Walk through Time in City of Fairfax
This spring and summer, people may learn about the life and personalities of the City of Fairfax by taking 90-minute, guided walking tours through the Old Town Fairfax National Register Historic District.
Some walking tours will include a special visit inside the city’s treasured edifice, the old Fairfax Courthouse. It was built in 1800 at the same time the national capital of Washington, D.C. was just taking shape. Attendees will learn the relationship between both cities’ founding.
The stories behind these walls are full of human drama and pathos - from the accepting of George and Martha Washington's wills in the 1800s to voting for the Civil War in the 1860s to the suffragettes in the 1900s.
Visitors will see 200 years of architectural styles, including beautiful antebellum houses, while viewing the rising shapes and skylines of the City today. They’ll also listen to the legends and the tales of Civil War soldiers and spies, and feel the history all around them.
"The City of Fairfax is a vibrant leaf of U.S. history waiting just for you," said Cultural, Tourism and Marketing Director Jo Ormesher. "It is only steps away on our summer walking tours, to be discussed and explored, led by local citizens who love to share its rich heritage with our visitors."
The 2014 docent-led tours, organized by Historic Fairfax City Inc., are on Saturday mornings at 11 a.m. Weather permitting, the dates are: April 19, May 24 and 31, June 7 and 21, July 12 and 26, Aug. 9 and 23, and Sept. 13. Tours leave in front of the Ratcliffe-Allison House at 10386 Main Street.
For reservations and more information, call the Fairfax Museum and Visitor Center at 703-385-8414 or 800-545-7950. Cost is $5, adults; $3, children 7-12. Children 6 and under are free; family rate is $15. All proceeds benefit HFCI’s preservation of the City’s historic properties. See www.historicfairfax.org/.
Recycle During Electric Sunday
Residents may recycle old TVs, computers, peripheral electronic devices – such as keyboards, speakers, printers and scanners, as well as household hazardous wastes – including fluorescent light bulbs and tubes, for free, during Fairfax County’s "Electric Sunday" events. The next one is slated for Sunday, April 27, from 10 a.m.-3 p.m., at the I-66 Transfer Station, 4618 West Ox Road in Fairfax. For more information, call 703-324-5052.