Lord Fairfax

Marker No. Q-4-d
City of Winchester
Frederick County, Virginia

Marker Text: Thomas Fairfax (1693-1781), sixth Baron Fairfax of Cameron, was the proprietor of the Northern Neck Proprietary, a vast landholding that lay between the Rappanannock and Potomac Rivers, and extended to the Blue Ridge. Born in England, he came to Virginia about 1735 and moved to the Shenandoah Valley about 1747. He eventually lived in Greenway Court in present day Clarke County, while managing his landholdings. In 1749, he was named a justice of the peace for Frederick County, and also served as one of the justices of the county court of chancery that met in Winchester, and as a county lieutenant for a number of years. He is buried at Christ Episcopal Church in Winchester.

Location: On U.S. Route 522 (North Frederick Pike), near Autumn View Lane, 0.3 miles east of Route 37. Erected by the Department of Historic Resources in 2003.

  Lord Fairfax, whose home was at Greenway Court in the Shenandoah Valley, was the only peer of the realm to take up permanent residence in North America. "The Proprietor," as Fairfax was often known was a generous and beloved patron. He not only provided Thomas Marshall (father of John Marshall) and George Washington with a substantial income, but also offered a model of wisdom and modesty that was exceptionally rare in frontier America. Equally important, by representing his lordship in Fauquier county, Thomas Marshall acquired an immediate social standing that otherwise might have eluded him. As witnessed today throughout Northern Virginia, Lord Fairfax's name is associated with many places, institutions, and structures. I have posted other markers related to him, Greenway Court, Fairfax Line, Old Chapel and White Post.

George Washington in Winchester

Marker No. Q-4-c
City of Winchester
Frederick County, VA

Marker Text:  In Mar. 1748, George Washington first visited Winchester, then known as Fredericktown, as a surveyor for Lord Fairfax. Washington purchased property in Winchester in 1753 and was an unsuccessful candidate for a House of Burgesses seat here in 1755. Winchester served as Washington's headquarters from 1755 to 1758 while he commanded Virginia troops on the western frontier during the French and Indian War. He was also involved with the construction of Fort Loudoun here and a series of other frontier forts authorized by the Virginia General Assembly during this period. He represented Frederick County in the Virginia House of Burgesses from 1758 to 1765.

Location: On U.S. Route 11 (Martinsburg Pike) north of intersection with Route 1322 (Brooke Road) northside of Winchester. Grouped with marker A-4 (Fort Collier). Erected by the Department of Historic Resources in 2005.

Photo taken looking north on U.S. Route 11. Click any photo to enlarge.

  Winchester played an important role in George Washington's early adult life, as a surveyor and the development of his military and political career. At the age of sixteen, Washington came to Winchester to begin what he thought would be his life's profession, surveying. He came to what was then called Frederick Town (Winchester) in March 1748 as a surveyor for Lord Fairfax who lived in nearby Greenway Court at White Post. He spent the next 10 years experiencing many of his firsts in the area.

Fairfax Line

Marker No. A-36
Shenandoah County, VA

Marker Text: Here ran the southwestern boundary of Lord Fairfax's vast land grant, the Northern Neck. It was surveyed by Peter Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson's father, and others in 1746.

Location: On U.S. Route 11 (Old Valley Pike), south of New Market at the Shenandoah/ Rockingham County Line. Grouped with two other markers, A-34 (Sevier's Birthplace) and Z- (Shenandoah/Rockingham County). Erected by the Conservation & Development Commission in 1927.

  When I lived in West Virginia, there was a church member who was a surveyor and I use to have some interesting discussions about his survey work. I don't claim to understand a great deal about the work of surveying. In one of our discussions he spoke about the Fairfax Line and I only understood a little of what he said. I remember his talking about the Fairfax Stone which is located at the headwaters of the Potomac River where Maryland's border dips down into West Virginia where it forms a point.

Photo taken looking north toward the town of New Market, Virginia.  Route 11 is on the right.  Click any photo to enlarge.

  What I came to understand is that in the world of surveying, the “Fairfax Line” is one of the more interesting surveys in history. The survey was conducted in order to establish the limits of the Northern Neck land grant in Virginia, which was inherited by Thomas, sixth Lord Fairfax who eventually lived in Greenway Court in Clarke County, VA.

White Post

Marker No. T-7
Clarke County, VA

Marker Text:  The crossroads village of White Post grew up around the white-painted marker that Lord Fairfax had erected in the 1760s to point the way to Greenway Court (south), the nearby estate from which he managed his vast proprietary holdings including Battletown, now Berryville (north), Berry's Ferry (east), and Stephen's City (west). The post that gave the town its name has been replaced several times, but its form has been maintained as a village landmark and symbol of community identity for more than two centuries. Bishop William Meade was born at White Post and later led the remarkable revival of the Episcopal Church in the decades following the War of 1812.

Location:  On U.S. Route 340 (Lord Fairfax Parkway) at Route 658 (White Post Road) in White Post Village Park, south of U.S. Routes 50 & 17.  Erected by the Department of Historic Resources in 1997.

  Traveling around the U.S., I frequently encounter towns with odds names. Many towns are named after some notable individual who might have founded the community or the name may have derived from some natural formation or interesting feature of the terrain. Today's marker is about a town in Virginia named after a white post in the center of the town. Of course, this is no ordinary post according to the plaque on the post it was placed here by George Washington at the direction of Lord Fairfax who made his home near here in Greenway Court.

  White Post is a small crossroads village located in southwestern Clarke County at the intersection of state routes 658 and 628 near where U.S. Route 340 (Lord Fairfax Parkway) by passes the town. Marking the midpoint of these roads, the post is a white-painted, octagonal wood column that rises eleven feet in height and is sixty-four inches in circumference. A small lantern rests on top of the post, below which radiate four directional pointers labeled: Battletown (north); Greenway Court (south); Berry's Ferry (east); and Stephens City (west).

Greenway Court

Marker No. T-3
Clarke County, VA

Marker Text: Three miles south is Greenway Court, residence of Thomas, sixth Lord Fairfax, proprietor of the vast Northern Neck grant, which he inherited. Born in Leeds Castle, England, in 1693, Fairfax settled in Virginia, in 1747, for the rest of his life. He made Greenway Court his home in 1751. George Washington, employed as a surveyor on this grant, was there frequently in his youth. Fairfax died there, December 9, 1781.

Location: At the intersection of U.S. Routes 17/50 (John S. Mosby Highway) and U.S. Route 340 (Lord Fairfax Parkway) on the northwest corner of the intersection, east of Winchester, VA and southwest of Boyce, VA. Erected by the Virginia Conservation Commission in 1948.

Photo taken looking south on U.S. Route 340 (Lord Fairfax Parkway), the intersection with U.S. Routes 17/50 running left to right. Traveling down road in the background will take you to Greenway Court.

  The visitor to northern Virginia will encounter streets, roads, towns and counties and other places named for individuals important to Virginia's history. One such name is Thomas, sixth Lord Fairfax, Baron of Cameron or simply Lord Fairfax. The Fairfax name is seen throughout northern Virginia. Fairfax County was created in 1742 from Prince William County for Lord Fairfax. There is Lord Fairfax Community College as well as others such as roads and streets. I decided to post this marker today, because this is the anniversary of Lord Fairfax's death at Greenway Court 230 years ago on December 9, 1781.