{"nrhp_refnum":"74002235","name":"Fairfax County Courthouse","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"4000 Chain Bridge Rd.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Fairfax (Independent City)","county":"Fairfax (city and county)","state":"VA","lat":38.837020331000076,"lon":-77.30691686399996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1974-05-03","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Military","Politics/Government","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story Flemish bond brick county courthouse at 4000 Chain Bridge Road in the city of Fairfax, Virginia, built in 1799-1800 to a design by James Wren.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the courthouse is architecturally significant as a transition between the one-story arcaded colonial courthouse and later two-story Roman Revival examples, and it was the prototype for many Virginia courthouses. Its main historical importance comes from the Civil War, when it sat on the front lines and was the target of Mosby's 1863 raid. It also preserves early county records, including the original wills of George and Martha Washington.","narrative":"Fairfax County's courthouse at 4000 Chain Bridge Road is a two-story Flemish bond brick building completed in 1799-1800 from a design by James Wren. Its entrance sits in the center bay of a three-bay arcaded gable end, and an octagonal cupola crowns the roof. Builders John Bogue and Mungo Dykes carried out the work after the county seat moved from Alexandria. The building is regarded as a modified town-hall type and a prototype for many Virginia courthouses, marking a transition from one-story arcaded colonial courthouses to later two-story Roman Revival examples. During the Civil War it stood on the front lines. Confederate Captain John Quincy Marr was killed nearby in June 1861, and in March 1863 John S. Mosby raided the town and captured a Union general. The interior was gutted by 1862, additions followed in 1930-31 and 1951-53, and a restoration ran from 1964 to 1967. The Clerk's Office still holds the original Washington wills.","period_of_significance":"1799-1800","architect_builder":"Designed by James Wren; built by John Bogue and his partner Mungo Dykes","architectural_style":"Modified town-hall type courthouse; Federal style interior elements","criteria":[],"status_note":"Condition listed as excellent and altered; interior restored 1964-1967; in government use and occupied.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:57.785144-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/65/6805/41680565/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/74002235.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/74002235/940412f6e2-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/74002235/940412f6e2-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 3.0","author":"Aurbanski","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fairfax_County_Courthouse.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Aurbanski</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fairfax_County_Courthouse.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41680565","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historic_Fairfax_County_Courthouse","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5773486"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/fairfax/fairfax-county-courthouse-74002235/"}