Lived in FFX for 11 years and never heard of Fort Washington then twice in the past week two different people referred to Fort Washington as the area near the intersection of 50/29/236. Anybody know the history? Heard it was a prison camp from the 50's-80's. Any more to this?

xoxoxo

The area you're talking about (50/29/236), is called Kamp Washington. I don't know how it came to be called that. The prison camp was several miles south on West Ox Rd, across from Costco. It was called Camp 30.

When you hear Fort Washington, that's in Prince George's County, MD, across the River, and a bit north of Mount Vernon. It's a stone fort, on the banks of the Potomac, that was built to prevent the British from reaching Washington during the War of 1812. It didn't work out, the Brits got by it and burned Washington. A large residential area around the fort is called Fort Washington. The fort itself is now a National Park.

It's a stone fort, on the
> banks of the Potomac, that was built to prevent
> the British from reaching Washington during the
> War of 1812. It didn't work out, the Brits got by
> it and burned Washington.

Actually it did prevent them from coming up the Potomac to attack Washington. The Brits landed in S. Maryland and marched up to Washington, fighting in Bladensburg before marching into Washington and burning the city. But then again the fort was attacked on August 20th, two days before the Battle of Bladensburg and was given up by the commander.

It is called Kamp Washington, becauses in the 30s there was a tourist camp in the area. Marketed to tourist that camp to visit Washington DC and Manassas.

Actually my father lived in Fairfax in that area in the 60s and 70s and and he told me that back then that intersection was known exclusively as Fort Washington by the locals and to this day any time my family from there is referring to anything nead that intersection they always call it "Fort Washington".

I grew up in that area in the '60's and 70's and never ever heard it referred to as Port Washington always Kamp Washington!

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Actually, it was originally know as Kamp Washington during the civil war because it was a long-term union camp (not a fort). The tourist camp in the early 20th centruty took its name from that.

The prison camp that Fort Washington ques was referring to was actually at the northeast corner of Ridge Top Road and Lee Highway, just west of the area known as Kamp Washington. This was used as a German POW camp during WWII, then later as a medium-security state prison camp known as Virginia Department of Corrections Camp 30. Toward the late 50's, Camp 30 relocated to West Ox Road across from Costco, where it remained until around 2004. Back in the 70's, Camp 30 was the largest medium-security correctional institute in the state with over 130 prisioners.

"Back in the 70's, Camp 30 was the largest medium-security correctional institute in the state with over 130 prisioners"


My Babe Ruth team use to practice on the baseball field at that site. Listening to a prisoner trying to play like Jimi Hendrix.

that Camp 30 was where the VDOT regional HQ is now off of West Ox

My question is why is Kamp Washington, spelled with a "K"

I built a tree fort on my step daddys property at Mount Vernon I called it Kamp Washington

I'm guessing it has something to do with the German POWs who were imprisoned there.