On This Date in Nativity History
Summer 1974
In the summer of 1974, Nativity’s pastor, Father Frank Ready, purchased the parcel of land on which the new parish and its church and other buildings would be located: at 9616 Old Keene Mill Road (the access road known as Nativity Lane did not exist with that name until 1979). The tract of land, some 10.4 acres, sold for $117,500.00, or slightly less than $11,300 per acre. At one point during the negotiations, Father Ready proposed that the diocese acquire all of the land between Nativity’s current site and the corner of Old Keene Mill Road and Lee Chapel Road, which would have provided enough land for a high school complete with football field. The plan was not adopted because diocesan planners were more focused on acquiring the building that became Paul VI High School (later moved to Loudoun County).
Aerial photographs of the area show that the land Fr. Ready bought for the new church was occupied by a working farm until sometime in the early 1950’s. Yet, as the photo below shows, by 1972 the land was abandoned and had not been used for farming for many years. What happened in the interim? The answer will be revealed in a future historical note.
Image: In this aerial photo from 1972, the red map pin shows the future location of Nativity Church. The red lines show the route of future roads. The intersection to the right of the pin is the intersection of Old Keene Mill Road and Lee Chapel Road.
