Fairfax Station Historical Marker Unveiled

The held a dedication ceremony Wednesday for the unveiling of the Fairfax Station Commemorative Marker.

The new sign is part of the Fairfax County History Commission Historical Roadside Marker project. Virginia Delegate Tim Hugo and Springfield District Supervisor Pat Herrity were among the guests who gathered as four longtime Fairfax Station residents unveiled the plaque.

Joan Rogers, president of Fairfax Station Railroad Museum Friends, introduced the guests, who shared memories of their growing up in what was then a small town with an active train station. The speakers were brother and sister Jim and Nancy Wyckoff, Lee Hubbard and Jane Peterson.

The event was part of a weeklong Fairfax Station Civil War sesquicentennial observance, which began last weekend with a commemorative reenactment of the medical triage at the station following the August 1862 Second Battle of Manassas (Bull Run) and Battle of Ox Hill.

The commemoration continues through Labor Day with a special exhibit in the museum, which will be open from 1 - 8 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 31, and from 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 1 to Monday, Sept. 3.

Museum admission is $5 for adults, $1 for children 5 to 10. Children age 4 and under are free.

On Sunday, Sept. 2, the Fairfax County Cemetery Preservation Association (FCCPA) is hosting a candlelight memorial service at the adjacent . It was here that Clara Barton and other volunteers triaged the wounded as they awaited trains to arrive at Fairfax Station to take them to hospitals in Washington, D.C., and Alexandria.

Clara Barton, who later founded the American Red Cross, wrote of that experience: "By midnight there must have been three thousand men lying in the hay.  All night long we made compresses and slings and bound up and wet wounds when we could get water . . ."

Sunday's memorial service is open to the public.