28, 2010 08:40AM

No, they didn't have them. As far as blueprints and plans are concerned, that book I found listed at the FFX City Regional Branch is the best source.

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Re: Remey Tomb/Crypt
Posted by: i > u ()
Date: January 28, 2010 08:56AM

If I can get my hands on a decent (and recent) topo map with a grid I could use the aerial image to trace the approximate location and dimentions of the former structures in relation to the existing structures. That might provide a better idea of where the probable entrance is now located.

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Re: Remey Tomb/Crypt
Posted by: The Sculler ()
Date: January 28, 2010 09:29AM

If you think you can pull it off, more power to you. All the pictures on this thread (as well as the location descriptions) are excellent, but the only aerial picture I know of is the one above from 1962. Honestly, I can't tell what the hell anything is from that 1962 Historaerials.com. If you can find where the tower is in that 1962 picture, that would be a start. But then you've got to figure out where the "91" entrance was in relation to that, which could be done with the following:

"The very first picture of this thread (the landscape view) was taken looking towards Route 1. I stood basically in the same spot and turned to the left and took the picture of the tower. (I never noticed this until now, but the first two pictures posted both contain the same shadow which can be used to relate the pictures) The entrance that you climbed down (the 91 picture) is in the back middle of the landscape picture but you can't really make the connection looking at the pictures. But if you walked straight through the arch in the very first picture and through a courtyard, you would have ended up at the entrance you had to climb down (the 91 picture).

Walking through the woods from Route 1 and past the house in the woods on the left (as described in previous posts) the first thing you would have come to on your right was the "91" picture. You can see they tried to block the entrance gate by piling up a bunch of dirt in front of the gate but it didn't work at keeping people out."

(Thanks again, Hip)

If someone who's been there back in the day is good with computers and could possilby label on the 1962 aerial map as to where the tower and entrance were, that would be a big help.

Best of luck finding the maps. Let us know what you find.

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Re: Remey Tomb/Crypt
Posted by: CBLB78 ()
Date: January 28, 2010 09:39AM

The Sculler Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> "They did not dig up and destroy the underground
> passages. They plowed dirt over the structure in
> an attempt to bury it but that was only
> superficial. There was a dirt tunnel you had to
> climb down through to come in from the ceiling of
> the mausoleum. There were statues whose heads were
> broken off with candles lit on top, other marble
> structures, passages and other rooms."
>
> joedirt, that's a quote from CBLB78 from when this
> thread first started. So, I'm not sure who to
> believe. Of course, I'd much rather believe
> CBLB78, although he doesn't have a date to
> reference. As myself and a couple of other people
> have said, if they were to excavate FIVE
> underground stories (didn't realize there were
> that many till Hip posted the article, thanks alot
> by the way), I feel like someone else would've
> posted it by now. We've only been talking about
> this for a month and half now, and no one else has
> said anything else about the Crypts being filled
> in. Granted, joedirt, your "1982'ish" date does
> jive with alot of the accounts on here as far no
> one having stated they've been down there after
> that date.
>
> I'm tempted to just call the church and ask if it
> wouldn't (a) seriously raise suspicions about
> people going out there again, and (b) just prompt
> them to think fast and indeed concur that it was
> filled in just to discourage anyone from going out
> there at all. So I doubt I'll do that.
>
> I did call the FFX County Planning and Zoning
> office yesterday to see if they had blueprints of
> the Crypts from the 30's, however I posed the
> question as "I'm looking for blueprints of any
> mausoleums in Lorton from the 1930's". The woman
> immediately responded with, "Oh, you mean the one
> behind Pohick Church?". So some people working
> for the County still know about it.
>
> So, joedirt and CBLB78, give us some more info. to
> back up your claims.

My times at the crypts were my high school years of 1974 -1978 at Lake Braddock and all the other subsequent accounts and pictures in this thread corraborate my recollections. The initial attempt to bury the structure from what I understand was around 1973 in accordance with the court ruling in 1968 that gave Remey five years to remove remains and anything else from the structure. I was never back there after high school.

There was obviously more than one attempt to destroy the structure from the current and older pcitures with explorers in the crypts. I don't doubt the timing of a thorough destruction in 1982. I'm sure the church and cops got really annoyed at dealing with us teenagers running around back there. Cops were a concern every time you went back there. The first burial obviously didn't get the job done. I'm sure if they wanted it destroyed for good to rid themselves of the "problem" they did it right the second time.

If I were you I wouldn't call the church as it would raise suspicions, most people probably don't know about it anyway and those they do would NOT want you back there. I'd like to hear what people find with further exploration. It's worth some effort despite the distinct possibility that it is buried for good.

I'm glad all this information is now memorialized here. My attempts to research in the past found very little information and people I told probably thought I was crazy. The accounts, pictures, Connection article, etc. from those they lived the Crypts back in the day are awesome. As crazy as my stories sounded they are know backed up from others accounts. I certainly feel privileged to be part of this NoVA folklore!

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Re: Remey Tomb/Crypt
Posted by: i > u ()
Date: January 28, 2010 09:44AM

Ok, that was easier than I thought...but only the first step of many. If anybody would like to contribute to the process please feel free. I'm good with maps, but not the greatest (as my name may suggest)...

Crypt.jpg

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Re: Remey Tomb/Crypt
Posted by: The Sculler ()
Date: January 28, 2010 10:01AM

Thanks for the reference date, CBLB78. Sadly, it's looking more and more like what joedirt said is true. At first I was hoping he was just someone joking around and trying to be a wet towel, but that may not be the case.

But a 5 story underground exavation is a shitload of digging! I'm wondering if they just destroyed the 1st and 2nd level and filled it in from there, leaving the remaining bottom levels. They must have been REALLY sick of people being in there if they not only dug up 5 sub-levels, but also trucked in enough dirt to completely fill it all in.

So there's another question: Were ALL of the levels of the Crypts destroyed and filled in?

joedirt, can your father's friend provide you with any more details on the exavation?

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Re: Remey Tomb/Crypt
Posted by: papashango ()
Date: January 28, 2010 10:50AM

I really find it hard to believe that they did such a thorough job of demolition given that they left the vents intact. That doesn't make any sense to me.

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Re: Remey Tomb/Crypt
Posted by: Munkey_D ()
Date: January 28, 2010 10:56AM

With all this excitement at hand, I would like to add, regardless if the crypts are to be found or not, excavated or not, it has certainly been very interesting to see and read about the fascinations that come with history and exploration. Kudos to everyone.

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