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Text Box: The origin of the name Cabin John has never really been solved but there has been no shortage of stories about it. Some tales were about a stranger who had a cabin overhanging the cliff near the present Cabin John Bridge. This man had little to do with his neighbors, so the story goes, and when asked his name replied, “Call me John.” He dressed in raccoon skins, had a pack of dogs, and lived mostly on fish and game. This character supposedly disappeared as mysteriously as he had come. In another version, the stranger was a heartbroken musician who played the violen and sang doleful songs of another land. Those with a romantic imagination identified this hermit as the husband of the “female stranger” whose tombstone in Alexandria, Va. still stands to challenge lovers of mystery. Another story makes the mysterious John a pirate who eluded his own crew and made his way up the Potomac River to bury his treasures. After his strange disappearance he returned frequently on nights when the wind was strong, his rifle over his shoulder, but when sighted he disappeared in a flare of light. This version was believed by some residents who would not cross the bridge after midnight, especially on a

Text Box: CABIN JOHN: THE MANY LEGENDS ABOUT ITS NAME By Bill Feller

Text Box: Saturday. This interpretation was held in good faith, however, by the American Land Co., which included in its many deeds the intriguing provision that “the party of the first part reserves the right to one-half interest in any treasure or articles of special value which may have been hidden on said lot or parcel by John of the Cabin.” Still other tales feature an inn that once stood on a creek near River Road that was known as Johns Cabin and that this explained the named of Cabin John. However, in many old records as far back as 1715 the creek is referred to as Captain Johns Run or Branch. This would lead to the premise that Cabin John is a corrupt spelling of Captain Johns and very likely that is the origin of the name. To further confuse the issue, however, is the fact that Captain John Smith, in 1608, was the first white man to explore the river and make a map of it. He sailed up the river to the limit of tidewater—Little Falls—and told of the “mighty rocks and divers places where the water had fallen from the mountains.” Today our section of the river looks just as wild and untamed as in the days of Captain John Smith. (Bill Feller is a local resident with a great interest in the