Prince William County parks and museums are worth your time if walking Civil War battlefields and visualizing the struggle between opposing forces seems like time well spent. Besides museums, the links below will lead to find information and photographs of historic sites, water parks, community pools, community recreation centers, sports complexes, camp sites, and bird watching.
Prince William County Museums
Americans in Wartime Museum (Dale City)
Freedom Museum (Manassas Airport)
Haymarket Museum (Town of Haymarket)
Manassas Museum (City of Manassas)
This 8′ statue of Marine Corps Lieutenant General Chesty B. Puller weighing 1000 pounds is in Semper Fidelis Memorial Park next to the Semper Fidelis Memorial Chapel and the National Museum of the Marine Corps in Triangle, Virginia.
National Museum of the Marine Corps (Triangle)
Mill House Museum (Occoquan)
Weems-Botts Museum (Dumfries)
Other historic sites include: Bel Air House (Dale City), Ben Lomond House & Gardens (Manassas), Brentsville Courthouse, Brentsville Courthouse, Rippon Lodge (Woodbridge).
Prince William County Parks
The Prince William County Park Authority provides service to 50 county parks:
County and State Parks
Splashdown (Manassas)
Waterworks (Dale City)
Dale City Recreation Center has everything. Strength training and cardiovascular equipment, workout studios, training rooms, dance rooms, 25 meter swimming pool, spa and whirlpool hot tub, youth fitness classes, martial arts, volleyball and basketball and many other programs.
Birchdale Recreation Center (Dale City) summer camps and aquatics programs.
Ben Lomond Community Center (Manassas) Home to the Ben Lomond Dance for children and adults.
Veteran’s Park Community Center (Woodbridge) Veterans Memorial Park is a large community park with sports leagues for baseball, basketball, dance classes, football, playschool, soccer, summer camps, swimming. Veterans Park also has the largest skate park in the county. It is a 6,300 square feet course open all year with FREE admission. There is also a 50-meter outdoor park, many outdoor athletic courts, pavilion and picnic facilities.
Four community pools: Birchdale, Graham Park, Hammill Mill and Veteran’s Memorial Park.
Northern Virginia BMX park at Pfitzner Stadium Complex (Woodbridge)
Scott D. Eagles Skate Park (Woodbridge) has a 60-foot kidney bowl with ledges, stairs, grind rails, ramps and jumps.
Leesylvania State Park located in Woodbridge on the Potomac River.
Bryce Harper at G. Richard Pfitzner Stadium on rehabilitation assignment with the Washington National Class A Advanced Carolina League affiliate Potomac Nationals. The stadium is one of 6 sports complexes in Prince William County.
National Parks
Manassas Battlefield Park (Triangle)
Prince William Forest Park (Triangle)
Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge (Woodbridge)
Potomac River National Wildlife Refuge Complex (Woodbridge).
‘Iron Mike’ is a World War I tribute statue (6th Machine Gun Battalion) at the National Museum of the Marine Corps and Marine Corps Heritage Center at Quantico Marine Corps Base between U. S. Route 1 & Interstate 95 in Triangle. There are several Marine Corps artifacts including the second American flag raised on Mount Suribachi during the Battle of Iwo Jima. Galleries at the Marine Corps Museum: Leathernecks, Making Marines, Legacy Walk, American Revolution, Global Expeditionary Force, World War I, World War II, Korean War, Vietnam, temporary exhibits. and iconic artifacts. When completed, the 135 acre Marine Corps Heritage Center will include Semper Fidelis Memorial Park & Chapel, a demonstration area, parade grounds, hiking trails, conference center and hotel, and archive facility to keep Marine artifacts.
The Stone Bridge at Bull Run (c. 1825) was destroyed by Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston on March 9, 1862 after returning to Prince William County from Centreville. This bridge was built on the original foundations in 1884 and used on the Warrenton Turnpike until 1926. Lee Highway (Route 29) is in the background. The Union Army of Northeastern Virginia commanded by General Irwin McDowell used the Stone Bridge as a route of retreat during the First Battle of Manassas. The Union Army of Virginia commanded by General John Pope also retreated across the Stone Bridge during the Second Battle of Manassas. But it was an orderly exit from the battlefield and not the run for life exhibited by Union soldiers on July 21, 1861.
The Iwo Jima Memorial (replica) is at the Main Gate of Quantico Marine Corps Base on U. S. Route 1. Corporal Harlon Henry Block is the closest Marine in this sculpture raising the second American Flag (February 23, 1945) on Mount Suribachi during the Battle of Iwo Jima. Marine Corporal Block was fighting with E Company, 2nd Battalion, 28th Marines, 5th Marine Division on Iwo Jima when he was mortally wounded by a mortar round during an attack on Nishi Ridge. His last words: “They killed me!” Corporal Block is buried at the Marine Military Academy near its Iwo Jima Monument in Harlingen, Texas. Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal captured images of the second United States Flag raised on Mount Suribachi, Iwo Jima on February 23, 1945. Private Rene Gagnon, Private Ira Hayes, Private Franklin Sousley, Sergeant Mike Strank, and United States Navy Corpsman John Bradley, were immortalized by this 1945 Pulitzer Prize winning photograph.
Victor and Alice Purse building the security walls of Alvictus. According to Victor Purse more than 15,000 cinderblock were used to secure the Cold War safe house for defecting Soviet spies which overlooks the Lake Jackson Dam.
Alvictus was originally a small lake side cabin like several weekend homes built around Lake Jackson. In 1960, Victor Purse undertook a construction project to transform the Happy House to a luxury lake front retreat suitable for hosting foreign dignitaries. His work at the State Department led Victor Purse to close relationships with Queen Elizabeth II & Prince Philip, and the King of Saudi Arabia (1953-64). While serving as State Department Deputy Chief of Protocol (1954-1957) Victor Purse was removed from the Office of Protocol after becoming too close to newsmen, congressional members, diplomats, and perhaps President Eisenhower. His popularity was clear when the King of Saudi Arabia requested Victor Purse go with him back to the Middle East on his private airplane to become a guest in his country. Several trade agreement were negotiated with Saudi Arabia while Victor Purse was a guest of the king. In 1961, he became the Director of Administration of the State Department. By 1965, Alvictus was being used as a safe house by the Central Intelligence Agency, hosting several defecting spies from the Soviet Union. Victor Purse is best known publicly for receiving several gifts from foreign governments, including a luxury convertible, a gift of King Saud, which was seen at Alvictus. This created the rules for reporting gifts by foreign governments to State Department officials. This action was initiated by President Eisenhower, and became known as the Purse Rule among federal workers.
Click on our online photo albums below for more information related to parks, museums and historic sites in the city of Manassas, the town of Occoquan, and Prince William County.
- Bristow, Gainesville, Haymarket
- Lake Ridge, Virginia
- Manassas National Battlefield Park
- Manassas, Virginia
- Occoquan, Virginia
- Quantico, Dumfries, Montclair, Triangle
- Woodbridge, Virginia
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