Editing Fairfax County, Virginia (section)

== History ==
[[File:Piney Branch Mill.jpg|thumb|Piney Branch Mill in the county]]
[[File:Mount Vernon 1858.jpg|thumb|An 1858 photo of [[Mount Vernon]], the home of [[George Washington]]]]
[[File:Battles on Fairfax and Prince William border.jpg|thumb|Map of the [[First Battle of Bull Run]], an [[American Civil War]] battle fought near [[Manassas, Virginia|Manassas]] on July 21, 1861, between the [[Confederate States of America|Confederate]] and [[Union Army|Union]] armies<ref>Bamberger, Shelomoh, ha-Le?vi, Waters-Son, and West & Johnston. "Map of battles on Bull Run, near Manassas, on the line of Fairfax & Prince William Counties, in Virginia, fought between the forces of the Confederate States and of the United States of America." Map. 1861. Norman B. Leventhal Map Center, https://collections.leventhalmap.org/search/commonwealth:xg94j217q (accessed June 26, 2017).</ref>]]
Prior to [[European colonization of the Americas|European settlement]], present-day Fairfax County was initially inhabited by the [[Algonquian languages|Algonquian]]-speaking [[Doeg people|Doeg tribe]].

===17th century===
In 1608, [[John Smith (explorer)|Captain John Smith]] documented the Doeg tribe's villages, which included ''Namassingakent'' and ''Nemaroughquand'' on the south bank of the [[Potomac River]] in present-day Fairfax County.<ref name=swanton>{{citation| last=Swanton| first=John R.| title=The Indian Tribes of North America| publisher=Smithsonian Institution| year=1952| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vtHI5pkJOGMC| isbn=978-0-8063-1730-4| pages=67–69| oclc=52230544}}</ref> By 1670, Virginian colonists from the [[Northern Neck]] region drove the Doeg Tribe out of present-day Fairfax County and into [[Maryland]].

===18th century===
Fairfax County was formed in 1742 from the northern part of [[Prince William County, Virginia|Prince William County]], and was named after [[Thomas Fairfax, 6th Lord Fairfax of Cameron]], proprietor of the [[Northern Neck Proprietary|Northern Neck]].<ref>{{cite book | url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_9V1IAAAAMAAJ | title=The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States | publisher=Govt. Print. Off. | author=Gannett, Henry | year=1905 | pages=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_9V1IAAAAMAAJ/page/n122 123]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web
|url= http://www.fairfaxhistoricalsociety.org/index.html
|title= The Historical Society of Fairfax County Virginia
|publisher= Fairfax County Historical Society
|access-date=January 25, 2010}}</ref> The Fairfax family name is derived from the Old English phrase for "[[blond]] hair", ''Fæger-feax''.

The county's initial settlements were along the Potomac River. [[George Washington]] settled in Fairfax County and built his home, [[Mount Vernon]], facing the Potomac. [[Gunston Hall]], the home of [[George Mason]], is nearby. [[Fort Belvoir]] is partly on the estate of Belvoir Manor, built along the Potomac by William Fairfax in 1741.

[[Thomas Fairfax, 6th Lord Fairfax of Cameron|Thomas Fairfax]], the only member of the British nobility ever to reside in the colonies, lived at [[Belvoir, Virginia|Belvoir]] before moving to the [[Shenandoah Valley]]. The Belvoir mansion and several of its outbuildings were destroyed by fire immediately after the [[American Revolution|Revolutionary War]] in 1783, and [[George Washington]] noted the plantation complex deteriorated into ruins.

In 1757, the northwestern two-thirds of Fairfax County became [[Loudoun County, Virginia|Loudoun County]]. In 1789, part of Fairfax County was ceded to the [[Federal government of the United States|federal government]] to form [[Alexandria County, Virginia|Alexandria County]], then part of the [[Washington, D.C.|District of Columbia]].

===19th century===
Alexandria County was [[District of Columbia retrocession|returned]] to Virginia in 1846, reduced in size by the secession of the [[Independent city (United States)#Virginia|independent city]] of [[Alexandria, Virginia|Alexandria]] in 1870, and renamed [[Arlington County, Virginia|Arlington County]] in 1920.

During the [[American Civil War]] the [[Battle of Chantilly]], also known as Ox Hill, part of the [[Second Battle of Bull Run]], was fought within Fairfax County. Other areas of Civil War conflict in the county included [[Minor's Hill]], [[Munson's Hill]], and [[Upton's Hill]].

===20th century===
The Fairfax County town of [[Falls Church, Virginia|Falls Church]] became an independent city in 1948.<ref>[http://www.fallschurchva.gov/Content/CultureRecreation/AboutFallsChurch.aspx?cnlid=529 About Falls Church] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090721054556/http://www.fallschurchva.gov/Content/CultureRecreation/AboutFallsChurch.aspx?cnlid=529 |date=July 21, 2009 }} Retrieved June 10, 2009</ref> The Fairfax County town of Fairfax was named an independent city in 1961.<ref name="City History">{{cite web |url=http://www.fairfaxva.gov/museumVC/History.asp |title=City History |publisher=City of Fairfax |access-date=April 25, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060505151456/http://www.fairfaxva.gov/MuseumVC/History.asp |archive-date=May 5, 2006 }}</ref>

The [[Federal government of the United States|federal government]]'s growth during and after [[World War II]] spurred rapid growth in the county and transformed it from a rural to suburban region. Large businesses began settling in the county, and the opening of [[Tysons Corner Center]] spurred the rise of [[Tysons, Virginia]]. The technology boom and a steady government-driven economy created rapid growth and an increasingly large and diverse population. The economy has also made Fairfax County one of the nation's wealthiest counties.<ref>{{cite magazine
|url= https://www.forbes.com/2008/01/22/counties-rich-income-forbeslife-cx_mw_0122realestate.html
|title= America's Richest Counties
|author= Matt Woolsey
|date= January 22, 2008
|magazine= [[Forbes]]
|access-date=January 25, 2010}}</ref>

A general aviation airport along [[U.S. Route 50]] west of [[Seven Corners, Virginia|Seven Corners]], [[Falls Church Airpark]], operated in the county from 1948 to 1960. The facility's 2,650-foot unpaved runway was used extensively by private pilots and civil defense officials. Residential development, multiple accidents, and the demand for retail space led to its closure in 1960.<ref name="Paul">Freeman, Paul "Falls Church Airpark, Falls Church, VA" ''Abandoned & Little-Known Airfields''. Retrieved March 19, 2014 [https://www.airfieldsfreeman.com/VA/Airfields_VA_Fairfax_W.htm]</ref><ref name="Rollo">Rollo, Vera (2003) ''Virginia Airports: A Historical Survey of Airports and Aviation From the Earliest Days''. Richmond, VA: Virginia Aviation Historical Society [http://vahsonline.publishpath.com/Default.aspx?shortcut=history] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150723235549/http://vahsonline.publishpath.com/Default.aspx?shortcut=history|date=July 23, 2015}}</ref><ref>Day, Kathleen (September 21, 1987) "Small Airports Nosediving in Number" ''The Washington Post'', page B1</ref>