Fairfax County Courthouse

Fairfax Court House, Va between circa 1860 and circa 1865 Source: National Archives and Records Administration Series: Mathew Brady Photographs of Civil War-Era Personalities and Scenes, compiled 1921 - 1940, documenting the period 1860 - 1865 (National Archives Identifier: 524418)

Fairfax Court House, Va between circa 1860 and circa 1865. Source: National Archives and Records Administration (public domain.)1

With the establishment of the new United States Capital in 1790, Alexandria became part of the District of Columbia. As a result, the Fairfax County courthouse was no longer in the county, and the search started to find a new location.

The search ended 10 years later in 1799, when the county accepted Richard Ratcliffe’s offer of four acres of his land for a new courthouse, jail and related offices. Located ideally in the center of the county, the land was bought for one dollar.

The historic courthouse building, which opened in March 1800, and about one third of the 4-acre tract are on Ravensworth land (Parcel 1.1.7.3), which Ratcliffe had bought in 1798.

Today’s View (in Google Maps)

See map of Town of Providence. The courthouse lot is in the lower left corner of the town survey plat.

Fairfax Circuit Court Historic Records Center, source of deeds, wills and many other records used in research for this site, is located in the historic courthouse. The Friends of the Historic Fairfax Courthouse helps promote and educate about the historic building and Fairfax County history.

Three Courthouses

Fairfax County was established in 1742. This is the third courthouse. The first was near today’s Tysons Corner. The court moved to the second in Alexandria in 1752.

In colonial times and much of the 19th century, the county court was the principal institution of local government and the courthouse the center for conducting the public’s business.

 

  1. Series: Mathew Brady Photographs of Civil War-Era Personalities and Scenes, compiled 1921 – 1940, documenting the period 1860 – 1865 (National Archives Identifier: 524418). From Wikimedia Commons, the free media repository: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fairfax_Court_House,_Va_-_NARA_-_528872.tif ↩