Clara Barton Historic Marker

This historic marker at Ox Road and Fairfax Station Road commemorates the nursing work of Clara Barton. The marker reads, "Clara H. Barton, Founder of the American Red Cross. Here at Fairfax Station in early Sept. 1862, after the Second Battle of Manassas and the action near Chantilly, Clara Barton ministered to the suffering. By her human and tireless efforts this angel of the battlefield helped move over 3000 wounded soldiers to safety. (Erected by the Fairfax County Chapter, American National Red Cross, 1961)"

Photo by Gil Donahue

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

St. Mary of Sorrows Catholic Church

St. Mary of Sorrows Catholic Church in Fairfax Station was built in 1860 and became the first Catholic Church in Fairfax County.

During the construction of the Orange and Alexandria Railroad through Fairfax County, many Irish Catholic immigrants came to the area to work on the construction crew. A priest from a parish in Alexandria offered mass in train boxcars.

During the Civil War, the Union Army used the church and after the Second Battle of Manassas, Clara Barton, founder of the American Red Cross, ministered to the wounded in the churchyard. Church pews were used for firewood.

Later President Ulysses S. Grant ordered new pews to be made for the church and they are still in use today. Today's congregation meets in a new edifice on Sideburn Road, and the original church is used for special occasions.

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