{"nrhp_refnum":"79003037","name":"Fairfax Arms","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"10712 Old Colchester Rd.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Colchester","county":"Fairfax (city and county)","state":"VA","lat":38.66866317000006,"lon":-77.23518586099993,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1979-05-21","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Commerce","Transportation","Architecture","Communications"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A modest one-and-one-half-story stone residence built as a tavern in the mid-18th century (third quarter of the 18th century) at 10712 Old Colchester Road in Colchester, Fairfax County, Virginia, on lot 21 of the original town.","why_significant":"It is one of two surviving 18th-century buildings from the town of Colchester, a Potomac-area port that declined and became dormant. It is valued for its stonework, unusual plan and surviving interior details, including an early 19th-century wall cupboard. Its use as a tavern is also unusually well documented through advertisements, deeds and an inventory of its contents.","narrative":"Fairfax Arms is a small stone house of one and one-half stories on Old Colchester Road in Colchester, Virginia. Built in the third quarter of the 18th century, it probably began as a tavern; its lot was advertised in 1767 as having a dwelling suitable for an ordinary. The rectangular building measures about 25 by 32 feet, with a high stone base on the sloping south side, exterior stone chimneys, twin entrances and dormers on both roof faces. Inside, an enclosed stair, corner fireplaces and an early 19th-century wall cupboard survive. Colchester was founded in 1753 and served as a tobacco port before fire, road changes and a silting river brought decline. The tavern building is one of only two 18th-century structures left from the town. Its history is unusually well recorded through property sales, newspaper advertisements and a detailed inventory of furnishings prepared before owner William Thompson died in 1800. Its original plan and interior woodwork remain largely intact.","period_of_significance":"3d quarter 18th century","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Vernacular 18th-century house with Greek Revival-style mantels","criteria":[],"status_note":"Condition listed as excellent and unaltered on the original site; used as a private residence 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 02:51:57.88395-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/92/6804/41680492/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/79003037.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/79003037/0dbafb7687-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/79003037/0dbafb7687-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Slowking4","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fairfax-arms016.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Slowking4</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fairfax-arms016.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41680492","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairfax_Arms","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q14712303"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/fairfax/fairfax-arms-79003037/"}