History of Barton Place

Barton Place, established as part of Fairfax County's suburban development post-World War II, is closely tied to the growth of Fairfax Station. The area's history is marked by the establishment of the Fairfax Station Railroad in 1851, which was a significant part of the region's development. Clara Barton, a key figure in the area's history, tended to wounded soldiers at Fairfax Station during the Civil War, which further solidified the community's importance. The establishment of the Fairfax Station Railroad and the subsequent development of Barton Place reflect the area's evolution from a rural community to a suburban area with a growing population.

BRIEF HISTORY OF BARTON PLACE STREET NAMES

Dogue Run Drive - A run is a watercourse which served as a main highway for early Indians, traders and settlers. The Dogue Indian tribe lived on Mason Neck and the local village of Namassingakent lived on Dogue Run.

Flora Lee Drive - Flora Lee and her sister Matilda were daughters of Philip Ludwell Lee who married their cousins. Flora married Ludwell Lee and Matilda married Henry Lee. In 1791 they received portions of their father’s holdings in the Difficult Run grant. Flora Lee died in 1795 and was buried in the family cemetery at her home, Shuter’s Hill. It was an elegant home located in Alexandria at the present site of the George Washington Masonic Memorial. The last remnants of the estate were destroyed to construct a Civil War fortification.

Fourstairs Court

Mary Fairfax Court - Not all of the local Fairfax family were descended from the nobility of England. There were several Mary Fairfax’s over the generations, but one stands out in research today because she and her husband are buried in the yard of a home on Richardson Drive in Kings Park West. The 1878 Hopkins map of Lee District shows a Frank Fairfax owning land just east of what is now Guinea Road and north of the railroad track. He was Benjamin Franklin Fairfax, born October 13, 1827, died May 20, 1901, and a principal farmer of the area. Mary Fairfax, his wife, was born January 26, 1823 and died September 6, 1905. They had no children, but did raise a nephew and namesake, Benjamin Franklin Fairfax, who came from a family of 17 children, and his father thought his uncle could better care for him.

Sandy Folly Court - Folly was a popular 18th century term given to a land investment that is purely speculative and may or not be profitable. Hopefully, it was termed this with humor rather than with chagrin. Sandy Run is a large waterway north of the Occoquan and narrows down to nothing just north of Clifton Road and Route 123. I have not been able to find any place thus named.

Rokeby Lane - Rokeby was a home about a mile away from the mansion of Salona on Rt. 123 in McLean. James Madison sought refuge at Salona when the British burned Washington in August, 1814. Dolley Madison had stayed behind at the White House and couldn’t reach Salona before nightfall. She stayed at Rokeby for the night and continued on to Salona the next day. Rokeby burned before the Civil War. Rokeby was the home of Matilda Lee Love, Mrs. Madison’s friend

The Fairfax Family, volume 2, a family geneology by Kenneth Fischer Craft, Jr. in Norcross, GA, March 1994.

Dogue Run - Fairfax County, VA, A History p 3

Rokeby and Flora Lee, Virginia Homes of the Lees, Eleanor Lee Templeman