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BHistory
History · Annandale

Annandale’s post office opened in 1837, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

More historic than 60% of U.S. towns · #70 of 253 in Virginia. What drives it

Most of Annandale was built recently: 0.7% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1968. 1 place in town is on the National Register, among them a historic district with 291 buildings. Below: 4 old photos and papers, maps from 1900 on, and the census since 1970.

1837first post office
1on the National Register
0.7%homes built before 1940
4old photos & papers
8famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Annandale’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Annandale began

When was Annandale founded?

1837

The Annandale post office opened in 1837, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Friendship (1854) and Millbrook (1874), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 27,405 in 19702020 census: 43,363189 years

How historic is Annandale?

B

More historic than 60% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Annandale post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Annandale’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Annandale is more historic than 60% of U.S. towns, #70 of 253 in Virginia. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Annandale’s overall grade.
Founding era1837, from the first post office: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 19400.7% of homes (±0.3) · typical VA town 1.9% · U.S. 8.4%DNational Register1 listing, 291 historic buildings, 69.8 per 10,000 residents · typical VA town 3.6 · U.S. 2.4A−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 60%
NewerOlder
Virginia towns of 2,500+ (253)Ahead of 73%

Virginia towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Virginia town has 3.6 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Annandale’s 69.8 sits above most of its state (68% of Virginia towns have fewer) while its 291 historic buildings outnumber those of 95% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to A. The pre-1940 share (±0.3 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.

Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →

What stands out about Annandale’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A historic districtThe Holmes Run Acres Historic District takes in 291 historic buildings.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Annandale, and 21 old place names are still on the map.A history waiting to be writtenOnly 4 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19007 editions of the USGS map, 1900 to 1994. Watch Annandale change.
★ What stands out · On the National Register

1 listing protects 291 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
291
each building in a district counts
first listed
2007
Holmes Run Acres Historic District
Holmes Run Acres Historic District, built 1951
Districts

Architectural styles listings

Modern Movement1
Holmes Run Acres Historic DistrictModern Movement · Built 1951

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Annandale’s post office has been open since 1837. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Annandale
1837–today
Friendship
1854–1866
Millbrook
1874–1875
18301930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Accotink HeightsAlpineAnnandale AcresAnnandale TerraceBristowBrook HillBroyhill CrestCedar CrestColumbia PinesCrestwood ManorHillbrookHolmes Run AcresHolmes Run HeightsKenwoodMasonvillePleasant RidgeRavensworth GroveRavensworth ParkSleepy Hollow WoodsWilburdaleWillow Run
Gone or out of use
Annandale SchoolschoolOssian Hallbuilding
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Annandale
Annandale United Methodist ChurchStuart - Custis Family

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Help out

Start Annandale’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Annandale’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo2 archive items have no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewHalt at Annandale: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Annandale came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Annandale.

Read it all →

When Europeans arrived in the 17th century, the area around Annandale, which became Fairfax County, was inhabited by an Algonquian-speaking sub-group called the Taux, also known as the Doeg or Dogue.

In 1685, an Englishman, Col. William H. Fitzhugh, purchased over 24,000 acres (37.5 square miles) of wilderness in the area and converted it into one of the largest tobacco plantations in Northern Virginia. It stretched from current day Fairfax City to Springfield and Falls Church and south to Pohick Church. Fitzhugh's descendants later named it "Ravensworth." For over six generations, the Fitzhugh family farmed at Ravensworth and slowly sold off portions of the land.

ChaptersAmerican Civil War20th century

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Annandale, 1837 to 1990

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1837Post officeThe Annandale post office opens
  3. 1854Post officeThe Friendship post office opens
  4. 1863In the archiveHalt at Annandale
  5. 1866Post officeThe Friendship post office closes
  6. 1874Post officeThe Millbrook post office opens
  7. 1875Post officeThe Millbrook post office closes
  8. 20th century
  9. 1900On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  10. 1951BuiltHolmes Run Acres Historic District is built
  11. 1955Born hereGlen Scantlebury is born here
  12. 1958Born hereCarl Strong is born here
  13. 1959Born hereFawn Hall is born here
  14. 1990Born hereBill Hamid is born here
By decade

Annandale, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1860s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1860s2 items
Halt at Annandale1863Halt at AnnandaleQuaker gun1863Quaker gun
Date unknown2 to date
Ossian Hall, 5001 Regina DriveDate?Ossian Hall, 5001 Regina DriveGreen Spring Farm, 4601 Green Spring RoadDate?Green Spring Farm, 4601 Green Spring Road
On the map

Annandale on the map, 1900 to 1994

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Annandale. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Annandale on the 1900 USGS mapAnnandale on the 1945 USGS mapAnnandale on the 1951 USGS mapAnnandale on the 1965 USGS mapAnnandale on the 1971 USGS mapAnnandale on the 1984 USGS mapAnnandale on the 1994 USGS map1900Washington sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Annandale.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Halt at Annandale
Retake this viewHalt at Annandale, 1863

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Annandale’s page.

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Annandale, census by census

05,00010,00015,00020,00025,00030,00035,00040,00045,00050,00055,00060,000198020002020Peak: 54,994

Between 27,405 and 54,994 people in every census since 1970.

6 censuses, 1970–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Annandale’s Wikipedia page.

Famous people

8 famous people were born in Annandale

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Bill HamidAmerican soccer player · b. 1990
G
Glen ScantleburyAmerican film editor, director, and screenwriter · b. 1955
C
Carl StrongAmerican soccer player · b. 1958
Fawn HallAmerican civil servant · b. 1959
Douglas G. McMahonAmerican biologist
O
Omer L. HirstAmerican politician · b. 1913
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

West Falls ChurchIts storyDLincolnia1 historic placeC−Wakefield1 historic placeC−Lake BarcroftIts storyDWoodburnIts storyDNorth SpringfieldIts storyC−SpringfieldIts storyC

Questions about Annandale’s history

What year was Annandale founded?

The Annandale post office opened in 1837, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Annandale rank for history?

Annandale is more historic than 60% of U.S. towns, #70 of 253 in Virginia. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.

What is on the National Register in Annandale?

One place: the Holmes Run Acres Historic District (listed 2007).

How old are the homes in Annandale?

0.7% of Annandale’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 1.9% for a Virginia town; the median home was built in 1968.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

From the Library of Congress (4), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.