Map: Atlas of Fifteen Miles Around Washington

Published in 1878-1879 by G. M. Hopkins, this atlas mapped communities within a 15-mile radius of Washington, D.C. Separate editions were issued for Northern Virginia and for Prince Georges and Montgomery counties in Maryland. Each edition contained the same complete core set of maps along with additional features tailored to the covered area and its residents. The well designed and detailed maps are a trove of historical information, including the locations of homes and businesses along with the names of owners and residents. The 10 maps for Northern Virginia start at page 64 in this edition - "Atlas of Fifteen Miles Around Washington Including the County of Prince George Maryland" - hosted by Johns Hopkins University's JScholarship site. Three of the atlas maps cover parts of Braddock District: Lee District (p. 72) Falls Church District (p. 74-75) Providence District (p. 78-79)

Johns Hopkins University JScholarship, Maps and Atlases (https://jscholarship.library.jhu.edu/)

Johns Hopkins University JScholarship - see license and use restrictions at https://jscholarship.library.jhu.edu/bitstream/handle/1774.2/33000/license.txt?sequence=62

Jerusalem Baptist Church

The Jerusalem Baptist congregation of Fairfax Station formed on May 17, 1840. Charter members worshiped every third Sunday at the Upper Church (Payne's Church), an original colonial Anglican church, which was located south of the courthouse on Ox Road. During the Civil War, Confederates used the church building as a hospital. Later Union troops dismantled the church and used the bricks to build chimneys for their winter quarters. This white frame church opened on Ox Road in January 1867, and its membership of blacks and whites remained steady through the years. Baptisms were held in local streams or ponds.

Courtesy Lee Hubbard

Bridge Over Railroad Tracks at Ox Road

This steel truss automobile bridge carried Ox Road over the railroad tracks near Fairfax Station. On June 4, 1944, the bridge collapsed while an Army truck from Ft. Belvoir was crossing the span, killing Pvt. Robert V. Hamilton of Stanley, Kentucky. Thirteen other soldiers were injured in the accident. The first picture shows the collapsed bridge and truck on the railroad tracks. The pre-collapse picture was taken circa 1930.

Photographs from Fairfax County Public Library, Virginia Room, Photographic Archive

Bunny Man: Artist's Rendition

Bunny Man is a local character - part real and part myth - who appeared in the 1970s in the Burke area. According to newspaper accounts, a man in a rabbit suit threatened a young couple in a parked car on Guinea Road, telling them they were on private property and then hurled a hatchet through the right front window. Police recovered the hatchet. In another incident, a construction security guard reported seeing him chopping at the roof support of a house under construction. When the security guard went to get his gun, the Bunny Man skipped off into the darkness, carrying his axe. In a third incident, the Bunny Man accused Kings Park West residents of dumping trash. In the 1980s, his legend had grown more sinister, alleging several gruesome murders to his credit. A railroad overpass near Fairfax Station, which myth considers his main haunt, has earned the name Bunny Man Bridge. He has never been caught, and his legend lives on.

Pen and Ink sketch by Chris Lipsey

Copyrighted material. Not for reproduction without permission of owner.

Jerusalem Baptist Church

The Jerusalem Baptist congregation of Fairfax Station formed on May 17, 1840. Charter members worshiped every third Sunday at the Upper Church (Payne's Church), an original colonial Anglican church, which was located south of the courthouse on Ox Road. During the Civil War, Confederates used the church building as a hospital. Later Union troops dismantled the church and used the bricks to build chimneys for their winter quarters. This white frame church opened on Ox Road in January 1867, and its membership of blacks and whites remained steady through the years. Baptisms were held in local streams or ponds. Currently, in 2007, the Evangelical Union Korean Church of Washington meets in the original white frame structure.

Photo by Gilbert Donahue

Copyrighted material, not to be reproduced without permission of owner, Gilbert Donahue

Fairfax Station in Civil War

Photographer Matthew Brady captured the devastation of the Civil War in Fairfax Station, Virginia. Clara Barton, founder of the American Red Cross, nursed the wounded there after the Second Battle of Manassas and the Battle of Chantilly, 1862.

Photograph from Fairfax County Public Library, Virginia Room, Photographic Archive

Brimstone Hill

Brimstone Hill dates to circa 1820. In 1839, Charles Arundel purchased the twelve-acre property and acquired a license to operate a tavern. In 1848, the tavern became a polling place for elections. In 1850, Arundel enlarged the building to include an inn and a store, which thrived until the latter part of the nineteenth century. During the Civil War, Confederate raider, John Arundel, was killed on his family property and buried there. The building stands at Burke Lake Road and Route 123 in Fairfax Station, Virginia.

Photo by Gil Donahue

Copyrighted material, not to be reproduced without permission of owner, Gilbert Donahue