Baptists were one of the first sects in early Virginia to welcome African-Americans into their congregations, and this meeting house is one of the oldest churches in the country with a history of a racially-integrated congregation. Its history begins in 1775, when congregants first formed a community at Bull Run, and later wrote to Robert "Counsellor" Carter to ask for permission to build a church on land he owned near Frying Pan Spring. He consented, and they built the current church, a plain wood-framed structure, in 1791. For decades, neighbors of different races worshiped alongside one another. The Fairfax County Park Authority acquired the building in 1984, and the Virginia Department of Historic Resources added it to its Historic Register in 1990. Several historic markers placed by different groups stand at the site
This 1794 plantation was built by Richard Bland Lee, uncle of Confederate general Robert E. Lee. The home on the site, a three-section frame farmhouse, retains much of its original woodwork. The plantation was home to the Lee family from 1794 until 1811 and hosted many prominent guests, including George Washington. The house passed through many hands until the land was purchased in 1957 by the Federal Aviation Agency for what is now Dulles International Airport; an act of Congress prevented the FAA from demolishing the house. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1970. The current historic site presents information about the Lee family as well as the enslaved persons who worked on the plantation. The grounds include model slave quarters and outbuildings.
Which came first, the burger or the shack? The log façade you see on today’s Burger Shack is not a veneer applied by some corporation to produce an “authentic” old-timey atmosphere for diners, nor is it truly original. McAtee’s tavern was demolished and rebuilt using some of the original materials. Artifacts recovered during the process helped to confirm local lore that the building had been used as a tavern.
The stone house was built circa 1823 and may have initially been used as a roadside tavern (it was not as close to the road as it is at present, but it did have two front doors, a common feature of early 19th century taverns in this area). By the time of the Civil War however, it was likely the home of the overseer employed by the Stuarts. It remained a private residence until 1967 when it was purchased by the International Town and Country Club.
Cabell's Mill was constructed along Big Rocky Run around the 1770s. Initially used for grinding grains, the mill ground sumac for the tanning industry after the Civil War. The 2-1/2 story stone structure once had a 26-foot-tall overshot wheel; the walls of the first two stories are two feet thick! The mill ceased operation in 1916 and the interior underwent major renovations several times in the 20th century. The Fairfax County Park Authority currently offers the mill building for event rentals. The adjacent miller's house, Middlegate, is from the same era as the mill and is not open to the public.
Now serving as the Walney Visitor Center for Ellanor C. Lawrence Park, the stone home known as Walney housed generations of farmers within the same family from the 1780s to the 1920s. The house and grounds were also near the location of several Civil War battles. The surrounding dairy farm was producing tons (literally) of butter per year by 1880. After the 1890s, the house was rented out to tenant farmers once the owner became too old to farm, and his children left to marry or become attorneys. The farm was purchased by a Washington, D.C. couple - the Lawrences - in 1935 as a country retreat; they made many renovations to the interior and added a wing on the north side. They retired to the Cabell's Mill miller's house elsewhere on the property and rented out the Walney House. Walney and the farm were donated by the Lawrences to Fairfax County in 1971. They became part of a 650-acre nature-themed park so that others could experience the peace that the family found in the countryside, far from the busyness of Washington. The building houses an information desk, restrooms, a shop, historical and live animal exhibits, and a classroom.
During the 1730s, this land was part of a 4,142-acre parcel belonging to Major George Turberville. At this time, Turbervllle, Willoughby Newton, Robert Carter, and members of the Lee family owned most of the land in western Fairfax. In colonial Virginia, that wealth was built through the labor indentured servants in the 17th century and enslaved people in the decades and centuries that followed. As many as 45 enslaved people in the 1730 grew tobacco, fruit and other farm products here. That uncompensated labor enriched the Turberville family. Not easily visible from the road, the water pump marks the driveway to Leeton, a Turberville family home built here possibly as early as 1793. It remains a private residence, please stay on the public road.
Inside the Sully Government Center you'll find a small exhibition of images and artifacts from Centreville and Chantilly, including the Willoughby Newton Boundary Stone. The exhibit is in the main hall and the building is always open. This entry focuses on the Boundary Stone as other items are on loan and subject to change.
The Silas Hutchison house is included in the Fairfax County Inventory of Historic Sites which lists its construction date between 1750 and 1775. Other sources identify the house with Jeremiah Hutchison and report that there is a stone inscribed with the initials JH and the date 1794 in the chimney of the house. A large family cemetery is nearby, just north of 4319 General Kearney Court. It includes burials of the Whaley family in addition to those of Silas Hutchison and his wife Huldah.
Believed to have been built by John Hutchison between 1757 and 1785, it is one of the oldest buildings in Sully District and distinctively built from brick. The Hutchison family is one of the oldest families to settle the Centreville area, with land grants dated as early as 1726. The house was restored when the surrounding business park was developed. The name, Lafayette Park, reflects another aspect of the lore of the house, that the Marquis de Lafayette slept here.
This Tour is a Walking Tour.
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Before this was the Sully District, it was Centreville. This is one of four driving tours of Centreville writ large: Chantill-Centreville, Centreville Historic District, Southern Centreville-Clifton, and Civil War Sites.
