Before it became Meadowlark Botanical Gardens, Caroline Ware’s farm in Wolf Trap served as the staging area for a noteworthy yet little-known battle in the civil rights movement’s long struggle against segregation.
A constitutional history and social sciences professor at Howard University, Ware hosted a picnic on May 14, 1944 for friends and students, four of whom got arrested after refusing to move to the back of the bus they boarded to return to D.C.
Fairfax County school officials will try again this month to win planning commission support for the proposed new Dunn Loring Elementary School.
“Clearly, we need to do a little more work — [to] get all the pieces right,” Providence District Planning Commissioner Jeremy Hancock said last Wednesday (Oct. 30) after more than two hours of presentations, discussion and public comment.
Before breaking ground on an extensive renovation last weekend, Fairfax County officials and community members took a moment to reflect on the history contained within the walls of Mount Vernon’s original high school.
Located on a 22-acre property that was once part of George Washington’s estate, the main school building was constructed in 1939 under a Public Works Administration program intended to update public school facilities and boost the economy, according to its Virginia Historic Landmarks Register listing.
Fairfax County’s commemoration of the nation’s 250th birthday isn’t on the move just yet, but it soon will be.
A “mobile museum” housed in a recreational vehicle is expected to be the county government’s signature educational offering during the 2025-26 celebration of America’s declaration of independence from England, members of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors heard Tuesday (Oct. 8).
The Washington & Old Dominion Trail’s history as a rail line was on full display yesterday (Monday) during the latest 50th anniversary celebration organized by the Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority (NOVA Parks).
After listening to local elected leaders, park officials and advocates reflect on the trail’s importance to the region, ceremony attendees could pore over old photographs of train stations and touch a rusted railroad spike, just steps from where the W&OD tracks once ran through the heart of the Town of Vienna.
A woman who made international headlines for restoring a lighthouse in Ohio is seeking to undertake similar duties at Ash Grove in Tysons.
Later this month, the Fairfax County Park Authority (FCPA) will begin reviewing and soliciting community feedback on Sheila Consaul’s proposal to move into and help maintain the historic house at 8881 Ashgrove House Lane as part of the agency’s Resident Curator Program.
A historical marker now stands in McLean’s Clemyjontri Park as a monument to the site’s past as a center of social and spiritual activity for the local Black community.
Fairfax County officials, historians, students and present-day community leaders unveiled the marker commemorating Gunnell’s Chapel and its founder, Robert Gunnell, at a dedication ceremony last Saturday (Sept. 21).
Fairfax County will review its property deeds to remove clauses that historically barred non-Caucasian individuals from owning or leasing property in specific neighborhoods.
In response to new research revealing the prevalence of racially restrictive covenants in Northern Virginia property deeds, the Board of Supervisors, led by Dan Storck and Rodney Lusk, unanimously approved a board matter yesterday (Tuesday) to allocate resources for eliminating any segregation-era language from county-owned property deeds and assisting private property owners in doing the same.
Herndon is planning a historical marker that will delve into the town’s history of segregation, particularly in connection to the Herndon Fortnightly Library (768 Center Street).
Town staff discussed the proposal with the Herndon Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee (HDEIC) at a meeting on Thursday, Aug. 15.
Residents of the Hybla Valley and Mount Vernon neighborhoods will have a chance to explore new research revealing the history and impact of racially restrictive deed covenants in their communities.
Later this month, Krystyn Moon, a professor of History and American Studies at the University of Mary Washington, will explain how certain racial, national, and religious groups were historically barred from buying homes in subdivisions along the Richmond Highway corridor, due to explicit restrictions written into property deeds.
