Occoquan

downtown Occoquan

Hammill Hotel - occupied by Wade Hampton in 1861-62

Rockledge

Belmont Bay

(click on images for larger versions)

• Association of State Floodplain Managers - The Nation's Responses To Flood Disasters: A Historical Account
• Library of Congress - Civil War Maps
• Fords on Occoquan and Bull Run
• Fairfax County - Lorton/Laurel Hill Property
• Northern Virginia Regional Commission
• Occoquan Basin Nonpoint Pollution Management Program
• Occoquan Watershed Monitoring Laboratory
• Occoquan Today - history
• Prince William Conservation Alliance
• Northern Virginia Major Watersheds
• Occoquan Reservoir
• Prince William Major Watersheds
• Scorecard - Prince William County: Clean Water Act Status Report
• US Fish and Wildlife Service
• Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge
• Featherstone National Wildlife Refuge
• Virginia Department of Historic Resources - Putting Virginia's History to Work: Virginia's Comprehensive Historic Preservation Plan

Topics to Explore

- where does the name "Occoquan" come from?
- why was Occoquan founded? what industries found "competitive advantage" there?
- is the Occoquan a river, stream, or run?
- why did Alexandria thrive and Occoquan stay a small town?
- why did Occoquan survive as a community, instead of disappear completely?
- why are so few buildings in Occoquan made of stone or brick, when there was a quarry and a brickworks just across the river?
- where was Colchester in relation to Occoquan? why did it disappear?
- will Belmont Bay succeed?, how would the Town of Occoquan be affected by "success"?
- why was Occoquan Reservoir constructed? why did it end up being a water source for Fairfax County rather than Alexandria?
- what does "Occoquan" mean?