HomeFairfax General ForumArrest/Ticket SearchWiki newPictures/VideosChatArticlesLinksAbout
Prince William :  Fairfax Underground fairfax underground logo
Welcome to Fairfax Underground, a project site designed to improve communication among residents of Fairfax County, VA. Feel free to post anything Northern Virginia residents would find interesting.
gordon plaza shopping center
Posted by: slowcar281 ()
Date: July 27, 2013 06:30PM

anyone know what used to be in this shopping center? theres only a few stores that still operate there, and it looks dead most of the time. i know the restaurant that used to be in the middle of the parking lot was a hardees at one time, and the finally demolished it last year after being vacant for over 10 years.

i walked around and looked at the buildings the other day and from peeking in the windows it looks like there used to be some sort of pharmacy there next to the baseball card shop. my girlfriends mom said there was an ames department store there that she worked at in 1985, but she doesnt remember what stores occupied that shopping center.

anyone remember?

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: gordon plaza shopping center
Posted by: Smartypants ()
Date: July 28, 2013 07:11AM

Before it was Ames, it was Zayres. To the left of that was a Restaurant/Lounge called The Viking. On the other side was a Chinese Restaurant.The pharmacy was Dart Drug. Somewhere in there was Creatures and Critters.That's all I can remember right now, that's been a while

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: gordon plaza shopping center
Posted by: slowcar281 ()
Date: July 28, 2013 08:12AM

Thank you for the info! I looked up dart drug on wikipedia and it looks like they went bankrupt in 1990. It's amazing that no other business has occupied that building ( that I know of)in that time. Rather than use signs that hang from the ceiling to tell you where products are located in the store, the walls are still painted "vitamins" and "dental hygiene". It even says "cold beer" in the back of the building. Lol

I looked closely at the main sign when you enter the shopping center and you can see where there was a barber shop, and some tex mex restruant there too. As well as something called bar j. I'm not sure what that is exactly

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: gordon plaza shopping center
Posted by: Smartypants ()
Date: July 28, 2013 08:29PM

Oh yeah that's right- beer was at the back wall-left? Bar J's was the bar side of the Tex Mex, they were the same business. They've been closed for somewhere around 5 or 6 years maybe? They had another location in Lorton but dunno if it's still there.

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: gordon plaza shopping center
Posted by: slowcar281 ()
Date: July 28, 2013 09:34PM

wow! you have a sharp memory! back left corner, big white lowercase letters painted on the wall that say "cold beer"

has that building really been empty since dart drug went out of business? had to have been around 1990 im guessing?

ill try and pick your brain one more time.......

there is a still standing sign of a long closed steak house in dennys parking lot facing rt 1 that appeared to be in that little strip behind the dennys thats next to marumsco plaza.

any idea when this place closed? what about the buildings next to it. they look like they have been vacant for a LONG time.

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: gordon plaza shopping center
Posted by: Smartypants ()
Date: July 29, 2013 12:45AM

In the late 70's, early eighties, Dart Drug was where you stopped for beer before getting on 95 to go to the Cap Centre concerts. And then you only had to be 18, or look something close to it, to buy beer. Good times, ha!

I left Woodbridge around '85 and now live on the other end of the county, but go down there often to see friends. As far as I know the Dart Drug building has been empty since they left, and it was probably about 1990. I've been racking my brain to remember what was in that corner before Bar J's, I may have to ask my brother.

The only steak house I remember to be near Denny's was The Ground Round but it wasn't in that strip, it was more up front like Denny's. It was still there when I left but maybe only for a few years. Gotta look next time I go by there and see if that building still exists. Come to think of it though, I think though maybe part of the sign is still there, I'd have to see it. The small plaza behind there wayyy back in the day had a Franks Nursery and Crafts and a Hub Furniture Store. I think The Hub maybe replaced Franks? Again, gotta look. The left end of that building was a Restaurant/Lounge at some point in the 90's for a few years...can't even remember what it was called but it was like one of those Country line dancing bars.

Denny's was Sambos first, which was a chain but there was some noise about the name being offensive and at some point in the early eighties it switched to Denny's. A few of us had our first apartment in Bayvue so we'd go there and drink coffee for hours just for something to do and we took toilet paper from there on a regular basis lol.

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: gordon plaza shopping center
Posted by: slowcar281 ()
Date: July 29, 2013 11:03PM

damn that awesome that you remember all that! i just moved from the apts up on the hill across from marumsco plaza down to stafford about 3 months ago after living in the apt for 3.5 years.

those buildings are so old and look like they have been vacant for a long time! i was talking with a guy at work who said he used to work at that dart drug part time in the mid 80s when he used to live off of old colchester road.

he also said that that store at the end of marumsco plaza before it was a candy kitchen and then a five guys, it was a ranch house restaurant. said he used to have a fling with one of the waitresses there LOL

btw i was driving through the dennys parking lot and that black sign said bar j's texas steakhouse. i should have taken a pic

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: gordon plaza shopping center
Posted by: Smartypants ()
Date: July 30, 2013 12:25AM

I remember Ranch House now that you mention it.

It could be that the country bar I mentioned above was Bar J's, and then maybe they moved to Gordon Plaza. I'll have to ask some barflies about that, they'll know lol.

There is a lot of remnants of the 'old' Woodbridge left there for some reason. Although there's a lot of memories there, seriously it looks like a dump in a lot of areas. There seems to be a cleanup effort going on, Marumsco Plaza just got a new look. It'd be nice if they can get some life back into some of those abandoned plazas and buildings. It pretty much started going to hell when the Potomac Mills area started growing.

I'm 50 now...when I think about when I was 16-20 years old running around there, it was so quiet then.Nothing near the number of people there now. Just a few cars on that stretch of rt 1, and after dark it got pretty much deserted. Ha ha I sound like an old timer, now that's funny

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: gordon plaza shopping center
Posted by: mmm ()
Date: July 31, 2013 12:04AM

i hope y'all make out

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: gordon plaza shopping center
Posted by: - dA fArTiAn - ()
Date: August 18, 2013 08:47PM

Anything now?

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: gordon plaza shopping center
Posted by: non fartian ()
Date: August 19, 2013 02:53AM

what's it to you?

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: gordon plaza shopping center
Posted by: Dan1 ()
Date: August 23, 2013 02:06PM

After Dart Drug went out of business, I think it was a Fantles for a while before closing for good.

It would be nice to see the area revitalized. Kind of sad that Denny's is the only remaining sign of life in the shopping center it's an outparcel on. I believe the Frank's and the Hub were both existent at the same time in that shopping center. Wasn't there a seafood restaurant as well? Sea Galley or something like that. The Ground Round building was torn down sometime in the 1990s.

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: gordon plaza shopping center
Posted by: Live Here ()
Date: August 27, 2013 01:18AM

In the Gordon Blvd. Shopping Center, next to Bar J's - back in the corner in the 80's, beginning 90's - there was a boot store there. Cowboy boots. I bought a pair there. Can't remember the name of the store.

The black Bar J's sign on the Denny's sign - I just noticed a couple of weeks ago. So I'm wondering if Bar J's is moving there?

Yes, there was a seafood restaurant behind Denny's long ago.

Route 1 is going from 4 lanes to 6 from Mary's Way (across from Marumsco Plaza), going south down to Dale Blvd.

Featherstone Shopping Center and nearby homes will soon be going through a big change. It's slated for new residential homes and commercial buildings. Meetings have already happened at the McCourt Bldg.

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: gordon plaza shopping center
Posted by: A ()
Date: September 22, 2013 01:32AM

Charlie's Surf and Turf was behind Denny's.

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: gordon plaza shopping center
Posted by: Diamond head !!! ()
Date: September 23, 2013 10:37AM

I dont belive you fools dont remember Diamond head!! it was next to Creatures & Critters, which has moved to the left a couple stores. It was a polynesian/chinese resturant withthe fishtank. (Large Arrowanna fish)

They never Id' ....a 6yr old could drink there.

There also used to be a hardee's in center of the lot, closer to Gordon BLVD.

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: gordon plaza shopping center
Posted by: Maso Neck ()
Date: September 26, 2013 09:33PM

In Gordon Plaza there was a Track Auto beside the Zayre's and Dart Drug. They were owned by the same company as Dart Drug I think. The restaurant on the far left was called The Viking Smorgasboard. The grocery store on the right was a Basics at one time, like the first one in Lorton's Gunston Plaza. I'd say the Taco Bell opened in the mid 80's and there was a country western clothing store in the corner of the shopping center by creatures and critters, which is the only original store still open there..if it's still open.

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: gordon plaza shopping center
Posted by: ABR ()
Date: June 07, 2014 03:52PM

What about the Sunoco (former Mobil) station out front? The food mart has a [unused] drive thru window, what restaurant did that used to be?

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: gordon plaza shopping center
Posted by: jim m ()
Date: September 29, 2015 02:41PM

grand union was where the aldi is now. it turned to basics for a bit. my buddy got fired from there. diamond head was great, frend dad was asking where he got his tiki mug, we were like 13 lol. jose place in there now from route one. hard to believe the shopping center is still there.

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: gordon plaza shopping center
Posted by: 94 Cougar XR-7 ()
Date: October 04, 2015 01:12AM

Gordon Plaza's Hardee's was one my favorite stops along I-95 going to Florida. Beginning in November of 1990, I would drive from New England to Jacksonville, FL, and my first stop for gas and food was exit 160 in Woodbridge (Gordon Blvd.) I was in my early 20's and this was the first time I really traveled away from home. There was something magical and liberating about being out on the open road and I-95 was an adventure.

I would tank up at the Belmont Bay Shell down the road from Gordon Plaza off I-95; they had fairly clean rest rooms and the location was easy to get to and was easy to re-enter I-95 southbound.

Belmont Bay Shell used to carry this carbonated water drink called Clearly Canadian, anyone remember that? I loved that drink. I would buy a bag of pizza-flavored Combos and several bottles of Clearly Canadian to have when I reached my overnight stop in Florence, SC. Damn, I miss Clearly Canadian! That drink was the bomb!

After fueling at the Shell station, I'd drive up Gordon Blvd to Gordon Plaza to eat at the Hardee's. It was originally a Roy Rogers when I first went there in November 1990. Used to LOVE their roast beef sandwiches. Sometime in 1992 or 1993 it became a Hardee's. The food was good at either place. They had some cute girls working in there too.

In Gordon Plaza there was an Ames department store and an auto parts store, some western clothing type of retail place. There was a Dart Drug and some bar, the name of which I forget. I do remember there was a Taco Bell in the lot next to Gordon Plaza. Ate there once or twice.

I did eat once at the KFC across from Belmont Bay Shell, but it gave me diarrhea. LOL.

Anyway, I really miss that Roy Rogers / Hardee's. The place was never crowded and the shopping center seemed dead, as though it had seen its heyday back in the 1970's. Reminded me of some places back home in New England.

The OP mentioned the long-vacant Hardee's was torn down in 2012. That's sad. I saw some photos on Google Maps a couple years ago that showed the old, abandoned Hardee's building. It was definitely worse for wear. Took some screen shots of the building. Brought back a lot of memories. It had clearly been vacant for some time. In looking at the building you could almost hear music from 1990 and 1991.

Lots of good memories traveling I-95 through Virginia in the early to mid 1990's.

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: gordon plaza shopping center
Posted by: Scottzo ()
Date: October 07, 2015 04:58PM

@94 Cougar XR-7:

Are you the same guy who wrote the magazine article back in the 90's about traveling I-95? I ask cuz evrrything you wrote sounds like what I remember reading in the article. I liked what you wrote in it because it was awesomely written and it resonated with me and some friends who drove thru NJ, DE, MD and VA.

I used to drive my plymouth 4-banger and I'd stop at woodbridge shell and at the hardees. Just like in your article, playing the music and chasing the sunset.

If you're not the author from that article, sorry :-)

If you are, can you send me a copy? I can give you my email if its you.

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: gordon plaza shopping center
Posted by: hoodthebridge ()
Date: October 12, 2015 12:55AM


Options: ReplyQuote
Re: gordon plaza shopping center
Posted by: 94 Cougar XR-7 ()
Date: November 30, 2015 05:33PM

Thanks! I hope they appear in stores soon! Can't wait to relive the experience.

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: gordon plaza shopping center
Posted by: 94 Cougar XR-7 ()
Date: November 30, 2015 06:01PM

Scottzo

Yes, I am indeed the author!

Wow, you are the first person in more than 18 years to mention that article. It was one of two road trip style pieces I wrote that were very popular with gearheads and road trip enthusiasts.

I'll have to look for the article; it's in a box somewhere in the attic. Were you a member of the car club (not sure on the name) from northern Virginia that held several caravans and had their departure meet at the Hardee's in Gordon Plaza? I was invited down in 1993 to their rally and rode with them in a group until Jacksonville, FL. Fun bunch of people.

I left the journalism world in 2000 and changed careers but have been unemployed for 9 months now and am dangerously close to running out of money and may lose the house and cars. Times have changed!

Thanks for the trip down memory lane Scottzo. I have many good memories of Gordon Plaza and I-95 !

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: gordon plaza shopping center
Posted by: Curtis ()
Date: January 22, 2016 04:36PM

the big store used to be a Dart Drug, I was the manager, there used to be a Basics where Aldi is now, the Pet Store just left.
There was a hardee's in the front where the cement slab is now.

Taco Bell and Econo Lodge are gone now and the Lums was torn down in 1990

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: gordon plaza shopping center
Posted by: Curtis ()
Date: January 22, 2016 04:46PM

The seafood Restaurant behind Denny's was Sea Galley, then Chaps then Faces.

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: gordon plaza shopping center
Posted by: Blue Ridge ()
Date: January 22, 2016 10:45PM

The original grocery store was a Grand Union, where Aldi is now.
Zayre's was the original dept. store and they opened around '73
My bro. was an original employee there and he graduated in 75
Dart Drug was also a Dart Home one time then changed to Fantle's
Diamond Head was the Chinese Rest. back in the corner where Creatures n Critters was.
Bar-J was a Rest and Bar, was in area where Joe's Place is now. They had a place up on Rt. 1 in Alex. Area, Hillbilly Heaven was the honkey tonk in Lorton on Rt. 1 before Gunston heading north, by entrance to Rainwater Landfill
Viking rest. was well known, Hardees became a Roy Rogers I believe before torn down

The Taco Bell was not there in the early 80's, I graduated in 83 and we hung at the Hardee's or more so at the McD's on Rt. 1 then when older at the parking lot of the Silver Fox (across st)

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: gordon plaza shopping center
Posted by: Bill M. ()
Date: January 23, 2016 10:05AM

Nice posts. Any current plans for revitalization, though?

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: gordon plaza shopping center
Posted by: Local on the 8s ()
Date: February 17, 2016 11:38PM

This is a very interesting post. In 2006 the commuter lot at the bottom of the hill hosted mid Atlantic mega meets. A car show for the area on the third Saturday of every month. I would drive by the shopping center and wonder about its history and why it had a vacant look. The car show was shut down for many reasons. One of witch from what I heard was people leaving the meet late at night would be doing burnouts in the parking lot.

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: gordon plaza shopping center
Posted by: rattlesnake ()
Date: May 11, 2016 11:15AM

I remember my dad taking us to the Diamond Head after swim meets in Aquia Harbor, we had only been there a few short years. loved the food and i still have some of the Tiki glasses they served drinks in from that place. i vaguely remember the lums down the road toward Rt-1 If im not mistaken didnt someone shoot himself in that place i the mid 70,s???

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: gordon plaza shopping center
Posted by: Joke Insurance ()
Date: June 11, 2016 02:14AM

http://nextrealty.com/portfolio/gordon-plaza/

The current redevelopment plan for the shopping center.

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: gordon plaza shopping center
Posted by: Aaron Stone ()
Date: June 21, 2016 04:18PM

Was this the Dart Drug? It looks a lot like a Giant. I wanted to see the Ames (because Ames and old retail in general is a large interest of mine) but I didn't want to get harassed by a Regency Furniture salesman.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/22408aaron/27721689052/in/dateposted-public/

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: gordon plaza shopping center
Posted by: 94 Cougar XR-7 ()
Date: March 12, 2017 11:44AM

Just wondering if anything has been built where the old Hardees / Roy Rogers was in Gordon Plaza? It was open for business back in January 2001, which was the last time I drove that section of I-95. It had changed slightly since I first began stopping there in November 1990. It looked a bit worn and in need of sprucing up. The place seemed to attract more of an older crowd but that may just have been when I stopped there, which was typically late afternoon / early evening.

For some time, the Gordon Plaza Roy Rogers / Hardees was the first stop on my trip down to Florida and for a time, the last stop on my way back to New England. Maybe it's nostalgia fogging up my culinary memories, but their burgers always seemed to taste better than some other fast food locations.

As stated in my previous posts, I always enjoyed eating there after tanking up at the Shell down the road on Gordon Blvd. That Shell usually had a clean restroom and always had my favorite carbonated beverage, Clearly Canadian.

The architecture of the building was classic mid 1980's. I have some Google Street View screen shots that show the building in 360 degrees, it was literally falling apart when the photos were taken in August 2011. From what posters in this forum mentioned, the place was torn down about a year later and apparently is only a cement slab now? Anyone confirm?

Someone posted about Lum's. I remember eating at a Lums in New England back in the 1970s as a child. Loved their cooked in beer hotdogs! Yes, they cooked them in beer! Delicious!

Also stopped a couple times at the Taco Bell just a couple hundred feet up the road from the Hardee's in the early 1990's. For some reason I seem to remember the drive-thru service there being abysmally slow.

For forum poster Scottzo - I looked for my article and haven't found it. It may be in storage, I'll continue to search for it. I managed to find decent employment and have been able to hang onto the house and cars, Thank God!

When I reminisce about my travels down the length of I-95 back in the 1990's, Gordon Plaza always stands out in my mind. My best memories of the plaza and Roy Rogers / Hardees are of about 8pm, with the sun setting in the west, the streetlights and store marquees lit and the beckoning of I-95 whispering "go further south..."

memories..... :-)

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: gordon plaza shopping center
Posted by: Scottzo ()
Date: September 06, 2017 06:18PM

Hey 94 Cougar XR-7, I am glad to hear you managed to hang onto your house and cars. Employment can be tough these days.

One thing I wanted to ask you: do you remember cruising I-95 in VA using the Radio Shack BTX-121 VHF radios? I know that I had spoken with you at a car meet at the old Hardees/Roy Rogers at Gordon Plaza and you showed me the gear. It was a 2-channel VHF walkie-talkie that operated on two business frequencies that McDonald's, Wendy's and other fast food restaurants ran their drive-thru headsets on.

You had that really cool rubber ducky antenna that mounted outside your Dodge Shadow's window. I remember you saying that it picked up the drive-thru's from quite a distance.

I had bought one after seeing the setup you had and used to cruise up and down I-95 from Woodbridge all the way down to the Emporia area and back. From Woodbridge down to just past Petersburg, the 2 channels were very busy. I used to mess with the places sometimes while driving by, they had no clue what was happening.

Years passed and our small car group started using FRS (family radio service) and then finally MURS, which utilized 2 of the same VHF channels that my old Radio Shack BTX-121 used, 154.570mhz & 154.600mhz. This time the MURS walkie talkie used voice inversion scrambling which garbled our comms and had digital private codes that kept any jokers from cutting into our comms. Wish we had those radios back in 1992 to 1996!

Perhaps you could write a nostalgic piece (if you still do journalism) about those days? Most of us have houses, families and tons of bills these days, so dreaming and remembering the good old days is about all we can afford.

I'd love to find a 1990 Dodge Daytona and cruise the ol' 95 again.

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: gordon plaza shopping center
Posted by: Gtype ()
Date: September 08, 2017 10:26PM


If you look up Google street view and go inside the parking lot, you can see an older view from before they tore down the vacant building that used to be Hardees.

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: gordon plaza shopping center
Posted by: 94 Cougar XR-7 ()
Date: September 09, 2017 12:22PM

Gtype,

Thanks so much for posting that photo. That must be late 1970's based upon th vehicles. Excellent photo. I wonder how long that Hardee's was there? When I began to stop at Exit 53, Woodbridge, back in 1990, it was still a Hardee's but I then sometime in 1992 it became a Roy Roger's. Used to love eating there regardless of it being a Roy's or Hardee's. The only other Hardee's I used to eat at was in Lumberton, S.C. Didn't like stopping in that town, it felt dangerous.

This exit was really convenient as I didn't have to drive far to get gas or eat.

I tanked up at the Belmont Bay Shell just down the road across from a KFC. Anyone have 1990's-era photos of that Shell station?

Gtype, thanks for also pointing out that Google Map's Street View shows the remains of the Hardee's / Roy Rogers that were taken in August 2011. For those interested, you Google "gordon plaza" and click on the Google Maps and go to street view. The current view shows the empty cement slab where Hardee's/ Roy's was but click anywhere inside the Gordon Plaza parking lot and it reverts back to the August 2011 Google imagery showing the sad, empty shell of the restaurant.

You can see what poor condition the building is in, crumbling and rusting away, yet the shrubbery on the exterior seems well cared for! Go figure!

Not sure how long the 2011 Street View photos will be up but you can always look for previous Street Views, if ones were taken. Right now it appears these are the only ones taken by Google in the parking lot.

I am attaching 2 screen shots taken off my iPad from the August 2011 photos. I maneuvered every which way and grabbed literally about 100 photos showing the building from every angle. I'd love to see photos of the inside of the Hardee's / Roy's when it was still open.

The last time I stopped at the Roy's was, I think, in February 2001. I was moving and my wife and I stopped there. She wasn't terribly thrilled by the food choice but did so because I was waxing so nostalgically about the place and the many road trips that I had.
Attachments:
IMG_0260.jpg
IMG_0214.jpg

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: gordon plaza shopping center
Posted by: 94 Cougar XR-7 ()
Date: September 09, 2017 12:56PM

Scottzo - sorry I saw your post and wanted to reply in my previous post but forgot.

Yes, I do remember speaking with you at Gordon Plaza.

I had 2 of those VHF business band radios in my '90 Shadow. No PL capability that I can recall, so anything on the frequencies opened the squelch right up. I remember logging what I heard drive-thru wise onto a tape recorder as I drove. Woodbridge, Stafford, Fredericksburg, Thornburg, all very active on those frequencies. Mostly McDonald's drive-thrus.

What most people don't know is that the drive-thru crews could communicate with each other privately without triggering the speaker at the drive-thru. You'd hear the crew talk trash about customers. But in '91 I heard something I'll never forget. While traveling just south of Aquia, I picked up a drive-thru where a female employee had taken her headset into the restroom and was actively engaged in a "When Harry Met Sally" sounding self pleasure session that she broadcasted over the frequency. Classic.

I forget what kind of car you had, was it a Plymouth? A K-Car perhaps? Or were you the one with the Plymouth police car? I remember someone had a really cool police interceptor package that had lights in the trunk, etc. I remember the person saying they never received tickets when speeding in the car. Stealth!

I believe I sold those radios on Ebay before I moved out of New England towards Texas. Glad you were able to purchase some radios and upgrade to the scrambling, I could've used that a few times for privacy reasons.

As for writing a piece about the trip, as I posted previously, I left journalism in 2000. You were the first to bring up that road trip piece I wrote back in late 1990 / early 1991. At the time it resonated very well with the car and road trip crowd. And then silence until I read your post here.

With the resurgence in 1980's & 1990's nostalgia, I may be interested in doing a piece on the trips, but honestly my memory is kind of foggy on some details. Plus I no longer have the contacts within the industry to get a piece published. And with the Internet, I don't need to tell you how much journalism has changed and how unprofitable its become.

Needless to say, I have very fond memories of the I-95 road trips and my stops at places like Gordon Plaza. It was a random stop that became a staple in future road trips.

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: gordon plaza shopping center
Posted by: Dom ()
Date: September 09, 2017 03:32PM

Cougar XR7 and Scottzo, it's Dom. Not sure if you remember me, but I was the guy with the 1988 Plymouth Gran Fury police package that you posted about. I got a Facebook message today from a friend who said there was these dudes talking on a forum about Gordon Plaza, mentioned my car, Woodbridge and the car gatherings at Hardee's in the early 1990s and to see it asap.

I lived in Ladysmith which was almost an hour drive south of Woodbridge and would drive up there. I remember both of you, more so Scott because he was a regular. Cougar XR7 came from Massachusetts I think? I sold the Fury in 2004 as it had rusted out and had over 300k on the odo.

What's up guys? I moved a long time ago to Florida where I live outside of Miami. We're about to get hit with Irma!

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: gordon plaza shopping center
Posted by: Gtype ()
Date: September 11, 2017 07:07PM


Here's another view of Gordon Plaza from a little further away. You can see a bit of Station Plaza in the foreground. Btw both these photos are from September 1976

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: gordon plaza shopping center
Posted by: Very nice ()
Date: September 11, 2017 07:25PM

These are the threads that I'm talking about !!!

Where do u find these old pics . Post more ! So neat

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: gordon plaza shopping center
Posted by: Gtype ()
Date: September 11, 2017 10:03PM

I got those photos from here: http://www.historicprincewilliam.org/county-history/stallknecht-photo-collection/prince-william-county-from-ground.html

It also has some old newspapers archived. I found this one to be of particular interest from July 1973, it talks about Forestdale Plaza about to open in Dale City, including the Dale City Twin cinemas.
http://www.historicprincewilliam.org/county-history/stallknecht-photo-collection/newspaper1.html

That movie theatre is now "Freedom Church" but the neat thing is it has barely been remodeled, and still looks exactly like a movie theatre inside. The concession counter is now a coffee shop.

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: gordon plaza shopping center
Posted by: Hardees Fan ()
Date: September 23, 2017 11:55AM

Glad I found this thread. This shopping center had my favorite Hardee's. Used to go there as a kid in the 1970's and 1980's. Was last there in the mid 1990's when it got converted into a Roy Rogers.

For fans of Hardee's it was the last of the 1980's Hardee's design. Looks like they let it decay quite a bit after closing it in the early 2000's. Sad.

It's nice to see posts waxing nostalgic about the place. Feels good to know I wasn't the only one who really liked the place. Lots of nice memories.
Attachments:
Adbandoned Hardee's Woodbridge VA.jpg

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: gordon plaza shopping center
Posted by: Hardees Fan ()
Date: September 23, 2017 11:59AM

Here's another photo I found on the web showing the decaying exterior of the former Hardee's / Roy Rogers in front of Gordon Plaza. Its dated September 2007. Amazing how fast the place fell apart.
Attachments:
Hardee's Gordon Plaza Woodbridge VA 9-4-2007.jpg

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: gordon plaza shopping center
Posted by: Rememberthe80s ()
Date: September 29, 2017 06:58PM

Wow, this is like the best thread by far on this forum!

Thanks for the photos. I'm another child of the 80s who hung out at this plaza, especially Hardees. Anyone got photos of the inside?

Sad that the plaza has all but died.

Keep posting stuff here and keeping the memories alive

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: gordon plaza shopping center
Posted by: Lorton Hears a Who ()
Date: September 29, 2017 08:53PM

Cool thread. love the photos.

Post more

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: gordon plaza shopping center
Posted by: 94 Cougar XR-7 ()
Date: September 30, 2017 12:21PM

Dom - yes, I recall talking to you. Your vehicle was a dark blue Plymouth Fury.

My first visit to Gordon Plaza was, I believe, in November 1990. Basically the 1st stop for gas since leaving Massachusetts and was practically on empty. I gassed up at the Shell on Gordon Boulevard above some marina.

Then went up the road and found Gordon Plaza. It reminded me of some shopping plazas back home that had seen better days. I think there was a bar, a western boot store and a pet store, as well as a Zayre or Ames?

I found the Roy Rogers and enjoyed a nice break and meal. Outside I met some of the members of the car club, Scottzo and Dom and several others. Those guys were there infrequently as on subsequent visits I wasn't always able to find anyone from that car club on site.

The charm of these strip malls were they weren't some hideous mall. They often had local mom & pop shops within them, with anchor stores being more regional or national chains.

Is the Shell station still there? I think they had these hot dogs that had jalapeƱos in them. They also carried a carbonated water beverage called "Clearly Canadian" which was addictively delicious. I do know that another gas station right over the NC border on I-95, called Smile Gas, carried these hotdogs and Clearly Canadian.

Belmont Bay Shell (is it still called that?) screenshot courtesy of Google, not my photo.
Attachments:
Belmont Bay Shell June 2017.jpg

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: gordon plaza shopping center
Posted by: Clearly Canadian ()
Date: October 13, 2017 09:42PM

hoodthebridge Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> XR-7
>
> It seems you are in luck:
>
> http://www.foodandwine.com/fwx/drink/clearly-canad
> ian-back-production-set-arrive-august


I loved the Mountain Blackberry!!!

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: gordon plaza shopping center
Posted by: Jamie S. ()
Date: March 12, 2020 11:46PM

I absolutely love this thread! As someone who grew up around the area, many of these posts have been very informative and quite interesting to read.

I used to love going to the Ames in Gordon Plaza with my parents. I have great memories of going there during the early 90's when I was very young up to the early 2000's when I was a teenager. We especially went there quite often around 1999, 2000, and 2001, not long before they closed. I remember they always had some pretty good bargains, too. They also sold these delicious vanilla wafers that I've never been able to find in any other store. We would also stop by that area often on the way back from Springfield Mall, or whenever we ate at Dixie Bones. We never did stop at the Hardees/Roy Rogers, but I really wish we did. Always loved their food, and I love the 80's style of that building. I still miss the Ames very much, and that shopping center will always have a special place in my heart, even if there's not much there now. I just get nostalgic whenever I think about that area, and I love imagining what the area was like during it's heyday. :) Love that pic of Gordon Plaza from the 70's, btw!

I still love exploring that area whenever I stop at Dixie Bones, along with Marumsco, and some of the other strip malls along RT 1. Another restaurant I really miss that nobody's mentioned yet is Kilroy's. The biscuits and honey butter they used to serve before the meal was well worth the trip there alone!

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: gordon plaza shopping center
Posted by: 94 Cougar XR-7 ()
Date: July 05, 2020 02:15PM

Just wondering if there's been any construction in the area where the old Hardee's / Roy Rogers used to be?

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: gordon plaza shopping .... I worked at the sea galley behind dennys
Posted by: Andrew flynn ()
Date: July 24, 2020 12:58AM

Dan1 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> After Dart Drug went out of business, I think it
> was a Fantles for a while before closing for good.
>
>
> It would be nice to see the area revitalized. Kind
> of sad that Denny's is the only remaining sign of
> life in the shopping center it's an outparcel on.
> I believe the Frank's and the Hub were both
> existent at the same time in that shopping center.
> Wasn't there a seafood restaurant as well? Sea
> Galley or something like that. The Ground Round
> building was torn down sometime in the 1990s.

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: gordon plaza shopping center
Posted by: Loll ()
Date: August 14, 2020 02:51PM

Yeah

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: gordon plaza shopping center
Posted by: oldpwc ()
Date: January 31, 2021 02:26PM

Been here since 68. Gordon blvd was a goto. Would go to Zayre's and Woolco across the street for various and sundry. Lums and Lowes were farther down the blvd and fronting rte1. There was a hobby/game shop I can't remember the name of in Gordons plaza (on the east side by C&C) that was pretty good.

But everything here is in process of demolition and rebuild and this side of Woodbridge has been waning for 30 years. The only place worth Visiting in the Gordons blvd frontage is Astoria.

I'm surprised Handy Dandy still survives in some form.
TBH there really is no reason for old timers like me to stick around aside from the plentiful DOD work: culturally Woodbridge (and PWC at large) is not a place for natives.

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: gordon plaza shopping center
Posted by: Katie Bochert ()
Date: February 06, 2021 10:21PM

Not sure if anyone will ever read this bit the name of the sea food restaurant that was behind the Dennys was called Sea Galley Restaurant. I ought to know my I met my husband working there when we were 16 years old. We have been together ever since and married for 34 years now. Loved working there and drinking coffee at that Dennys after work. Good times good times.

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: gordon plaza shopping center
Posted by: 94 Cougar XR-7 ()
Date: March 15, 2021 11:25AM

Was last at the Roy Rogers/Hardee's in early 2001, some 20 years ago. I know that the Roy Rogers/Hardee's was torn down circa 2011. Now that we're 10 years after that, does anyone have any photos of what's left in that plaza of the building?

I'd love to see any vintage photos of the building back when it operated as a Roy's or Hardee's. Please post them if you have them.

Google Earth shows an outline of the foundation, but wondered if anything has been built since??

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: gordon plaza shopping center
Posted by: local on the 8s ()
Date: June 07, 2021 11:54AM

Not much at this point. Talks of adding a fly over bridge 123 to route 1. The county has demolished 98 buildings on route 1 to expand from 4 lanes to 6 lanes with a concrete median in the middle. Truth is the property it neglected and abused by some locals from what I see. There is old auto parts and oil jugs on the parking lot curbs from people using it as a repair depot. I haven't heard of a crime problem and plenty of people still go to the aldi.

Options: ReplyQuote


Your Name: 
Your Email (Optional): 
Subject: 
Attach a file
  • No file can be larger than 75 MB
  • All files together cannot be larger than 300 MB
  • 30 more file(s) can be attached to this message
Spam prevention:
Please, enter the code that you see below in the input field. This is for blocking bots that try to post this form automatically.
  *******   ********   ******   **     **        ** 
 **     **  **    **  **    **  **     **        ** 
 **             **    **        **     **        ** 
 ********      **     **        *********        ** 
 **     **    **      **        **     **  **    ** 
 **     **    **      **    **  **     **  **    ** 
  *******     **       ******   **     **   ******  
This forum powered by Phorum.