Herndon, Virginia
From Wikipedia,
the free
encyclopedia
Herndon
is a town in
Fairfax County,
Virginia,
United States.
The population
was 21,655 at
the 2000 census,
which makes it
the largest of
three towns in
the county.
Located in northwestern
Fairfax County adjacent to
the Loudoun County line, the
Town of Herndon was once in
the heart of one of
Virginia's most important
dairy farming regions. Until
the 1960's it remained a
relatively quiet country
village, largely free of the
hustle and bustle of it's
more urban neighbors to the
east. It's history is part
of the history of colonial
and post-revolutionary
America.
The Virginia General
Assembly first convened on
July 30, 1619, making it the
oldest legislative body in
North America. Among it's
administrative tasks was the
formation of counties (often
further subdivided into
parishes), the establishment
of county courts, and the
planning and building of a
colony-wide road system.
In 1649 King Charles II of
England granted a large
tract of land known as the
Northern Neck Proprietary to
seven noblemen. The grant,
later to be known as the
Fairfax Proprietary,
consisted of more than five
million acres situated
between the Potomac and
Rappahannock rivers. One of
the noblemen, Thomas, Lord
Culpeper, eventually
acquired the entire tract.
Upon his death the land
passed to his widow
Margaret, who bequeathed it
to her widowed daughter
Catherine, Lady Fairfax.
Upon the death of Lady
Fairfax the tract was
inherited by her son Thomas,
Sixth Lord Fairfax, Baron of
Cameron. He sailed to
colonial America to view the
property and was so
impressed that he returned
to England, disposed of his
holdings there and in
Scotland and returned in
1747 to make his home in
America, where he remained
until his death.
During the years between
1653 and 1730 Prince
William, Westmoreland and
Stafford counties were
established within the
Northern Neck Proprietary.
Truro Parish became Fairfax
County in 1742 after the
election of William Fairfax,
cousin of Thomas Fairfax, to
the General Assembly as a
burgess. The county's first
courthouse was located at
Freedom Hill near the
present location of Tyson's
Corner. It was subsequently
moved to Alexandria because
of the presence of a band of
unfriendly Indians who had
crossed the Potomac River
into Virginia from Maryland.
As early as 1716 British
explorer John Fontaine
described the area of land
that would become Fairfax
County as having "the
largest timber, deepest
mold, and the best grass I
ever did see." English
settlers later established
large tobacco plantations
throughout the area.
Mills for grinding wheat and
corn into flour and
livestock feed appeared in
the Herndon area in the
1700's, and one was said to
be located "here in the
hollow where the stream used
to run," between the present
locations of Locust and
Elden streets. Grain was an
important commodity to local
farmers and soon after the
arrival of the mills several
stores appeared to serve the
farmers' needs. This was the
beginning of the small
community that would become
Herndon.
Roads in the early years
consisted of muddy cart
tracks in which carts and
wagons often sank up to the
axles. Communication was
almost non-existent since
there was no rural mail
service. Mills and stores
were important, therefore,
as collection and
dissemination points for
local and regional news.
The tracks of the
Alexandria, Loudoun and
Hampshire Railroad came
through the area around 1857
and led to a surge in
Herndon's development.
Residents requested that a
post office be located at
the railroad station and
then met to select a name
for their town. One resident
who was the survivor of a
sidewheel steamer named
"Central America".She sank
after 3 days and nights of
fighting a hurricane off the
Carolinas. The ship's
captain, William Lewis
Herndon, went down with the
ship. The story appealed to
the gathering and it was
decided to name the town
after the heroic captain.
The name "Herndon" was
accepted by the Post Office
Department and the post
office was officially opened
on July 13, 1858.
In the late nineteenth
century Herndon residents
enjoyed gathering on the
platform of the railroad
station to "sing songs to
the accompaniment of banjos
and while away the twilight
hours," in the words of
former town resident Lottie
Dyer Schneider (1879-1967),
author of "Memories of
Herndon, Virginia."
At the time it was
incorporated in 1879, the
Town of Herndon encompassed
4.25 square miles and had
begun to enjoy a new kind of
trade thanks to the
railroad: city families
looking for a country
vacation. As a result
several spacious summer
houses were built in the
town and it was noted that
"as an aftermath of the
advent of good roads and
modern conveniences, another
invasion of Herndon took
place," in part the result
of the general popularity of
escape from the crowded
cities.
The railroad continued to be
the economic backbone of the
Herndon area well into the
twentieth century. But as
the highway system was
steadily improved and as
truck and auto transport
became more dependable, the
railroad's importance began
to decline. Commuters could
drive to work and farmers
and merchants could use
trucks to deliver their
goods.
The last major job for the
single-line railroad, then
operated by the Washington
and Old Dominion Company,
was to haul sand for
concrete used to build the
runways at Dulles Airport.
The last train left Herndon
station in 1968.
Although a major fire
destroyed sixteen of
Herndon's businesses on
March 22, 1917, Herndon grew
steadily from a small
village with little more
than a railroad station and
post office to a thriving
dairy farming center. In the
1960's it began to change
and grow once more as the
northern Virginia suburbs
approached from the east.
Herndon is now is a major
employment center and offers
a wide variety of housing,
shopping and services. It's
numerous churches, schools,
service clubs and
organizations work together
to maintain a healthy, happy
environment for residents,
workers and visitors.
According to
U.S. Postal Service, Herndon has
12
ZIP codes:
-
20170
-
20171
-
20172
-
20190
-
20191
-
20192
-
20194
-
20195
-
20196
-
22092
-
22095
-
22096
|
