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CHistory
History · Mason Neck

2 of Mason Neck’s places are on the National Register

More historic than 32% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Most of Mason Neck was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1974. Below: 12 old photos and papers and maps from 1913 on.

2on the National Register
2%homes built before 1940
12old photos & papers
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Mason Neck’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

About Mason Neck’s history

How historic is Mason Neck?

C

More historic than 32% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Mason Neck’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Mason Neck is more historic than 32% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

C
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Mason Neck’s overall grade.
Founding eraNo founding year we can rely on, so the grade uses the other two–Homes built before 19402.4% of homes (±2.2) · typical VA town 1.9% · U.S. 8.4%C−National Register2 listings, 9.8 per 10,000 residents · typical VA town 3.6 · U.S. 2.4B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 32%
NewerOlder

Virginia towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Virginia town has 3.6 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Mason Neck’s 9.8 sits near the middle of its state (54% of Virginia towns have fewer) while its 2 listings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share (±2.2 points) is firm at this size.

Founding year: our sources. Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →

What stands out about Mason Neck’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

Lost villages1 post office opened and closed inside today’s Mason Neck, and 6 old place names are still on the map.A National Historic Landmark2 places on the National Register, including Gunston Hall, a National Historic Landmark.A town in old photos12 old photos, postcards and papers.On the map since 19137 editions of the USGS map, 1913 to 1980. Watch Mason Neck change.
★ What stands out · Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Another post office, Gunston, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Belmont ParkGunston HeightsGunston ManorHallowing Point EstatesHarbor ViewWiley
Gone or out of use
Gunston Hall SchoolschoolLebanon Schoolschool
1cemetery inside Mason Neck
Shiloh Baptist Church

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

On the National Register

2 historic places in Mason Neck

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. One is a National Historic Landmark, the highest tier.

places listed
2
National Historic Landmark
1
Gunston Hall
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
first listed
1966
Gunston Hall
Taft Archeological Site #029-5411Gunston Hall, built 1759★
BuildingsSites★ landmark

Architectural styles listings

Colonial Gothic1
★ Landmark
Gunston HallColonial Gothic · Built 1759
Taft Archeological Site #029-5411Site

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

By decade

Mason Neck, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1910s12 items
Gunston Hall, [Virginia]1910Gunston Hall, [Virginia]Gunston Hall, [Virginia]1910Gunston Hall, [Virginia]Gunston Hall, [Virginia]1910Gunston Hall, [Virginia]Gunston Hall, [Virginia]1910Gunston Hall, [Virginia]Gunston Hall, [Virginia]1910Gunston Hall, [Virginia]Gunston Hall, [Virginia]1910Gunston Hall, [Virginia]Gunston Hall, [Virginia]1910Gunston Hall, [Virginia]Gunston Hall, [Virginia]1910Gunston Hall, [Virginia]Gunston Hall, [Virginia]1910Gunston Hall, [Virginia]Gunston Hall, [Virginia]1910Gunston Hall, [Virginia]Gunston Hall, [Virginia]1910Gunston Hall, [Virginia]Gunston Hall, [Virginia]1910Gunston Hall, [Virginia]
1920s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
The story

How Mason Neck came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Mason Neck.

Read it all →

The Mason Neck peninsula was inhabited by the Doeg prior to the arrival of European settlers. The recorded history of Mason Neck began around 1755 with the construction of Gunston Hall, the plantation house of George Mason, author of the Virginia Declaration of Rights. Mason Neck is also the location of Pohick Church, frequented by both Mason and George Washington, and Cranford Methodist Church, which was built in 1857 and served as a hospital during the Civil War.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Mason Neck, 1733 to 1960

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 18th century
  2. 1733Born hereThomson Mason is born here
  3. 1759BuiltGunston Hall is built
  4. 19th century
  5. 1878Post officeThe Gunston post office opens
  6. 20th century
  7. 1910In the archiveGunston Hall, [Virginia]
  8. 1913On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  9. 1917Post officeThe Gunston post office closes
  10. 1960LandmarkGunston Hall named a National Historic Landmark
On the map

Mason Neck on the map, 1913 to 1980

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Mason Neck. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Mason Neck on the 1913 USGS mapMason Neck on the 1925 USGS mapMason Neck on the 1948 USGS mapMason Neck on the 1951 USGS mapMason Neck on the 1965 USGS mapMason Neck on the 1971 USGS mapMason Neck on the 1980 USGS map1913Indian Head sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Mason Neck.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Gunston Hall, [Virginia]
Retake this viewGunston Hall, [Virginia], 1910

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Mason Neck’s page.

Retake this view · +15
Help out

Finish Mason Neck’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewGunston Hall, [Virginia]: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Lorton2 historic placesDWoodbridge1 historic placeC−

Questions about Mason Neck’s history

How does Mason Neck rank for history?

Mason Neck is more historic than 32% of U.S. towns. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.

What is on the National Register in Mason Neck?

Two places: the Gunston Hall (listed 1966) and the Taft Archeological Site #029-5411 (2004).

How old are the homes in Mason Neck?

2% of Mason Neck’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.2 points), against a typical 1.9% for a Virginia town; the median home was built in 1974.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

From the Library of Congress (12), the National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.