Alcova Heights
Alcova Heights was given its name by real estate developer J. Cloyd Byars. “Alcova” stands for Alexandria County, Virginia.
Alcova Heights was given its name by real estate developer J. Cloyd Byars. “Alcova” stands for Alexandria County, Virginia. In 1921, Byars bought 142 acres from the Columbia Land Company and sold the lots for five cents a square foot. Byars laid out many streets, naming them Azalea Street (Quincy Street), Marconi Avenue (8th Street), Deepwood Avenue (9th Street), Springhill Street (Lincoln Street), Virginia Street (Monroe Street), and Linden Avenue (Oakland Street).
Byars’ home, which he also called Alcova, is the oldest in this community. It was built before the Civil War as a tenant farmhouse on the estate of William Young, who had bought the property in 1850. During the Civil War, Alcova, also known as “Spring Hill Farm” and “Columbia Place”, was occupied by Union soldiers, and many buildings were destroyed. For “military purposes” all the fences were taken down, the animals confiscated, and the main house burned. In 1878, the Young family received $3,198 in compensation for these losses.
The Alcova house has undergone many changes over the years and is now a County landmark. By the time Mr. Byars began developing the neighborhood, the population of the whole County was rapidly increasing and Alcova Heights became a popular spot to live. The trolley line was less than a mile from “Hunter’s Crossroads”, the intersection of Columbia Pike and Glebe Road. Telephone service had reached the community, and after 1928, water and sewer services were available.
