Fairfax County History

Monday, April 21, 1800
First meeting of the Fairfax County Court in the 3rd Courthouse (Fairfax)

Sunday, February 14, 1802
Potowmack Canal around Great Falls opens

Monday, January 14, 1805
Town of Providence (later Fairfax) Established by Act of the Virginia General Assembly

Saturday, October 11, 1806
First stretch of the Little River Turnpike opened

Wednesday, August 24, 1814
British Troops invade and burn Washington, D. C. President and Mrs. James Madison flee into Fairfax County by separate routes, finally reuniting at Salona, in present day McLean.

Sunday, April 27, 1817
Pohick Church Post Office Established

Wednesday, January 08, 1823
Dranesville Post Office Established

Monday, February 27, 1832
Chantilly Post Office Established

Tuesday, December 19, 1837
Hachalia Bailey buys property that will eventually become Baileys Crossroads

Wednesday, December 27, 1837
Annandale Post Office Established

Tuesday, February 07, 1843
Town of Alexandria becomes a City by Act of the Virginia General Assembly

Thursday, October 01, 1846
William Garges conveys lot on Columbia Pike to the (Annandale) Methodist Church

Monday, October 26, 1846
Langley Post Office Established

Thursday, May 03, 1849
Accotink Post Office Established

Tuesday, April 22, 1851
Peach Grove Post Office Established at what will later be Tysons Corner

Monday, March 08, 1852
Burke’s Station Post Office Established

Wednesday, April 07, 1852
Fairfax Station Post Office Established

Thursday, September 14, 1854
Silas Burke, after whom Burke, Va. is named, dies

Monday, June 08, 1857
Ayr Hill Post Office established

Tuesday, July 13, 1858
Herndon Post Office Established

Sunday, September 19, 1858
St. Mary's Catholic Church, Fairfax Station, Va. Dedicated. First Catholic church in Fairfax County

Tuesday, July 10, 1860
Hunter’s Mill Post Office Established

Thursday, May 23, 1861
Fairfax County votes to secede from the Union

Friday, May 24, 1861
Troops of the United States Army occupy Alexandria, Va.

Monday, May 27, 1861
Pvt. Peyton Anderson, C.S.A. is wounded and captured while on picket duty near present day Fairfax Circle. First Confederate soldier wounded in action

Saturday, June 01, 1861
Skirmish at Fairfax C. H. Capt. John Quincy Marr is first Confederate officer killed in battle

Tuesday, July 02, 1861
First Battle of Manassas (Bull Run)

Tuesday, October 01, 1861
C. S. A. President Jefferson Davis meets with Gens. Johnston, Beauregard, and Smith at Fairfax C. H.

Wednesday, November 20, 1861
Pres. Abraham Lincoln reviews 75,000 Troops at Bailey’s Crossroads. Spectator Julia Ward Howe is inspired to pen “The Battle Hymn of the Republic”

Monday, December 02, 1861
Confederate Cavalry attacks Union troops stationed at Annandale, killing 1 and capturing 14

Tuesday, August 26, 1862
Confederate forces under the command of Gen. Stonewall Jackson capture Manassas, Va., burning large quantities of supplies

Friday, August 29, 1862
Second Battle of Manassas (Bull Run)

Sunday, August 31, 1862
Clara Barton arrives at Fairfax Station to care for wounded from 2nd Battle of Manassas

Monday, September 01, 1862
Battle of Chantilly. Union Generals Philip Kearny and Isaac Stevens are killed

Monday, March 09, 1863
Lt. John S. Mosby, C. S. A., with 29 of his men, enters Fairfax C. H. and captures Union Gen. Edwin Stoughton

Monday, March 16, 1863
Antonia Ford arrested for her alleged involvement in Mosby's capture of Gen. Stoughton

Tuesday, March 17, 1863
Antonia Ford and several others arrested for allegedly spying for Mosby, and taken to the Old Capital Prison, Washington, D. C.

Thursday, July 30, 1863
West Ford dies, former slave of George Washington who owned 214 acre Gum Spring Farm

Tuesday, August 11, 1863
Confederate cavalry under the command of Capt. John S. Mosby capture a Union wagon train at Annandale, Va.

Thursday, March 10, 1864
Joseph C. Willard and Antonia Ford married at the Metropolitan Hotel, Washington, D. C.

Saturday, March 18, 1865
Freedman’s Relief Association formed to assist ex-slaves in the south

Sunday, April 09, 1865
Gen. Robert E. Lee, C.S.A., surrenders his forces at Appomattox, Va.

Monday, April 10, 1865
Cavalry skirmish at Arundell’s Tavern near Burke’s Station. Last major Civil War action in Fairfax County

Monday, December 31, 1866
2 1/3 ac. Parcel on Main Street, Fairfax, Va. is deeded to the Ladies Memorial Association for a cemetery for Confederate dead (Fairfax Cemetery)

Thursday, June 30, 1870
Lincolnia Post Office Established

Monday, July 25, 1870
First Meeting of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors

Sunday, September 18, 1870
Thomas Moore named first Superintendent of Fairfax County Public Schools

Saturday, March 13, 1875
Fairfax Cemetery conveyed to the Fairfax Cemetery Association

Tuesday, March 30, 1875
Town of Falls Church Incorporated

Saturday, December 11, 1875
Lorton Post Office Established

Tuesday, February 12, 1878
Bull Run Post Office Established

Monday, March 11, 1878
Great Falls Post Office Established

Saturday, August 10, 1878
Gunston Post Office Established

Tuesday, January 14, 1879
Act to Incorporate the Town of Herndon

Wednesday, January 24, 1883
Oakton Post Office Established

Wednesday, September 19, 1883
Vale Post Office Established

Friday, July 02, 1886
The Fairfax Herald announces the formation of the Independent Order of Good Templars in Annandale (All genders and ethnicities were accepted)

Sunday, March 11, 1888
Blizzard of 1888. 12" of wet snow downs Telegraph and Electrical Lines. High winds and very low temperatures literally blow the Potomac River from its channel

Tuesday, February 26, 1889
Frying Pan Post Office Established (renamed Floris in 1892)

Tuesday, February 25, 1890
Town of Vienna Incorporated

Thursday, May 22, 1890
Merrifield Post Office Established

Wednesday, October 01, 1890
Confederate Monument dedicated at Fairfax Cemetery

Tuesday, February 16, 1892
Town of Fairfax Incorporated

Monday, November 13, 1893
Gen. Charles H. Tompkins, U. S. Army, awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for action at Fairfax C. H., June 1, 1861. He “twice charged through the enemy’s lines and, taking a carbine from an enlisted man, shot the enemy’s captain (Capt. John Q. Marr)

Wednesday, February 09, 1898
Town of Wiehle Incorporated by Act of the Virginia General Assembly

Friday, May 13, 1898
Camp Russell A. Alger open at Falls Church, Va. Training center for troops during the Spanish American War

Sunday, February 05, 1899
“Snow King” Blizzard of 1899. Between Feb. 5 and Feb. 14 some 35" of snow accompanied by high winds create drifts 10" high

Friday, April 12, 1901
Telephone installed at the home of Dr. Leith, 135 Park St., Vienna, Va.

Monday, March 10, 1902
Town of Clifton Incorporated by Act of the Virginia General Assembly

Wednesday, June 01, 1904
John Q. Marr Monument dedicated on the Fairfax County Courthouse lawn

Thursday, September 15, 1904
Federal soldiers pass through Fairfax on their way to war games held at Manassas (@25,000 U. S. Army and National Guard troops replicated the strategic maneuvers of the 2nd Battle of Manassas as crowds of sightseers look observe)

Wednesday, March 07, 1906
Washington & Old Dominion Railroad begins operation to Difficult Run, near Great Falls

Thursday, June 04, 1908
Susan Reviere Hetzel of Clifton, Va. Dies. One of the organizers of the National Society, Daughters of the American Revolution

Monday, July 11, 1910
U. S. Army Corps of Engineers purchases former Belvoir estate. New post is named Camp A. A. Humphries, later changed to Fort Belvoir

Wednesday, May 31, 1911
McLean Post Office Established

Monday, October 18, 1915
Will of Martha Washington returned to Clerk of Fairfax County Circuit Court after a 52 year sojourn

Thursday, March 22, 1917
Fire destroys much of the Town of Herndon's Business District

Tuesday, September 28, 1920
Annandale Grange organized (Unit #737 of the Patrons of Husbandry)

Saturday, October 09, 1920
Great Falls Grange organized (Unit #738 of the Patrons of Husbandry)

Thursday, September 01, 1921
Annandale Grange (Unit #737 of the Patrons of Husbandry) receives its charter

Saturday, January 28, 1922
“Knickerbocker Snow” of 1922. @26" of wet snow blankets the region. The heavy accumulation collapses the roof of the Knickerbocker Theater in Washington, killing 98 and injuring 133.

Wednesday, September 06, 1922
First meeting of the Fairfax County School Board

Friday, April 17, 1925
Invitation to join newly formed Fairfax County Chamber of Commerce published in the Fairfax Herald

Saturday, June 26, 1926
War Memorial Monument (WW I) dedicated on the Fairfax Courthouse lawn by the Fairfax County Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution

Friday, May 27, 1927
Monument erected near Fairfax Circle to commemorate the capture of Pvt. Peyton Anderson, first Confederate soldier wounded in the Civil War

Wednesday, February 20, 1929
Gallows Road near Merrifield graveled

Thursday, September 12, 1929
Fairfax Hunt requests registration from Masters of Foxhounds Association of America

Tuesday, June 03, 1930
Legato School closes

Friday, May 01, 1931
Fairfax Rotary Club Chartered

Tuesday, June 01, 1937
Monument to John S. Mosby’s March 8, 1863 raid dedicated at Truro Episcopal Church by Fairfax Chapter, United Daughters of the Confederacy

Wednesday, February 01, 1939
BOS votes $250 to fund the countywide library system

Saturday, March 16, 1940
First Fairfax County Public Library Bookmobile begins operation

Monday, July 01, 1940
Fairfax County Police Department formed

Saturday, February 08, 1941
R. Walton Moore dies, U. S. Congressman (1919-1931) and Asst. Secretary of State (1933-1941)

Tuesday, May 05, 1942
Great Falls Volunteer Fire Department Organized

Saturday, July 06, 1946
League of Women Voters of the Fairfax Area formed

Friday, May 09, 1947
Burke Communities Civic Association formed

Thursday, June 22, 1950
Dickey’s Tavern burns, last original building from Town of Matildaville

Wednesday, December 06, 1950
Fairfax County Park Authority created

Wednesday, June 13, 1951
U. S. Department of Justice posts a notice at the Burke Post Office announcing its intention to condemn 4520 ac. to build an international airport for Washington, D. C.

Tuesday, January 01, 1952
First meeting of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors (BOS) under the County Executive form of Government. Mr. G. W. Carper elected Chairman, Mrs. Edna A. Bicksler appointed Clerk of the Board, and Mr. Carlton C. Massey appointed County Executive. Mr. R. M.

Thursday, August 06, 1953
BOS approves the first land purchase for parks in Fairfax County

Friday, April 02, 1954
Fairfax County Chamber of Commerce Incorporated

Wednesday, September 01, 1954
Luther Jackson H. S. opens. In segregated Fairfax County, this was the first and only public high school that African American students could attend. 

Saturday, September 25, 1954
First Annandale Day celebration held. Annandale Veterans Memorial (Cannon) dedicated by American Legion Post 107

Thursday, October 4, 1956
Seven Corners Shopping Center is dedicated and becomes the first major shopping center to open in suburban Washington, D.C.

Wednesday, October 10, 1956
Fairfax County Economic Development Authority created

Monday, July 29, 1957
Gee Gee Food Corporation opens up Virginia’s first McDonald’s store at 7614 Richmond Highway in Alexandria. The firm later created the Ronald McDonald character in 1963.

Monday, September 23, 1957
University College of the University of Virginia (later George Mason College) opens at Baileys Crossroads

Tuesday, December 31, 1957
Town of Vienna annexes 2.04 square miles of Fairfax Co.

Thursday, September 03, 1959
“Ossian Hall” is burned as a training exercise by the Annandale Volunteer Fire Department

Tuesday, December 01, 1959
Sully Plantation leased to Fairfax County Park Authority

Saturday, December 12, 1959
University College renamed George Mason College

Wednesday, September 28, 1960
19 African American students integrate 8 whites-only Fairfax County public schools. 

Saturday, October 15, 1960
Plaque honoring Fairfax County men killed in WW II and Korea added to the War Memorial Monument, Fairfax County Courthouse

Monday, February 06, 1961
Fairfax Hospital opens ½ hour early, due to early arrival of baby

Saturday, June 24, 1961
W. T. Woodson retires after 32 years as Superintendent of Fairfax County Public Schools

Friday, June 30, 1961
Town of Fairfax becomes a City of the 2nd Class by order of the Fairfax County Circuit Court

Saturday, April 21, 1962
City of Fairfax takes control of Fairfax City Cemetery

Monday, November 19, 1962
Dulles International Airport opens

Monday, July 15, 1963
Clay C. Harrell appointed Vienna Town Manager

Monday, August 17, 1964
Last section of Capital Beltway (Rte. 495) formally opened

Wednesday, December 09, 1964
First family (Samuel & Katie Furcrum of Waterview) moves into Reston

Wednesday, September 08, 1965
First day of class for completely desegregated Fairfax County Public Schools

Monday, September 20, 1965
Regular classes begin at Northern Virginia Technical College (later Northern Virginia Community College)

Saturday, January 29, 1966
Blizzard of 1966. 12" - 24" of snow followed by winds up to 50 mph create drifts 10' high

Monday, April 11, 1966
Sgt. James W. Robinson, Jr., U. S. Army is killed in Viet Nam. Awarded Congressional Medal of Honor for gallantry

Saturday, May 21, 1966
Official Dedication of Reston held at Lake Anne Plaza.

Friday, April 14, 1967
Northern Virginia Community College graduates its first class

Monday, August 07, 1967
Ground broken for Massey Building

Thursday, July 25, 1968
Tysons Corner Mall opens

Wednesday, September 04, 1968
BOS adopts Fair Housing Ordinance

Monday, September 09, 1968
Fairfax County opens new Kindergarten program, 8000 children enrolled

Wednesday, December 10, 1969
Flag raised for the first time at the Massey Building

Monday, March 15, 1971
George J. Kelley, Jr. assumes post of County Executive upon the retirement of Carlton C. Massey

Thursday, July 01, 1971
Wolf Trap Farm Park for the Performing Arts opens

Wednesday, March 01, 1972
George Mason University created by Virginia General Assembly

Friday, March 02, 1973
Skyline Towers collapse, Baileys Crossroads, Va.

Sunday, April 01, 1973
Tornado touches down three times in central Fairfax County damaging homes in Middleridge Subdivision and the Zion Drive area and tearing the roof from Pickett Shopping Center. Extensive property damage, but only two serious injuries

Wednesday, April 11, 1973
Fairfax Station, Fairfax County’s last operating railroad station, closes

Tuesday, May 29, 1973
Robert W. Wilson appointed County Executive (acting in post since October 30, 1972)

Friday, August 16, 1974
Women’s Center of Northern Virginia formed

Monday, September 08, 1975
Fairfax County Comprehensive Plan adopted

Friday, January 16, 1976
J. Hamilton Lambert made acting County Executive upon the resignation of Robert W. Wilson

Monday, May 24, 1976
Concorde (SST) makes its first flight into Dulles International Airport

Monday, June 21, 1976
Leonard L. Whorton appointed County Executive

Saturday, June 26, 1976
Freeman House museum opens

Thursday, February 03, 1977
Dr. Edwin B. Henderson dies, Founder Fairfax County Chapter, NAACP

Saturday, May 07, 1977
Dedication of Wakefield Recreation Center, Annandale, Va. First public indoor recreation center in Fairfax County

Friday, July 14, 1978
Skyline Shopping Center open, Bailey’s Crossroads

Wednesday, November 01, 1978
J. Hamilton Lambert made acting County Executive upon the resignation of Leonard L. Whorton

Sunday, May 20, 1979
Reston Community Center opens at Hunters Woods Center

Saturday, June 23, 1979
Omer Hirst is named Fairfax County Chamber of Commerce’s first Citizen of the Year

Monday, September 03, 1979
Remnants of Hurricane David drops heavy rains and spawns a tornado that damages Woodson H. S. and several adjacent structures

Thursday, July 31, 1980
Fair Oaks Mall opens

Monday, August 04, 1980
J. Hamilton Lambert appointed County Executive

Tuesday, September 02, 1980
Terre Centre Elementary School opens

Thursday, January 13, 1982
Air Florida Flight 90 (Boeing 737) crashes into the Potomac River just after takeoff from National Airport

Sunday, September 19, 1982
Burke Historical Society sponsors the first Burke Historical Days

Wednesday, December 22, 1982
Interstate Route 66 opens between Rte. 495 and Washington, D. C.

Saturday, January 29, 1983
Ground Broken for Dulles Toll Road

Friday, February 11, 1983
Blizzard of 1983 drops 22" of snow on Fairfax

Wednesday, November 02, 1983
Frying Pan Baptist Meeting House (c. 1791) accepted by Fairfax County Park Authority

Thursday, October 16, 1986
Announcement that Dr. James M. Buchanan, Jr. (1919-2013 ), George Mason University, awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics "for his development of the contractual and constitutional bases for the theory of economic and political decision-making."

Thursday, March 12, 1987
Reston Town Center plan approved by BOS

Thursday, June 23, 1988
Reston Town Center groundbreaking

Monday, December 31, 1990
Richard A. King appointed acting County Executive upon the resignation of J. Hamilton Lambert

Monday, May 27, 1991
Plaque honoring Fairfax County men killed in Vietnam added to the War Memorial Monument, Fairfax County Courthouse

Tuesday, May 19, 1992
"Mount Air", Lorton, Va. destroyed by fire

Saturday, July 04, 1992
Official opening of the Fairfax Museum and Vistors Center

Tuesday, September 01, 1992
William J. Leidinger appointed County Executive

Sunday, January 15, 1995
"Turley Hall", Chantilly, Va. destroyed by fire

Sunday, May 12, 1996
BOS is one of the last agencies to move into the new Fairfax County Government Center

Saturday, June 08, 1996
BOS holds its first meeting in the Fairfax County Government Center

Friday, June 21, 1996
Olympic Flame carried through Fairfax County on its way to the Summer Olympic Games in Atlanta, Ga.

Monday, July 01, 1996
Alan G. Merton takes office as the fifth president of George Mason University

Monday, October 28, 1996
William J. Leidiger fired as County Executive. Anthony H. Griffin made acting County Executive

Monday, June 09, 1997
Robert J. O’Neill, Jr. appointed County Executive

Monday, November 22, 1999
Anthony H. Griffin selected as County Executive, to become effective Jan. 15, 2000

Saturday, January 15, 2000
Anthony H. Griffin took office and served at the pleasure of the Board of Supervisors

Monday, November 27, 2000
Reston's Dogwood Elementary School destroyed by fire

Friday, April 13, 2001
New Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Station 39 (North Point) opened

Thursday, November 1, 2001
Final segment of the Fairfax County parkway completed

Friday, September 19, 2002
New MICROSOFT Innovation and Technology Center opened

Monday, May 27, 2002
Veterans' Memorial dedicated on Herndon Town Green

Tuesday, September 2, 2003
New Lorton Station Elementary School opened

Monday, December 15, 2003
The Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, the Smithsonian's second air and space Museum, opened

Thursday, July 1, 2004
Dr. Jack D. Dale became the new Superintendent of Fairfax County Schools, with a 5 year contract

Friday, September 17, 2004
Mrs. Martha Pennino (nicknamed "Mother Fairfax"), who served on the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors from 1968 to 1991, died

Saturday, January 15, 2005
Fairfax City celebrated its 200th birthday (i.e., January 14, 1805)

Friday, May 20, 2005
Dedication of the historical marker commemorating the 1954 founding of the Luther P. Jackson High School (now the Luther P. Jackson Middle School)

Tuesday, February 21, 2006
The WMAA received $200,000,000 Federal funding for building a 4th runway at Dulles Airport

Friday, April 7, 2006
Fairfax City hosts a parade for the George Mason University men's basketball team for making the NCAA's "final four" - a GMU first

Saturday, September 29, 2007
New Oakton Library opened

Saturday, April 26, 2008
Ira Gabrielson State Historic Marker dedicated at Oakton Library

Saturday, June 21, 2008
Construction work started on the Virginia "Hot Lanes" project, on the section of Interstate 495, between Springfield and Tysons Corner

Tuesday, July 1, 2008
New Burke Center Library opened

Saturday, January 26, 2008
New City of Fairfax Regional Library opened

Thursday, September 10, 2009
Dr. Jack D. Dale's contract, as the Superintendent of Fairfax County Schools, was renewed for 4 years

Friday, February 5, 2010
"Historic" blizzard of 2010 dropped 32" of snow on Fairfax County

Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Rare 5.8 magnitude earthquake originating in Louisa County, Virginia, strikes the East Coast, effecting Fairfax County

Thursday, November 10, 2011
Anthony H. Griffin announces his retirement as County Executive effective April 24, 2012

Tuesday, April 10, 2012
The Board of Supervisors appoints Edward L. Long Jr. as County Executive effective April 25, 2012

Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Anthony H. Griffin retires as County Executive, having served in that role for over twelve years

Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Edward L. Long Jr. appointed as County Executive by the Board of Supervisors

Friday, June 29, 2012
Severe Derecho weather event hit Fairfax County with winds in excess of 70-100 mph

Friday, January 22, 2016
Winter Storm Jonas drops 30” of snow on Fairfax County

Tuesday, May 2, 2017
Edward L. Long Jr. announces his retirement as County Executive effective September 15, 2017

Tuesday, July 25, 2017
Kirk W. Kincannon appointed as Acting County Executive by the Board of Supervisors effective September 16, 2017

Tuesday, November 21, 2017
Bryan Hill appointed County Executive by the Board of Supervisors effective January 2, 2018