Dairy Farm, Fairfax County, circa 1940

The image of cows grazing in a Fairfax County field was a familiar site in the mid-twentieth century in Braddock District. In 1936, dairy farming was the county's largest industry with 100 dairy farms and 440 families engaged in farming.

Photograph from Fairfax County Public Library, Virginia Room, Photographic Archive

Water Towers, Annandale, Virginia

James McWhorter established the Annandale Water Authority and laid pipes for developers coming into the county. These two water tanks on the hill near the corner of Gallows Road and Columbia Pike served 5,000 Annandale homes. The Fairfax County Water Authority purchased McWhorter's Annandale Water Authority in 1958 for $1,250,000.

Courtesy Irving Denton

Boxhill Farm

Born in Switzerland, Frederick Segessenman emigrated to the United States and later built Boxhill Farm in 1896 on eight acres in Annandale. He was a landscaper and a florist and it is believed he planted the boxwood from which the home derives its name. Boxhill Farm stands north of Braddock Road near present-day Wakefield Chapel Road in Annandale.

Photo by Gilbert Donahue

Copyrighted material, not to be reproduced without permission of owner, Gilbert Donahue

Ashford House

In 1829, Mary Goldsborough inherited land from William Henry Fitzhugh and, in 1856, William Ashford purchased 20 of the Goldsborough acres. The property probably included at least one slave cabin. The Ashford House combines two log cabins, one made of chestnut, the other of pine. Ashford worked on a crew clearing county roads. Five of his nine children with wife, Hannah Ashford, were born in the house.

Photo by Gilbert Donahue

Copyrighted material, not to be reproduced without permission of owner, Gilbert Donahue