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Fairfax is an independent city forming an enclave within the confines of Fairfax County, in the U.S. state of Virginia. Although politically independent of the surrounding county, the City of Fairfax is nevertheless its county seat. Situated in the Northern Virginia region, Fairfax forms part of the Washington Metropolitan Area. The Bureau of Economic Analysis combines Fairfax (and the city of Falls Church) with Fairfax County for statistical purposes. The population was 21,498 at the 2000 census. Many surrounding communities and developments have a Fairfax postal mailing address. While the City is an enclave within the County of Fairfax, a small portion of the County (comprising the courthouse complex and a small area nearby) is itself an enclave within the city. [1] History
The area the City of Fairfax now encompasses was settled in the early 1700s by farmers from Virginia's Tidewater region. The Fairfax County courthouse was established at the corner of Old Little River Turnpike (now Main Street) and Ox Road (now Chain Bridge Road). The small town in the vicinity of the courthouse was then known as Earp's Corner, and in 1805 was designated the Town of Providence by an act of the Virginia General Assembly (although people continued to informally refer to it as Fairfax Court House). In a celebrated incident in the town in March 1863, Mosby's Confederate Rangers, disguised and with stealth and cunning, awakened in bed and captured an embarrassed Union General Edwin H. Stoughton along with 2 Union Captains, 30 prisoners, and 58 horses without firing a shot. The town was officially renamed the Town of Fairfax in 1874, and became an independent city in 1961 (upon which it acquired its current name, the City of Fairfax). In 1904, a trolley line was built connecting Fairfax with Washington, D.C. Sites on the National Register of Historic Places
The Old Courthouse, and the Old Jail, lie within the county enclave within the City. Research Tips
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