DuVal High School is located at what used to be the small village of Good Luck.  The original 38-classroom senior high school, was situated at the junction of Telegraph and Glenn Dale Roads.  The small village of Good Luck boasted of a post office for which John Welch was appointed Postmaster on June 18, 1873.

The original 38-classroom school situated at what used to be the small village of Good Luck (now Glenn Dale) became known as the Gabriel DuVal Senior High School in 1959. DuVal High School was named in honor of Judge Gabriel DuVall.

Many students are only familiar with the name DuVal to the degree that it is the name of their school.  Although some of us are somewhat aware of who Gabriel DuVall was, few realize what this amazing Marylander accomplished to be deemed worthy enough for a Prince George's County High School to bear his name. Gabriel DuVall was born in Prince George's County, Maryland on December 6, 1752.  He was a descendant of Mareen DuVall, a French Huguenot who came to Maryland in the 1650's in search of religious freedom.  Realizing that law was his true calling, he completed his preparatory studies, then proceeded to study law, enabling him to practice before the Courts in Maryland.  DuVall was chosen secretary of the Maryland Provincial Convention that framed the state constitution.  In the latter part of 1776, he was integral in the framing of the State of Maryland's first constitution, serving as Secretary of the Maryland Provincial Convention.  He remained in Maryland to serve on the Governor's Council from 1783 to 1784 and again in 1786,  Between 1786 and 1796 he served in the United States House of Representatives, and in the early 1800's President Thomas Jefferson appointed him Comptroller of the Treasury.

However, the resignation of a Congressman from Maryland in 1794, enabled DuVall to serve his state on a national level as a member of the Third Congress of the United States.  Elected to a position in the Fourth Congress in 1794, he served diligently until March 28, 1796.

A brief stint as Judge of the General Court of Maryland was interrupted when DuVall was appointed Comptroller for the United States Treasury by President Thomas Jefferson.  While he served with skill and dedication, He still longed to return to law.  His yearning's were satisfied in 1811 when Jefferson's successor, President James Madison, Jr., appointed him to the most prestigious body of law in the United States, the Supreme Court.  During his twenty-five year tenure as an Associate Justice, he had the privilege of serving with Chief Justice John Marshall during an era when the court was still establishing its degree of importance in the balance of power system.

On November 18, 1811 the climax of DuVall's career came when James Madison appointed him an associate in the Supreme Court.  He served in this capacity under the great Chief Justice John Marshall until, on account of deafness, he resigned in 1836 to return to his Glenn Dale estate, Marietta (located on Bell Station Road).  Here he lived until his death on March 6, 1844.  At memorial services in the Supreme Court, it was said of Justice DuVall, "He had survived the autumn of his life, and lived into the winter, being in the ninety-third year of his age.  He was a noble specimen of that race of the American Descendants of the Huguenots; a zealous, undaunted, and efficient patriot of the Revolution.

Marietta is owned today by the Maryland National Capital Park and Planning Commission.  As for the family name, DuVall, the second "l" was dropped from the surname by the family in the twentieth century.  Nevertheless, however you spell it, Gabriel DuVall was indeed a talented judge and, as he was eulogized, "a noble specimen...a zealous, undaunted, and efficient Patriot of the Revolution."