A new park in Arlington's Columbia Pike area will be named after Selina Norris Gray, who was born into slavery at Arlington House but later became a pillar of the Green Valley Community.
Rendering of Serena Gray Square via Arlington County
Selina Gray Square will be the name for the 0.2-acre park which will be located at the north end of a residential development called The Trove, an addition to Wellington Apartments at 1850 Columbia Pike that was approved in 2016. The park will be privately owned but publicly accessible and will contain a bocce court, plaza, benches, walkways, and landscaping.
Before the Civil War, Serina Norris served as a personal maid and eventually lead housekeeper to Mary Anna Custis Lee, the great-granddaughter of Mary Custis Washington and wife of Robert E. Lee. At the outbreak of the war, when the Lee family fled south, Mary Lee entrusted the keys to the house to Gray, with a request that she protects the family artifacts.
“The continued existence of family heirlooms that had once belonged to Martha Custis Washington, and President George Washington can be attributed to Selina Gray’s courageous actions,” the county staff report said.
Freed after the war, Gray and her husband purchased a 10-acre property in Green Valley where they remained for the rest of their lives. One of their sons, Harry Gray, built a historic townhouse on South Quinn Street in Arlington View, which still stands and is located near the future park.
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