Browse Resources (209 total)

James Roland was born in northern Virginia. His parents had moved to the area from Tennessee after World War II because of the better job market. James Roland learned carpentry and dry wall from his father, joined him in business, and then turned…

Oak Hill mansion, built in 1790, is the only remaining home of the three manor houses of the Fitzhugh dynasty built on the Ravensworth plantation. Richard Fitzhugh, great grandson of the original Ravensworth owner, built Oak Hill in the late Georgian…

This map of local land ownership in the eighteenth century in the Braddock District area shows the original buyer's name for each land patent or grant. Ravensworth was the single largest land grant in Northern Virginia. William Fitzhugh, son of an…

Dennis Howard traces part of the history of African Americans in Fairfax County from the nineteenth century. He recreates the story of his own family from slavery to the present day. His ancestor, Horace Gibson, and fellow former slave Moses Parker…

Newcomers to the United States have propelled diversity and the commercial and residential growth of the Braddock District. By 1999, the Korean population in Annandale had expanded to include 27 restaurants, 19 churches, 16 beauty salons, 10 weekly…

Students in the library of the Manassas Industrial School during the 1950s. Jennie Dean, born a slave in Prince William County, founded the Manassas Industrial School for Colored Youth in 1894. Originally a private boarding school, it was a…

Jennie Dean, born a slave in Prince William County, founded the Manassas Industrial School for Colored Youth in 1894. Originally a private boarding school, it was a segregated regional high school for African Americans between 1938 and 1966.…

Moses Parker, a former slave who purchased his freedom, opened a blacksmith shop on Little River Turnpike with his partner, former slave, Horace Gibson. Gibson and Parker moved to Fairfax from Culpeper, purchasing five acres of land each near the…

Moses Parker and Horace Gibson, former slaves who purchased their freedom, moved to Fairfax County from Culpeper. They opened a blacksmith shop on the corner of Little River Turnpike and today's Prosperity Avenue and served travellers between…

Page Augustus Parker and Matilda Gibson Parker and their daughters, Maude, Molly, and Alice, circa 1887. The couple took over the blacksmith shop founded by Moses Parker, father of Page Augustus, and his partner, Horace Gibson. The blacksmith shop…