Great Substack! I love all of this stuff. NOVA is such a challenge because most of the spots just get bulldozed eventually. I remember some examples at Rolling Valley Mall a few years ago when the One Life Fitness was built. For a time you could see the original sign of Crown Books; which was in the Haft family and also included Trak Auto, Dart Drug, and Shoppers. Burke Center has a number of different establishments that have just been flipped into new retail but some of the original bones exist. I also like to track fast food. There was a long dead Red Barn fast food restaurant by the old Fairfax High School and the building was just torn down. I'm told that building hadn't operated as a Red Barn since the early 80s but was repurposed. The chain no longer exists.
There's an upgrade slated for the Route 7 McDonald's in Annandale. The current building has been there since '99. Not really notable other than it shares the address of the very first Roy Rogers restaurant: https://annandaletoday.com/upgrade-slated-for-route-7-mcdonalds/
Great Substack! I love all of this stuff. NOVA is such a challenge because most of the spots just get bulldozed eventually. I remember some examples at Rolling Valley Mall a few years ago when the One Life Fitness was built. For a time you could see the original sign of Crown Books; which was in the Haft family and also included Trak Auto, Dart Drug, and Shoppers. Burke Center has a number of different establishments that have just been flipped into new retail but some of the original bones exist. I also like to track fast food. There was a long dead Red Barn fast food restaurant by the old Fairfax High School and the building was just torn down. I'm told that building hadn't operated as a Red Barn since the early 80s but was repurposed. The chain no longer exists.
There's an upgrade slated for the Route 7 McDonald's in Annandale. The current building has been there since '99. Not really notable other than it shares the address of the very first Roy Rogers restaurant: https://annandaletoday.com/upgrade-slated-for-route-7-mcdonalds/
I've started tracking some of this stuff on my YouTube channel. There's always the site of the Ebola Monkey House in Reston: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53egtBZ7x2k
Keep up the great work!
Thank you! I'm glad you find this interesting. I think it's so cool. History in the most mundane places. Maybe they're not so mundane:)
I photographed that Red Barn for a previous article, too!