{"nrhp_refnum":"81000673","name":"Fairfax County Courthouse and Jail (Boundary Increase)","other_names":["See Also:Fairfax County Court House"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"4000 Chain Bridge Rd.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Fairfax (Independent City)","county":"Fairfax (city and county)","state":"VA","lat":38.84588955700008,"lon":-77.30720337699995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1981-10-01","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A county courthouse built in 1799-1800 to a design by James Wren, plus an adjoining 1885 brick jail, at 4000 Chain Bridge Road in Fairfax, Virginia. This nomination extends the existing listing to include the jail.","why_significant":"The courthouse is significant architecturally as a transition between one-story arcaded colonial courthouses and later two-story Roman Revival examples, and historically for its role in the Civil War, including Mosby's 1863 raid. The 1885 jail is a Victorian-style building that adds to the complex as an expression of the county's continued growth.","narrative":"Fairfax County's old courthouse and jail stand together at 4000 Chain Bridge Road in the city of Fairfax. The courthouse was built in 1799-1800 from a design by James Wren, with James Bogue and Mungo Dykes as builders. It is a two-story Flemish-bond brick building with an arcaded gable end and an octagonal cupola, and it served as a prototype for other Virginia courthouses. Its history includes the Civil War years, when it lay near the front lines; its interior was gutted by 1862, and Confederate Colonel John S. Mosby raided the town in March 1863. Behind it stands the jail, built in 1885 after a fire, a two-story T-shaped brick building later enlarged twice. It served as a jail until the 1953 courthouse addition and since 1956 has housed county offices. The boundary was increased to include the jail while excluding the 1930 courthouse addition.","period_of_significance":"1799-1800, 1885","architect_builder":"James Wren (designer); James Bogue and Mungo Dykes (builders of the courthouse)","architectural_style":"Modified town-hall type courthouse (Federal interior features); Victorian style jail","criteria":[],"status_note":"Courthouse interior restored 1964-1967. The old jail ceased to be a jail after the 1953 courthouse addition and since 1956 has housed county agency offices. The property is marked occupied.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:57.805362-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/67/6805/41680567/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/81000673.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/81000673/657eceb175-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/81000673/657eceb175-1600.webp","licence":"CC0","author":"Wiki publius","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Old_Fairfax_Jail.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Wiki publius</a>, <a href=\"http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/deed.en\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Old_Fairfax_Jail.jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"87001432","name":"City of Fairfax Historic District (Additional Documentation)","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/virginia/city-of-fairfax-historic-district-additional-documentation-87001432/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41680567","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Fairfax_County_Jail","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q15263775"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/fairfax/fairfax-county-courthouse-and-jail-boundary-increase-81000673/"}