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C−History
History · Fairfax Station

Fairfax Station’s post office opened in 1852, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

More historic than 21% of U.S. towns · #158 of 253 in Virginia. What drives it

Most of Fairfax Station was built recently: 0.3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1982. Its Register listing is the St. Mary's Church. Below: 2 old photos and papers and maps from 1915 on.

1852first post office
1on the National Register
0.3%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Fairfax Station’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Fairfax Station began

When was Fairfax Station founded?

1852

The Fairfax Station post office opened in 1852, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Sideburn (1896) and Swetnam (1897), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 12,420174 years

How historic is Fairfax Station?

C−

More historic than 21% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

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

What drives Fairfax Station’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Fairfax Station is more historic than 21% of U.S. towns, #158 of 253 in Virginia. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Fairfax Station’s overall grade.
Founding era1852, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19400.3% of homes (±0.4) · typical VA town 1.9% · U.S. 8.4%DNational Register1 listing, 0.8 per 10,000 residents · typical VA town 3.6 · U.S. 2.4C+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 21%
NewerOlder
Virginia towns of 2,500+ (253)Ahead of 38%

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 Fairfax Station’s 0.8 sits near the middle of its state (39% of Virginia towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to C. The pre-1940 share (±0.4 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 Fairfax Station’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 2 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Fairfax Station, and 7 old place names are still on the map.On the map since 19157 editions of the USGS map, 1915 to 1994. Watch Fairfax Station change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Fairfax Station’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewView of Fairfax Station and surrounding…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Places that used to be

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

Fairfax Station had its own post office from 1852 to 1972. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Fairfax Station
1852–1972
Sideburn
1896–1913
Swetnam
1897–1921
18501940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Avon ForestButts CornerColchester AcresElgin CornerFairwood AcresSideburnStation Hills
Gone or out of use
Nike Site W-74CmilitaryNike Site W-74Lmilitary
4cemeteries and burying grounds inside Fairfax Station
Ford FamilyJerusalem Baptist ChurchMartin FamilySaint Mary's Catholic Church

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

On the map

Fairfax Station on the map, 1915 to 1994

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

Fairfax Station on the 1915 USGS mapFairfax Station on the 1944 USGS mapFairfax Station on the 1951 USGS mapFairfax Station on the 1966 USGS mapFairfax Station on the 1971 USGS mapFairfax Station on the 1984 USGS mapFairfax Station on the 1994 USGS map1915Fairfax 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 Fairfax Station.

The story

How Fairfax Station came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Fairfax Station.

Read it all →

Established 175 years ago in 1851, Fairfax Station was originally a station of the Orange and Alexandria Railroad, with proximity to the county seat of Fairfax; it was known as "Lee's Station" during its first year. During the Civil War in August 1862, Clara Barton tended to wounded Union and Confederate troops at the station after the Second Battle of Bull Run (Manassas), with headquarters at nearby St. Mary's Church. An employee of the U.S. Patent Office in Washington at the start of the war, Barton later founded the American Red Cross in 1881. A small skirmish, which was also the last in the county during the war, was fought at Brimstone Hill near Fairfax Station.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Fairfax Station, 1852 to 1996

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1852Post officeThe Fairfax Station post office opens
  3. 1863In the archiveView of Fairfax Station and surroundings from the south, circa 1863
  4. 1896Post officeThe Sideburn post office opens
  5. 1897Post officeThe Swetnam post office opens
  6. 20th century
  7. 1913Post officeThe Sideburn post office closes
  8. 1915On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  9. 1917In the archiveSouthern Railway’s Valuation Report for
  10. 1921Post officeThe Swetnam post office closes
  11. 1971Born hereHolly Hellmuth is born here
  12. 1972Post officeThe Fairfax Station post office closes
  13. 1996Born hereKaleigh Riehl is born here
By decade

Fairfax Station, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1860s to the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1860s1 item
View of Fairfax Station and surroundings from the south, circa 18631863View of Fairfax Station and surroundings from the sou…
1910s1 item
Southern Railway’s Valuation Report for1917Southern Railway’s Valuation Report for
1920s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Today15 recent
2019-10-07 15 10 12 View north along Virginia State Route 123 (Ox Road) at the exit for Virginia State Route 286 NORTH …20192019-10-07 15 10 12 View north along Virginia State R…2019-10-07 15 07 18 View north along Virginia State Route 123 (Ox Road) at the exit for Virginia State Route 286 SOUTH …20192019-10-07 15 07 18 View north along Virginia State R…2019-10-07 14 07 37 View south along Virginia State Route 123 (Ox Road) at the exit for Virginia State Route 286 SOUTH …20192019-10-07 14 07 37 View south along Virginia State R…2019-10-07 14 06 05 View south along Virginia State Route 123 (Ox Road) at the exit for Virginia State Route 286 NORTH …20192019-10-07 14 06 05 View south along Virginia State R…Regatta in Fairfax2018Regatta in Fairfax2018-10-30 11 58 39 View south along Virginia State Route 286 (Fairfax County Parkway) from the overpass for Virginia S…20182018-10-30 11 58 39 View south along Virginia State R…2018-10-30 11 56 42 View north along Virginia State Route 286 (Fairfax County Parkway) from the overpass for Virginia S…20182018-10-30 11 56 42 View north along Virginia State R…2018-10-30 11 52 00 View south along Virginia State Route 286 (Fairfax County Parkway) from the overpass for Virginia S…20182018-10-30 11 52 00 View south along Virginia State R…2018-10-30 11 51 27 View north along Virginia State Route 286 (Fairfax County Parkway) from the overpass for Virginia S…20182018-10-30 11 51 27 View north along Virginia State R…2018-10-26 13 54 13 View south along Virginia State Route 286 (Fairfax County Parkway) at the exit for Virginia State R…20182018-10-26 13 54 13 View south along Virginia State R…Woods in the snow2016Woods in the snowWoodglen Lake - panoramio (1)2016Woodglen Lake - panoramio (1)Sovereign Grace Church2016Sovereign Grace ChurchIn the snow2016In the snow2016-10-26 12 02 24 View south along Virginia State Route 123 (Ox Road) at Virginia State Route 286 (Fairfax County Par…20162016-10-26 12 02 24 View south along Virginia State R…
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.

View of Fairfax Station and surroundings from the south, circa 1863
Retake this viewView of Fairfax Station and surroundings from the south, circa 1863, 1863

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Fairfax Station

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1976
St. Mary's Church
St. Mary's Church
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Gothic Revival1
St. Mary's ChurchGothic Revival

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

Famous people

2 famous people were born in Fairfax Station

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

See all →
Kaleigh RiehlAmerican soccer player · b. 1996
H
Holly HellmuthAmerican soccer player · b. 1971
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Union MillIts storyDBraddock1 historic placeCBurke CentreIts storyD−Burke1 historic placeDKings Park WestIts storyD

Questions about Fairfax Station’s history

What year was Fairfax Station founded?

The Fairfax Station post office opened in 1852, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Fairfax Station rank for history?

Fairfax Station is more historic than 21% of U.S. towns, #158 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 Fairfax Station?

One place: the St. Mary's Church (listed 1976).

How old are the homes in Fairfax Station?

0.3% of Fairfax Station’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 1.9% for a Virginia town; the median home was built in 1982.

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 Wikimedia Commons (17), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.