Thomas Fairfax, sixth Baron Fairfax of Cameron (1693-1781), was the proprietor of a five-million-acre grant of northern Virginia lands inherited from his mother, daughter of Lord Culpeper. Fairfax set up residence at Greenway Court in 1752 in order to manage this vast holdings firsthand. He lived in what was a hunting lodge, replaced in 1828 by the present brick farmhouse. Of the original Clarke County complex, only the modest stone land office and a plank “powder house” (smoke house) remain, both probably dating from the 1760s. George Washington, who began his career as a surveyor for Lord Fairfax, was a frequent visitor at Greenway Court. While the two earliest buildings are significant survivors of Fairfax’s establishment, the grounds likely hold a rich store of archaeological data relating to what is the region’s premier colonial site. The surrounding scenic cultural landscape has been listed as the Greenway Rural Historic District.
Many properties listed in the registers are private dwellings and are not open to the public, however many are visible from the public right-of-way. Please be respectful of owner privacy.
Abbreviations:
VLR: Virginia Landmarks Register
NPS: National Park Service
NRHP: National Register of Historic Places
NHL: National Historic Landmark
Programs
DHR has secured permanent legal protection for over 700 historic places - including 15,000 acres of battlefield lands
DHR has erected 2,532 highway markers in every county and city across Virginia
DHR has registered more than 3,317 individual resources and 613 historic districts
DHR has engaged over 450 students in 3 highway marker contests
DHR has stimulated more than $4.2 billion dollars in private investments related to historic tax credit incentives, revitalizing communities of all sizes throughout Virginia