Originally published in the April 2023 edition of Greet Del Ray.

When Charles E. Wood of the real estate development company Wood, Harmon and Company began his first development in Northern Virginia, he needed a location reasonably close to transportation, yet still rural in character. The farms north of Alexandria afforded an excellent opportunity because the transportation lines between Washington and Alexandria crisscrossed this land. In 1894, he purchased two large tracts of land north of Alexandria just off the road and rail lines to Washington.

The first tract of land consisted of 254 acres just south of the St. Asaph Racetrack that had been part of the Lloyd family’s Belmont estate. Wood named this area Del Ray and hired D. J. Howell to survey it into 1160 lots. Standard lots measured 25 feet wide and 115 feet deep. The other tract consisted of 38.68 acres from Frank and Emma Hume that lay between the St. Asaph racetrack and Glebe Road. It was named St. Elmo, and L. H. Hyer surveyed it into 491 lots. Here, standard lots were 25 feet wide and 120 feet deep. Streets were laid out in a grid pattern within the irregular boundaries of the tracts. Wood paid a total of $54,216 for the two tracts of land, and he expected to triple his original investment by selling the lots for between $50 and $150.

St. Elmo was completed first, and Wood began selling lots on 2 April 1894. Jefferson and Emma Ashford purchased two lots to construct the first home in St. Elmo at 301 Clifford Ave. This house was described as a Folk Victorian and was designated a contributory structure to the Town of Potomac National Historical District (Potomac NHD). Unfortunately, it was torn down in 2015.

When Wood began selling lots in Del Ray one month later, it immediately proved more successful. George and Martha Mundell constructed the first house at 208 E. Howell Ave. It is also a contributory structure to the Potomac NHD, which listed it as a c. 1895 Vernacular house. The Mundells purchased a second lot and expanded the original house.