On Saturday afternoon, Oct. 31, residents of the Braddock District gathered on the grounds of the David R. Pinn Community Center on Zion Drive for the unveiling of a historic marker.

The marker commemorates the center, whose history can be tracked back to a small African American community that lived in the Zion Drive area in the early 1900s. The families that lived in that area included the Wrights, Hamilitons, Whites and Pinns, who were farmers and laborers. Many of their descendants still live in the area.

According to the marker, David R. and Sarah F. Pinn donated an acre of land for the construction of the Little Bethel Baptist Church. The Immediate Relief Association purchased the church in 1946 and the Sideburn Civic Community Association acquired the land in 1973. At that time, the community center was established.

On hand for Saturday’s unveiling were Bill and Mary Roots, who have lived on nearby Sideburn Road for more than 25 years. Mary Root's father, James Goins, was instrumental in having the community center built. Also in attendance were Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chair Sharon Bulova (D-At-large); Supervisor John Cook (R-Braddock); Fairfax County History Commissioners Mary Lipsey, Deborah Robison and Jack L. Hiller; Sideburn Civic Association President Terri Williams Henderson and Vera Slaughter, the Pinn Center’s first manager.