Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 4% of U.S. towns · #217 of 253 in Virginia. What drives it
Most of Fair Lakes was built recently: 0.4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1998. Below: maps from 1915 on.
More historic than 4% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Fair Lakes is more historic than 4% of U.S. towns, #217 of 253 in Virginia. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
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 Fair Lakes’ 0.0 sits below most of its state (17% of Virginia towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: our sources. 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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Fair Lakes’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Fair Lakes. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Fair Lakes.
From Wikipedia’s history of Fair Lakes.
The area was farm land until planned development of the office parks and neighborhoods began in the 1980s and 1990s.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
20182018-10-26 13 44 14 View south along Virginia State R…
20182018-10-26 13 43 07 View south along Virginia State R…
20182018-10-22 14 01 49 View west along Interstate 66 fro…
20182018-10-19 14 51 47 View east along Interstate 66 at …
20182018-10-11 12 17 05 View west along Interstate 66 at …
20182018-10-11 12 14 52 View west along Interstate 66 at …
2017Strip mall shops, Fair Lakes CDP, Fairfax County, VA
2017Shopping center entrance, Fair Lakes CDP, Fairfax Cou…
2017Entrance to Fair Lakes development, Fair Lakes CDP, F…
2017Condo complex, Fair Lakes CDP, Fairfax County, VA
2017Cars and condos, Fair Lakes CDP, Fairfax County, VA
20162016-10-28 13 51 02 View south along U.S. Route 29 (L…Nobody well known was born in Fair Lakes itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Fair Lakes is more historic than 4% of U.S. towns, #217 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.
0.4% of Fair Lakes’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 1.9% for a Virginia town; the median home was built in 1998.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 Wikimedia Commons (12), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps 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.
