It Looks Like An Ordinary Northern Virginia Bank-Doesn't It?

This older Burke and Herbert bank building in the Baileys Crossroad area of Northern Virginia looks like just about any other bank in the area.  Nothing about it necessarily stands out.  Yet it holds an interesting part of history on it's roof.

The odd looking lights that you might think are an old security system or fire alarm are actually the remaining becons that marked the building for incoming planes to the Cross Roads Airport.   As you can see by the highrises behind the bank no pilot today would want to attempt a landing in the area. 

The original agreement to operate an airport in the area was approved in 1942 but due to WWII the airport license was not issued and named until 1946.  In 1947 the Cross Roads Airport opened and appeared on flight maps.  By 1949 the name on the areonatutical maps now showed the airport being called Washington Airport with two unpaved runways.

As time passed the runways were paved and housing developments going up nearby began to complain about the noise from the aircraft.  In the 1960's even the Goodyear Blimp made a visit to the airfield but as with many of the smaller airfields, such as the Springfield Airport 15 miles down the road the future of airport was determined by the increasing value of the land.

The airport officially closed in October 1970 and the construction of Skyline Plaza, two twenty six floor residential towers began.  The condominiums were completed in 1977 and except for these two lights all traces of the airport are long gone.

Today's Baileys Crossroads is on the radar of Fairfax County for redevelopment to a more pedistrian friendly area with a future metro station.  The area has come a long way from an area that once welcomed airplanes instead of traffic backups on Route 7.

For more information on the Cross Roads Airport, other small airports in Northern Virginia or across the US check out Abondoned & Little Known Airfields.