Our Story
The Upper Pohick Community League (UPCL) is descended from the Sydenstricker School & Community League, which organized around 1900 and was the original “PTA” of the one‐room Sydenstricker Schoolhouse (formally known as Pohick School #8). The school, which taught grades kindergarten through 7th grade, was the social and educational center of our community from about 1898 (when the schoolhouse was constructed) until 1939 when the school closed.
After the schoolhouse closed the Sydenstricker League continued to meet, and the school building continued to be used as a center for our rural community. The group rallied for local concerns including better roads and improved transportation to the local schools.
In 1948 the Sydenstricker League reorganized themselves as the Upper Pohick Community League. The League purchased the schoolhouse at public auction in 1954. For many years it was the center of social activities in our area, including square dances, community suppers, and popular annual “Turkey Shoots”. During the 1950s the League sponsored a Boy and Girl Scout troop, as well as a “Litter Buggy” which collected trash from local roads.
As local subdivisions sprung up in the 1960s and 70s, and the new neighborhoods formed their own neighborhood associations, the membership and activity of the UPCL waned. However, a small group continued to keep the UPCL alive for the sake of the historic one‐room schoolhouse. In recent years the League became primarily focused on the maintenance and preservation of the Schoolhouse, and its important place in our community.
In 2014, Friends of Sydenstricker Schoolhouse, a 501(c)3, non‐profit charity, was organized to raise money to preserve and protect the schoolhouse. Without the financial burden of maintaining a nearly century old historic structure, the UPCL is finally able to return to their roots as a community focused organization. The organization has renewed its commitment to our local community, and is reaching out to our local schools, libraries and other organizations with support and appreciation.
The UPCL is the oldest continually operating community association in Springfield, Virginia, and among the oldest in Fairfax County. Our membership is open to all. Please join us!
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We are very grateful to all of our audience members who attended the premiere performances of Every Brilliant Thing at The Historic Sydenstricker Schoolhouse, September 2022.
Here are the brilliant things that you shared with us on the chalkboard:
The honey bee waggle dance
#84 The smell of freshly cut lumber
Puppy kisses
Watching dogs run, play and totally enjoy themselves
#1,007 Tanks, warplanes and ships
Hugging your dog
Your best friend's cologne
Sitting on my front porch and chatting with passer bys
Falling asleep to the crashing waves outside
Early morning autumnal walks
The smell of newborn babies' heads
Key lime pie
A pink rose with a drop of water on one petal
Eating tomatoes directly from the garden
Winning a lottery scratcher!
Watching tonight's show with my daughter
#814 Cats sleeping on your lap
Mastering a new bus line you've not used before
A grandson on my lap
#16 Sheets on the line in the fresh air
People who love you
Häagen-Dazs rum raisin ice cream
Violets
How the Brits say "aluminium"
Twilight
Cars
#42,566 cookies that smile back at you
Watching a colleague in his element
Bipedal locomotion
Unbridled enthusiasm of my four year old greeting me after work
Sound and laughter
Watching water falls
That first sip of hot coffee on a crisp fall morning
Cats
When it rains while it's sunny
Seeing a praying mantis in your garden
Air conditioning (2)
Hiking in the woods
Seeing a great play live for the first time
All the children
Smell of a crisp fall morning
The wet nose kiss of a dog!
Connecting with old friends
The way the library smells
God's grace allowing you to try again and again until you get it right
Two wonderful sons
Bird watchers
Sunrise
Getting a four-hand massage
Local history
My dad's smile
Running into old friends
This schoolhouse
Stage managers
Connection
You have a beautiful schoolhouse! We have one, too! Your group is an inspiration!
Circa 1996
We have quite a few goodies for our first mini Yard Sale, which is scheduled from 9am - 1pm in the Grove this Saturday, 9/5! This mini yard sale features books, games, puzzles, toys, and craft supplies. As an added bonus The Historic Sydenstricker Schoolhouse is having a sale across the street as well! Both sales are by donation (pay what you think is fair) and all donations go to two great community causes.
May I drop off today, Sunday?
Newington Forest Friends! Hope you can join us at The Historic Sydenstricker Schoolhouse!!
Tues. Dec 5 at 7p.m. at Burke Centre Library will be the BHS next Research Seminar and will be the first of a four part series given by Beach Carre. These four sessions will explore the tools that can help your genealogical research: Census and land records, deeds and surveys, wills, probate, obituaries and vital records.Join us for any or all of the series.
Sunday, Nov. 19, 3:30 p.m.Burke Historical Society Meeting at Pohick Regional Library Jeanne Niccolls: “Ring Tournaments in Fairfax County”
Historian Jeanne Niccolls discusses local chivalric tournaments which persisted into the 20th century.
The Historic Sydenstricker Schoolhouse was restored with a fresh coat of Rustic Red SW 7593 (275-C6) paint.
Sun., May 28, 3:30 p.m.; Pohick Regional Library; General Meeting, free and open to the public
: “The Civil War among Local Civilians:
This month BHS will examine the civilian side of the War between the States, during which Fairfax County residents were subject to arbitrary arrest, personal threats, and large-scale theft by Union and Confederate forces.
Sunday, March 26, 3:30 p.m., Pohick Regional Library; Mary Lipsey will present on : “Anna Maria Fitzhugh”
“Discover the remarkable life of Anna Maria Fitzhugh of Ravensworth, one of Fairfax and Stafford Counties’ most prominent landowners from her widowing in 1830 to her death in 1874.”
It's great to learn there is an Upper Pohick Community League to be friends with Friends of Colonial Pohick. It's time to become friends with The Historic Sydenstricker Schoolhouse and Sydenstricker United Methodist Church
The Historic Sydenstricker Schoolhouse's Fall Yard & Bake Sale is this Saturday, Oct. 29, 8 a.m. to noon. Great opportunity to start your holiday shopping.
