Fairfax County Background

                                              Many thanks to Charles Barnes



An Historical Sketch Of Fairfax County (Click to Read)
 

Great Belvoir Mansion
St Mary's Church
Mt. Vernon
Gunston Hall
More Historic Places of Interest

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COUNTY BACKGROUND
Before 1653 the Fairfax County area was in Northumberland County. Then it became part of Westmoreland County until 1664, when Stafford County was created. It remained part of Stafford County until 1731 when Prince William County was formed. Fairfax County was established in 1742 from the northern portion of Prince William County. It included all the area south and east of the Potomac River, north of the Occoquan River and Bull Run, and east of the Blue Ridge Mountains. It encompassed all of Truro Parish, formed in 1732 from Hamilton Parish, which constituted Prince William County after the formation of Fairfax County. The first Court House for Fairfax County was centrally located at Springfield, a tract of land owned by William Fairfax near what is now Tyson's Corner.

Cameron Parish was formed from Truro Parish in 1748. It included all of Truro Parish west of Difficult Run (#1) and Popes Head Creek (#2) (Line A - B). In 1752 the Court House was moved to the town of Alexandria. Loudoun County was formed from Fairfax County in 1757 and included all of Cameron Parish but the southeastern tip. The portion of Cameron Parish remaining in Fairfax County was west of Popes Head Creek (#2) and east of a line from the head of Difficult Run (#1) to the mouth of Little Rocky Run (#3). Fairfax County thus was reduced to the area east of Difficult Run (#1) and a line drawn from its head to the mouth of Little Rocky Run (#3) at Bull Run (Line A - C).
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Fairfax Parish was formed in 1764. The boundary was settled a year later as that portion of Truro Parish north of a line generally running from the mouth of Little Hunting Creek (#4) to the forks of Difficult Run (#1)(Line D - E).
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In 1789 the Virginia Assembly passed an act of cession making Virginia land available for the new national capital. Faced with the possibility of the loss of Alexandria, various proposals were made to relocate the Fairfax County Court House. The issue was finally resolved in 1797 when the Fairfax-Loudoun boundary was redrawn by the Assembly and the Fairfax Court directed to relocate centrally. All of Loudoun County east of a line drawn from the mouth of Sugarland Run (#5) at the Potomac River to Carter's Mill on Bull Run (#6)(Line F - G) was returned to Fairfax County in 1798. The court house was sited at the intersection of Ox Road and Little River Turnpike and it opened in 1800. The town of Providence was incorporated at this site in 1805, but it was generally known as Fairfax Court House. In 1875 the town of Providence was renamed Fairfax. The Federal Government assumed jurisdiction over that portion of Fairfax County that was to be included in the new District of Columbia in 1801. This included all of present-day Arlington County and much of what is now the City of Alexandria (Line H - I - J).

Back to Fairfax County, USGenWeb
 

Records of Fairfax County, Virginia

Fairfax County Research Facilities

                              Virginia Room of the Fairfax City Regional Library
Fairfax County Public Library System

Location: 3915 Chain Bridge Road, Fairfax, Va. 22030
Telephone: (703) 246-2123
Hours: Open 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday; 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday;
10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday; noon to 6 p.m. on Sunday; closed on holidays.

Resources: The Virginia Room is the central repository for information on burial sites in
Fairfax County. The Cemetery Survey has its genesis with Jane Kirkpatrick-Wall's 1977 gift of
transcriptions of 100 Fairfax County cemeteries. Staff and volunteers continue to add
to this valuable resource, which now records information on over 350 individual
cemeteries. Portions of Cemeteries of Fairfax County, Virginia are available online.
There is a  list of the known burial sites in Fairfax County with links for further information.
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There are approximately 15,000 items for use only at the library and a circulating collection of approximately 4,500 items available on interlibrary loan. The collection includes a wide variety of genealogical and historical materials on the local, state and national level. There are several microfilm readers and microfilm of many local newspapers, some being indexed. An index of Fairfax County cemeteries is also available. The index cards to Fairfax County records maintained in the County Archives is availabe on microfiche. The microfilm collection also includes the Federal Census for Virginia, Fairfax County records of all types, state records pertaining to the Northern Neck, and many miscellaneous collections. Unless you are doing original record research, this is the place to go for Fairfax County research.

Lloyd House

Alexandria Public Library System

Location: 220 North Washington Street, Alexandria, Va. 22314
Telephone: (703) 838-4577
Hours: Open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday; closed on holidays.
Resources: There are approximately 14,000 non-ciculating items, 9,000 photographs and much original source material. The collection includes a wide variety of genealogical and historical materials on the local and state level, to include bible records, cemetery records, church records and city directories for the Alexandria area. Materials on adjoining states and the District of Columbia are limited. Microfilm readers are available. The microfilm collection includes the Federal Census for Virginia, military records for Virginia, land and court records for Alexandria, tax records for Alexandria and vital records. Perhaps the most unique resource available here is a microfilm collection of the Alexandria Gazette dating from the late 1700's. This is a great source for Fairfax County residents, particularly those south of Alexandria along the Potomac River.

Fairfax County Archives
Location: Fairfax County Circuit Court, 4110 Chain Bridge Road, Fairfax, Virginia 22030 (on the bottom floor)
Telephone: (703) 246-4168
Hours: Open 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday except holidays.
Resources: All of the existing records of Fairfax County are located here, except for those from the last 50 to 75 years, which may be accessed in the appropriate office of the Fairfax County Government. Many of the records have been indexed on 3 X 5 cards, to include vital records, court records, deeds and chancery records. There are no restrictions on personal research. See the section on Fairfax County Records for more information on the records available.
The Fairfax County Public Library published full transcriptions of all of the family burial
grounds in 1994 under the title Cemeteries of Fairfax County, Virginia, by Brian A.
Conley. Copies of the book are available for $18.00 from:

Order the above from:
     Fairfax County Publications Center
     12000 Government Center Parkway, Suite 156
     Fairfax, Virginia 22035
     Telephone: (703) 324-4636
     Make check payable to County of Fairfax
     Virginia residents add 4.5% sales tax
     Shipping included in price given above

  Maps & Publications Sales
          12000 Government Center Parkway, Suite 152
          Fairfax, VA 22035
          (703) 324-2974

Fairfax County Genealogical Society

The Fairfax Genealogical Society was founded in 1974 as a nonprofit organization. It holds regular meetings on the fourth Thursday of September, October, January, February, March, April, and May and on the third Thursday of November at 7:30 PM in the Lecture Hall of the Henry Thoreau Middle School, 2505 Cedar Lane, Vienna, Virginia. Meetings generally include a guest lecturer, a question and answer period and a social hour. If Fairfax County schools are closed for snow or other emergencies, meetings are cancelled. A Spring Seminar is held on a Saturday in March. This features a nationally prominent genealogist as a guest speaker and many vendors. The Fairfax Genealogical Society publishes a newsletter (ISSN 0895-2078) in September, November, January, March and May. It is indexed in the Allen County Public Library Foundation's Periodical Source Index (PERSI). Queries are printed on a on a space available basis and material is solicited for publication. If you would like to become a member, send a check for $15 (individual membership) or $20 (family membership) payable to the Fairfax Genealogical Society to Fairfax Genealogical Society, Inc., Post Office Box 2290, Merrifield, VA 22116-2290. You should also include families you are researching and their area (state/country). New member information is subsequently published in the newsletter and a complete member list including research interests is disseminated each year. To visit the home page of the Fairfax County Genealogical Society, go to links just below.

Fairfax County Bookstores and Such

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