Editing Warrenton, Virginia (section)

==History==

=== 18th century and founding ===
The settlement which would grow into the town of Warrenton began as a crossroads at the junction of the Falmouth-Winchester and Alexandria-Culpeper roads,<ref>[http://www.townofwarrenton.com/General/History.aspx "History"] Town of Warrenton. Accessed April 17, 2010.</ref> where a [[trading post]] called the Red Store was located. In the 1790s, a courthouse was built in the area, and the location was known as "Fauquier Courthouse".<ref name="fauquierhistory.com">[http://www.fauquierhistory.com/ckfinder/userfiles/files/Warrenton.pdf "What you should know about Fauquier History: Town of Warrenton"] Fauquier Historical Society. Accessed April 17, 2010.</ref>

=== 19th century and the American Civil War ===
The Town of Warrenton was incorporated on January 5, 1810,<ref name="townofwarrenton.com">[http://www.townofwarrenton.com/Portals/0/Planning%20Zoning/Documents/Warr%20HD%20Guidelines%20with%20Graphics.pdf "Warrenton Historic District Design Guidelines"] Town of Warrenton. Accessed April 17, 2010.</ref> and named for General [[Joseph Warren]], a [[American Revolutionary War|Revolutionary War]] hero.<ref name="Dyson, Cathy-2003">{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=UfIyAAAAIBAJ&pg=4187%2C5192382 |title=History and legend unlock origins of unusual names |work=The Free Lance-Star |date=July 20, 2003 |access-date=May 3, 2015 |author=Dyson, Cathy |pages=A7}}</ref> [[Richard Henry Lee]] donated the land for the county seat. [[John S. Horner]], [[Secretary of Wisconsin Territory]] and Acting Governor of [[Michigan Territory]], was born in Warrenton. [[John Marshall]], the fourth [[Chief Justice of the United States|Chief Justice]] of the [[Supreme Court of the United States|U.S. Supreme Court]], was from [[Germantown, Virginia|Germantown]], modern-day [[Midland, Virginia|Midland]], {{convert|10|mi|0}} south of Warrenton.

Warrenton was connected to the [[Orange and Alexandria Railroad]] in 1853 via a [[branch line]]. Warrenton's connection to the line had previously been proposed, but construction hasn't begun until 1852.<ref>Faul, August, and Orange And Alexandria Railroad Company. ''Map and profile of the Orange and Alexandria Rail Road with its Warrenton Branch and a portion of the Manasses sic Gap Rail Road, to show its point of connection''. [New York, ?, 1854] Map. <nowiki>https://www.loc.gov/item/98688754/</nowiki>.</ref> Given the rail line's strategic usage during the American Civil War, the Warrenton Branch was a target for attack twice.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |last=Toler |first=John |date=2018-09-26 |title=Warrenton Branch Greenway celebrates 20 years |url=https://www.fauquier.com/news/warrenton-branch-greenway-celebrates-20-years/article_eb3d656c-c19a-11e8-a450-2b73aa10310c.html |access-date=2024-10-13 |website=Fauquier Times |language=en}}</ref> Because of this, the railroad was left largely abandoned and unusable by 1863. [[Southern Railway (U.S.)|Southern Railway]] resumed passenger service to the town from 1909 to 1944 with commercial service continuing through the 1980s. [[Norfolk Southern Railway|Norfolk Southern]] ended service entirely in 1989 with the removal of tracks.<ref name=":3" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Brown |first=Cassandra |date=2018-11-02 |title=2 decades ago, Warrenton greenway created linkage |url=https://www.fauquiernow.com/news/government_politics/2-decades-ago-warrenton-greenway-created-linkage/article_e1c9028f-6f36-5384-ab39-afc3c734289f.html |access-date=2024-10-13 |website=FauquierNow |language=en}}</ref>[[File:Railroad depot in Warrenton LOC cwpb.01082.tif|left|thumb|August 1862 [[stereograph]] of the railroad depot in the Town of Warrenton taken by [[Timothy H. O'Sullivan]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=O'Sullivan |first=Timothy H. |date=1862 |title=[Railroad depot in Warrenton] |url=https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2018666220/ |access-date=June 24, 2023 |website=www.loc.gov |language=en}}</ref>|220x220px]] [[File:The town of Warrenton, Va., from the east LCCN2004661602.jpg|left|thumb|July 14, 1862, Illustration of the Town of Warrenton by [[Edwin Forbes]].<ref name="Forbes-1862">{{Cite web |last=Forbes |first=Edwin |date=July 14, 1862 |title=The town of Warrenton, Va., from the east |url=https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2004661602/ |access-date=June 24, 2023 |website=www.loc.gov |language=en}}</ref>]]
[[Confederate States of America|Confederate]] Colonel [[John S. Mosby]] made [[Warrenton Junction Raid|raids in the town]] during the [[American Civil War]] and later made his home and practiced law in Warrenton. The Warren Green Hotel building hosted many famous people, including the [[Marquis de Lafayette]], [[James Monroe]], [[Andrew Jackson]], [[Henry Clay]], President [[Theodore Roosevelt]], and divorcée [[Wallis Simpson]].<ref name="hmdb.org">{{cite web|url=http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=1175 |title=Norris Tavern / The Warren Green Historical Marker |publisher=Hmdb.org |access-date=September 1, 2016}}</ref> [[Union (American Civil War)|Union]] General [[George B. McClellan]] bade farewell to his officers November 11, 1862, from the steps of the hotel.<ref name="hmdb.org" /> It now hosts some offices of the Fauquier County government.
[[File:Slave cabin near Warrenton, Va. LCCN2004661591.jpg|thumb|August 5, 1863, Illustration of a slave cabin near the Town of Warrenton by [[Edwin Forbes]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Forbes |first=Edwin |date=August 5, 1863 |title=Slave cabin near Warrenton, Va. |url=https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2004661591/ |access-date=June 24, 2023 |website=www.loc.gov |language=en}}</ref>|273x273px]]
[[Lynching of Arthur Jordan|Arthur Jordan]], a black American man, was [[lynching|lynched]] by a mob of approximately 60–75 men in white hoods in the early hours of January 19, 1880. Jordan had been accused of [[miscegenation]] and [[bigamy]] for eloping with Elvira (Lucille) Corder, the daughter of his white employer, Nathan Corder, a landowner and farmer in the upper part of the county along the [[Rappahannock River]]. A group of local men hunted the pair down near [[Williamsport, Maryland]], captured Mr. Jordan and returned him to Fauquier, whereupon he was delivered to the town jail. Later that night, the masked lynch mob gained access to the jail and dragged Jordan to the nearby town cemetery, where he was hanged from a small locust tree. Ms. Corder remained in Maryland, estranged from her family, until her death a few years later.<ref>{{Citation|last=Corder |first=Shawn |title=Research: Last Will and Testament of Nathan Corder|url=http://cordergenealogy.com/Wills/Nathan_Corder.pdf |access-date=February 19, 2015}}</ref> News of the lynching was reported in papers across the nation. Even some foreign newspapers, such as Australia's ''[[Sydney Morning Herald]]'', reprinted accounts of the event.<ref name="Crime and Its Results">[https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1880/01/20/106230877.pdf "Crime and Its Results," ''New York Times'', 20 January, 1880]</ref><ref>[http://www2.lib.virginia.edu/exhibits/most/Most_Frightening.html?file=Most_Frightening ''The Mirror (Leesburg, VA)'', 22 January, 1880, as cited in reference to Gustavus Richard Brown Horner, ''The Horner Papers'' (University of Virginia Library: Special Collections)]</ref><ref>[http://www.newspaperabstracts.com/link.php?id=69388 "Virginian Vengeance. Lynching a Negro for a Social Indiscretion," ''St. Louis Post Dispatch'', 22 January 1880]</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Brenner |first=Kate|date=2014 |title=Images of America: Warrenton |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fTNRBAAAQBAJ&q=arthur+jordan+warrenton&pg=PA119|publisher=Arcadia |page=119 |isbn=978-1-4671-2167-5 |access-date=February 18, 2015 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=A Lynch-law Hanging |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=GowTAAAAIBAJ&pg=2855%2C724166/ |newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald |agency=(via Weekly Alta California) |date=March 24, 1880 |access-date=February 19, 2015}}</ref>

=== 20th century ===
In 1909, a fire destroyed almost half the structures in the town and was halted with the use of dynamite to create a firebreak to stop the flames from spreading.<ref name="fauquierhistory.com" />

In 1939, [[Washington Times-Herald]] journalist [[Igor Cassini|Count Igor Cassini]] wrote a column piece that upset several members of Virginia high society. While covering a horse show in Warrenton, Cassini was kidnapped and tarred and feathered by three disgruntled individuals related to one mentioned in his column piece.<ref name=":2">{{Cite news |last=Severo |first=Richard |date=January 9, 2002 |title=Igor Cassini, Hearst Columnist, Dies at 86 |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/01/09/arts/igor-cassini-hearst-columnist-dies-at-86.html |access-date=August 24, 2023 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Cassini was treated for burns at the Fauquier County Hospital in the early morning,<ref>{{Cite news |orig-date=June 26, 1939 |title=TAR AND FEATHERS LAID ON COLUMNIST; Count Cassini of Washington Reports Attack on Him at Warrenton, Va., for Item ABDUCTED BY MEN IN AUTO He Says They Stripped and Smeared Him--Asks for Arrest of 3 Youths |language=en |page=7 |work=The New York Times |url=https://nyti.ms/3sqvFl4 |access-date=August 24, 2023}}</ref> with the three individuals being arrested and placed on probation.<ref name=":2" />

In 1951, the federal government established the [[Warrenton Training Center]] just outside Warrenton. The center is a secret [[Central Intelligence Agency]] communications facility, which also houses an underground relocation bunker containing communications infrastructure to support [[continuity of government]] in the event of a nuclear attack on Washington, DC.<ref>{{cite web |title=Warrenton Training Center: Current Site Information |publisher=[[Environmental Protection Agency]] |date=May 2010 |url=http://www.epa.gov/reg3hwmd/npl/VAD988189312.htm |access-date=March 18, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Pincus |first=Walter |author-link=Walter Pincus |title=CIA: Ames Betrayed 55 Operations; Inspector General's Draft Report Blames Supervisors for Failure to Plug Leak |newspaper=[[Washington Post]] |date=September 24, 1994 |page=A1}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Bunkers Beyond the Beltway: The Federal Government Backup System |magazine=The Lay of the Land |publisher=[[Center for Land Use Interpretation]] |date=Spring 2002 |url=http://www.clui.org/newsletter/spring-2002/bunkers-beyond-beltway |access-date=March 19, 2013}}</ref>

A bypass route around the town was built in the early 1960s, which attracted restaurants, gas stations, and shopping centers, but also drew businesses away from the center of town.<ref name="townofwarrenton.com" />

The [[Warrenton Historic District (Warrenton, Virginia)|Warrenton Historic District]] was listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]] in 1983. Other listings in or near Warrenton include [[Brentmoor]], [[Dakota (Warrenton, Virginia)|Dakota]], [[Hopefield (Warrenton, Virginia)|Hopefield]], [[Loretta (Warrenton, Virginia)|Loretta]], [[Monterosa (Warrenton, Virginia)|Monterosa]], [[North Wales (Warrenton, Virginia)|North Wales]], [[The Oaks (Warrenton, Virginia)|The Oaks]], the [[Old Fauquier County Jail]], and [[Yorkshire House]].<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|version=2010a}}</ref>
[[File:Obelisk at center of Confederate Cemetery, Warrenton Cemetery.jpg|thumb|1887 Confederate Dead Monument obelisk with the 1998 addition in the Warrenton Cemetery]]
In 1998, Warrenton's "Black Horse" chapter of the [[United Daughters of the Confederacy]] erected and dedicated a monument in the Warrenton Cemetery to 520 Confederate soldiers buried there, many of whom died during the [[First Battle of Bull Run|First]] and [[Second Battle of Bull Run|Second Battles of Bull Run]].<ref name=":0" /> This new monument altered a pre-existing Confederate obelisk built in 1877 by building a granite wall around the obelisk engraved with those 520 names.<ref name=":1">{{Cite news |last=Ordonez |first=Jennifer |date=February 18, 1998 |title=ONE MAN'S QUEST GIVES 520 MEN NAMES AGAIN |language=en-US |work=Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1998/02/18/one-mans-quest-gives-520-men-names-again/5b284604-784e-4c3a-924e-f13b167d10b0/ |access-date=August 12, 2023 |issn=0190-8286}}</ref> The then-mayor's wife spearheaded fundraising for the monument from private organizations and the United Daughters of the Confederacy itself, of which she was a member.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |date=July 18, 2004 |title=Bound to Yesterday, Beholden to Tomorrow |language=en-US |work=Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/2004/07/18/bound-to-yesterday-beholden-to-tomorrow/3e41c879-571f-468d-8856-ace5b8d650cf/ |access-date=August 9, 2023 |issn=0190-8286}}</ref><ref name=":1" /> This monument still remains.