The Hume Springs neighborhood in Alexandria, Virginia is a subdivision of red-brick row houses built in 1942. Hume Springs has roughly 175 homes situated on four streets, East Reed Avenue, Dale Street, Edison Street, and Mark Drive. The neighborhood is bordered on the north and east by Four Mile Run Park, a 48.22 acre park that is the largest suburban park in the DC area.[1] Directly north of Hume Springs is Four Mile Run stream and Arlington, Virginia. Directly east of Hume Springs is the Cora Kelly Recreation Center, and 1⁄2 mile further is Route 1 and Potomac Yard (location of the newest yellow line Metro station). Directly west of Hume Springs is Arlandria (also nicknamed Chirliagua), largely a Latino El Salvadorian community since the 1980s, and home to the Birchmere concert hall, the Alexandria Aces baseball team, Four Mile Run Farmers and Artisans Market, and St. Rita's Church, built in 1949 of stoned Gothic architecture.[2] To the South of Hume Springs is the historic Del Ray neighborhood with numerous restaurants, sidewalk seating, annual festivals and a popular farmer's market.
The homes of Hume Springs, along with other subdivisions in the area, were originally built to house the growing federal workforce during WWII. Many incoming migrants were living in trailer parks along Route 1, and included workers at Alexandria's Torpedo Factory and the United States Department of War employees who would later occupy The Pentagon that was being built at the same time and located less than 3 miles north of Hume Springs.