Fairfax, Virginia: History
Both the City and County of Fairfax take their names from Thomas Fairfax, 6th Lord Fairfax of Cameron, a Scottish nobleman and colonial landowner. In the 18th century, Lord Fairfax held the Northern Neck Proprietary, a vast land grant of more than five million acres between the Potomac and Rappahannock Rivers.
The area now known as the City of Fairfax began as the Town of Providence, a rural crossroads and the administrative seat of Fairfax County in the early 19th century. The town grew around the courthouse and developed as a local center for governance and commerce. In 1874, the town changed its name to Fairfax.
Once inhabited by the Manahoac and Piscataway peoples, the area that the city now encompasses was settled in the early 18th century by farmers from Virginia's Tidewater Region. The town of "Providence" was established on the site by an act of the state legislature in 1805.
On June 1, 1861, the first land battle of the Civil War, the Battle of Fairfax Court House, was fought in Fairfax after a Union army scouting party clashed with the local militia; the outcome was indecisive with neither side gaining advantage. A second battle took place in Fairfax two years later, on June 27, 1863, in which Union troops were defeated, which delayed the movements of Confederate cavalry chief Jeb Stuart with disastrous consequences for Robert E. Lee at the subsequent Battle of Gettysburg, the Civil War's bloodiest battle, which began several days later.
In 1859, Fairfax was renamed the "Town of Fairfax". It was incorporated as a town in 1874. It was incorporated as a city in 1961 by court order. Under Virginia law the city was separated from Fairfax County yet remains the county seat.
In 1904, a trolley line connected Fairfax with Washington, D.C.