Lake Accotink Dam, circa 1918

In 1912, the War Department established a summer camp and rifle range for engineering corps stationed in Washington, DC. During World War I, the camp became a permanent establishment. Known today as Fort Belvoir, the property was originally named Camp A. A. Humphreys after a Union general and distinguished engineer. The Army Corps of Engineers constructed a dam which created Lake Accotink to serve as a water source for the Camp.

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

Fairfax County Supervisors, circa 1970

Former Annandale District Supervisor Audrey Moore, second from left, with some fellow Fairfax County Supervisors, many of whom are holding pictures of historic buildings. Ms. Moore holds a photograph of Oak Hill, a historic home in the Wakefield Chapel area of Braddock District. Annandale District was renamed Braddock District in 1992.

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

Home Demonstration Club, circa 1940

Women on the homefront in Fairfax during World War II coped with shortages of wartime. Through monthly meetings at Home Demonstration Clubs, they worked together to plant victory gardens and to learn how to use and preserve food and clothing.

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

Burke Volunteer Fire Department, "Old Red" Firetruck

May Caudle, wife of an early Burke Volunteer Fire Deparment chief climbs "Old Red." The used 1930 Ford cost $500; it was the first fire truck owned by the Burke Volunteer Fire Department (VFD), established in 1948.

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

Automobile Bridge over Railroad Tracks at Rolling Road

Long-time residents recall the one-lane bridge over the railroad tracks on Rolling Road as a place avoided by school buses and where cars stopped and drivers took turns crossing.

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

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

Farm, Fairfax County, circa 1910

Fairfax County farmer harvesting a wheat field, circa 1910.

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

Sawmill, Fairfax County, circa 1920

Portable sawmill is shown operating in Fairfax County, circa 1920. Many acres in the county were devoted to forestry and lumbering. Companies milled wood for furniture companies, fence rails and posts, and pilings for road construction.

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

Dairy Farm, Fairfax County, circa 1940

The image of cows grazing in a Fairfax County field was a familiar site in the mid-twentieth century in Braddock District. In 1936, dairy farming was the county's largest industry with 100 dairy farms and 440 families engaged in farming.

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

Marshall Store, circa 1910

Small general stores like the Marshall General Store in Burke, Virginia, dotted the landscape of Fairfax County prior to post-World War II development. By 2006, Braddock District boasted 12 retail shopping centers within its borders and easy access to larger malls in the extended metropolitan area.

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