Thoroughfare: A Town Under Siege

Alexandra Johnson, a freed slave, founded the Little Zion Church in Thoroughfare. It was a simple structure that provided community space for residents to come together, to support and uplift each other and pass down a tradition of perseverance in the face of hardship and oppression. That physical space was held together by a cord, a fiber called oakrum. 

Today stands Oakrum Baptist Church, the namesake of that same cord. Frank Washington, the youth director and spokesman for the Coalition to Save Historic Thoroughfare explains, “the binding cord of that little shack was the initial Oakrum Baptist Church and it became the center of our community and that same analogy of that cord binding us together...is the work we're doing in this community.”

Data Centers Here, There... in the Rural Crescent?

 

On Tuesday, July 20th, Prince Williams Board of County Supervisors will vote to initiate two Comprehensive Plan Amendments (CPA) located outside the County's Data Center Opportunity Zone Overlay District.

CPA2021-00004, PW Digital Gateway would change the long-range land use for approximately 801 acres from Rural Crescent and Environmental Resource to Technology/Flex, for the purpose of developing data centers. This application covers 27 individual properties that are located on both sides of Pageland Land and adjacent to Manassas National Battlefield Park. Read staff report here.

CPA2021-00005, Compton Property/Amazon Data Services, would change the long-range land use designation for approximately 77 acres for the purpose of developing a data center and electrical substation campus. Read the staff report here.

2021 Photo Contest Winners!

We had the great pleasure of sitting down with our inaugural photo contest winners on June 27th, 2021 to discuss their winning photos.

The Spring is for Hope contest celebrated the emerging spring in Prince William County and the talent that captures such awe-inspired views via a camera lens.

Photographers entered their photographs in three categories: 1.) Landscapes and Waterscapes, 2.) Native Plants and Wildlife and 3.) People in Nature.

After a process of committee review and public voting, the winners for each category have been determined. The people voted and the winners are: