NOVA Parks (Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority) has announced a gift of 85 acres of undeveloped land from Henry Harris and the Harris family to create a public park in Leesburg, Virginia.

Located at the corner of Edwards Ferry Road and Battlefield Parkway, the Cattail Regional Park is the 36th park in the regional NOVA Parks system. In addition to mature forests and open fields, the property contains an upland bog. Eighteenth-century English diarist Nicholas Cresswell noted that he stayed at an “ordinary” or bed and breakfast on the property in 1776, and during the Civil War, Confederate troops dug fortifications along Edwards Ferry Road. Future plans for the property include a trail network and interpretive signs about the park’s unique features, as well as an entrance and parking.

A retired geologist who grew up on the property, Harris is a nephew of A.V. Symington, who donated Temple Hall Farm to NOVA Parks 30 years ago.

“Parkland is one of our most valued public assets. I would like to thank the Harris family for this remarkable gift. Their contributions to our community run very deep,” said Loudoun County board of supervisors chair Phyllis J. Randall. “And I would like to thank NOVA Parks for their continued push to expand parkland, having added nearly 1,000 acres of new parkland in Loudoun County in the last decade! This new park will serve the public for generations to come.”

(Photo credit: NOVA Parks)