The Fairfax County Virginia Civil War Loop

Fairfax County Civil War Loop

Fairfax County's amazing Civil War sites range from the Stone Bridge on the eastern part of Manassas National Battlefield Park to various Civil War Trail markers that detail the stories of our county's heritage.

In just over an hour you can commemorate the 150th Anniversary of the Civil War by touring some of the lesser known but pivotal sites in Fairfax County that changed United States history.

The Loop:

Begin the Fairfax County Civil War Loop with your free cooked to order breakfast at Embassy Suites Dulles Airport.  Then discover the Manassas Battlefield, Bull Run and Centreville.  The Civil War Loop then takes you to the tiny Virginia towns of Fairfax and Vienna, VA to discover little known but still pivotal historical sites and events.

After Vienna, VA you'll come back to your 21st Century two room suite at the Embassy Suites Dulles Airport and enjoy the Complimentary Evening Reception. There, in the comfort of the open atrium,  you'll have a chance to relive all you experienced during your Fairfax County Civil War Loop.

Embassy Suites Dulles Airport in Herndon, VA  -- the perfect location to discover all the Civil War History of Fairfax County, VA and to commemorate the 150th Anniversary of the Civil War.

All guests will enjoy:

• Free cooked to order breakfast daily
• Complimentary Evening Reception
• Complimentary Hotel Shuttle in 3 mile radius of hotel
• Two Room Suite
• Free High Speed Internet Access
• Bonus Hhonor Points
• Special Overnight Packages

Click here to choose the Fairfax County Hotel package perfect for your Civil War Loop Adventure!

Among the Fairfax County Civil War sites you'll visit:

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  Civil War Interpretive Center at Historic Blenheim

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  The City of Fairfax purchased the historic Blenheim estate in 1999 to preserve and develop into a Civil War house museum and open-air park. Blenheim is a c.1859 central-hall-plan brick farmhouse on 12 acres. It is nationally significant for the 100+ signatures, art, and poetry created by Union soldiers, a "diary on walls" providing insight into typical soldier life, during the Civil War. The site annually hosts the popular Fairfax Civil War Day occurring on April 27, 2013. This year’s Civil War Day features reenactors portraying Clara Barton, Col. John Mosby, General James Longstreet, hot ... More Info
  
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  Blackburns Ford

  Sully Road, Centreville, VA 20121 Sharp firefight along a stretch of Bull Run that was formidably defended, and contributed to McDowell’s decision to focus the Union efforts elsewhere along the Confederate line before the Battle of Fi…
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  Captain John Quincy Marr Monument

  4000 Chain Bridge Road, Fairfax, VA 22030 Dedicated to the memory of Captain John Quincy Marr, the first Confederate officer to be killed in the Civil War. Union cavalry attacked the City at 3:00 a.m. on June 1, 1861. The Warrenton rifles com…
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  Dr. William Gunnell House

  10520 Main Street, Fairfax, VA 22030 It was in this house that Ranger John Mosby captured the Union area commander Brig. Gen. Edwin H. Stoughton, in bed, the night of March 9, 1863. Mosby awoke the general with a slap. "Get up, general, …
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  Dranesville Tavern

  11919 Leesburg Pike, Dranesville, VA 22066 During the Civil War, the area around the tavern served as one of the outermost picket points for the defense of Washington. Troops passed on their way to ford the Potomac and head north. In December …
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  Fairfax City Cemetery

  10567 Main Street, Fairfax, VA 22030 In 1888, the Confederate Monument Association was formed to erect a suitable monument to both the unknown Confederate dead buried in the cemetery and the Confederate soldiers from Fairfax who lay on b…
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  Fairfax County Courthouse

  4000 Chain Bridge Rd., Fairfax, VA 22030  During the Civil War, this building was occupied by both Union and Confederate troops. In the spring of 1862, the Union Army took possession of the courthouse for the rest of the war. It was rep…
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  Fairfax Museum

  10209 Main St., Fairfax, VA 22030 The Fairfax Museum, located in the former Fairfax Elementary School, produces special exhibits on the city's history, offers educational programs, and schedules walking tours of the historic district …
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  Fairfax Station Railroad Museum

  11200 Fairfax Station Road, Fairfax Station, VA 22039 Take a step back in time and discover the Fairfax Station Museum and the role it played during the Civil War.  Learn about the humanitarian efforts begun here by Clara Barton, founder of the American …
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  Ford Building

  3977 Chain Bridge Road, Fairfax, VA 22030 This was the home of Antonia Ford, imprisoned as a spy following Ranger Mosby's night capture of the local Union commander, Brig. Gen. Edwin H. Stoughton, March 9, 1863. A search of the house had reve…
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  Fort Marcy

  George Washington Memorial Pkwy, McLean, VA 22101 Fort Marcy Park is a public park located in Fairfax County, Virginia. It is administered by the National Park Service as part of the George Washington Memorial Parkway.  Fort Marcy is perched 275…
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  Franconia Museum

  6121 Franconia Road, Alexandria, VA 22310 The Franconia Museum is a private museum dedicated to preserving the past, present, and future of the Franconia area through pictures, artifacts, and stories.
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  Freedom Hill Park

  8531 Old Courthouse Road, Vienna, VA 22182 "Fort Freedom Hill” in Vienna, Virginia, was a fortified position and part of the original Defenses of Washington. These locations surrounded the nation's capital and was part of&n…
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  Freeman House Museum

  131 Church St., Vienna, VA 22182 The Freeman House was constructed to serve as a general store, but took on a number of roles including housing soldiers as a makeshift hospital during the Civil War. The house is now a museum and old-…
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  Historic Woodlawn and Frank Lloyd Wright’s Pope-Leighey House

  9000 Richmond Highway, Alexandria, VA 22309 The home was a gift from George Washington to Major Lawrence and Eleanor “Nelly” Custis Lewis, his nephew and Martha Washington’s granddaughter, respectively.  In 1951, it became the first site named …
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  Hunter Mill Road Historic District

  Hunter Mill Road, Vienna, VA 22182 Hunter Mill road was an extremely active thoroughfare during the Civil War era.  Six historic markers at the intersection of Hunter Mill Road and the Washington & Old Dominion Trail document …
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  Jeb Stuart's Raid Historical Marker

  9415 Old Burke Lake Road, Burke, VA 22015 The most famous story to come out of J.E.B. Stuart's 1862 Christmas Raid was his sending a telegraph from Burke's Station to the Union Quartermaster complaining that the poor quality of Union mules he…
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  Joshua Gunnell House

  4023 Chain Bridge Road, Fairfax, VA 22030 The first skirmish of the Civil War occurred on Main Street, June 1, 1861. Ex-Governor, "Extra Billy" Smith, a civilian , ran from this house to take charge of the Warrenton Rifles. Their commanding o…
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  Lincoln's Review of the Troops at Bailey's Crossroads

  5912 Leesburg Pike, Falls Church, VA 22041 After the Union defeat on 21 July 1861 at the First Battle of Manassas, Lincoln appointed Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan as commander of the demoralized army. A superb organizer, McClellan rebuilt the …
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  Mount Gilead House

  5634 Mount Gilead Rd., Centreville, VA 20121 Mount Gilead is an 18th-century residential property comprising approximately one-third of the Centreville Historic District. The Mount Gilead Home was built in the late 1700s, and a tavern was operat…
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  Old Stone Church in the Historic Town of Centreville

  13941 Braddock Rd, Centreville, VA 20120 The Old Stone Church served as a hospital for Union and Confederate troops as battle lines advanced and withdrew. It was the first Union Army surgical hospital, and received major casualties from the …
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  Ox Hill Battlefield Park

  4134 W Ox Hill Road, Chantilly, VA 22033 Home of the historic Civil War battle in which two Union generals perished and thousands of casualties were suffered by both Confederate and Union soldiers. A recent completion of a $700,000…
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  Peyton Anderson Historic Marker and Monument

  9700 Fairfax Boulevard, Fairfax, VA 22031 The Peyton Anderson monument is dedicated to the person who first shed his blood for the Confederacy at the beginning of the Civil War.
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  Pohick Church

  9301 Richmond Highway, Lorton, VA 22079 Vestrymen George Washington, George Mason and George William Fairfax supervised the construction of the church, which was completed in 1774, just before the outbreak of the Revolutionary War.  Both be…
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  Saint Mary of Sorrows

  Fairfax Station Road & Rte. 123, Fairfax Station, VA 22039 Civil War Trails sign at this 1858 church describes the action here Aug. 8, 1864 when Confederate horsemen led by John Singleton Mosby routed a Union cavalry encampment.  Given the church's impor…
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  Site of the Battle of Vienna

  Park Street Railroad Crossing, Vienna, VA 22180 The fifth skirmish of the Civil War, part of the First Battle of Manassas, took place near the Park Street railroad crossing where the Vienna Community Center now stands. This incident marked the firs…
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  St. John's Episcopal Church and Cemetery

  5649 Mount Gilead Road, Centreville, VA 20120 During the Civil War, Confederate and Union troops surged back and forth through Centreville.  For a time the church served as a battlefield hospital.  In 1862, St. John's was used as a Confederate en…
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  Stone Bridge

  The Fauquier and Alexandria Turnpike bridge over Bull Run, known simply as "the Stone Bridge," was originally built in 1825. Its ability to carry traffic across the steep sided stream even at times of…
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  Stuart-Mosby Civil War Cavalry Museum

  13938 Braddock Road, Centreville, VA 20120 The museum display artifacts connected to Confederate stalwarts Gen. James Ewell Brown "Jeb" Stuart and Col. John Mosby, whose daring Partisan Raiders turned most of Fairfax County into what was known…
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  Sully Historic Site

  3650 Historic Sully Way, Chantilly, VA 20151 The home of Richard Bland Lee, northern Virginia’s first congressman, the main house at Sully was built in 1794. The house is furnished with antiques of the federal period. Outbuildings include a kitc…
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Priority Listings

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  The Winery at Bull Run

  15950 Lee Highway, Centreville, VA 20120 Come experience The Winery at Bull Run, our scenic, working farm vineyard in an authentic 1860's setting. The winery is conveniently located in Fairfax County, VA, just 20 minutes outside of Washingto…
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  Vienna Star Fort

  330 North Center Street, Vienna, VA 22180 Because of the complexity of its design and the time required to construct a star-shaped earthwork, it is a less common example of Civil War field fortifications. This work, with outlying rifle trench…
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• Virginia Room

  10360 North Street, Fairfax, VA 22030 The Fairfax County Public Library's Virginia Room maintains a collection rich in regional history and genealogy, as well as local and state government information and legal resources. A particular str…
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