HFCI is excited to celebrate “Historic Preservation Month” in the City of Fairfax all month long in May. Thank you to Mayor Read and the City Council for recognizing the importance of historic preservation to the character of our city and the lives of our residents and visitors.

On April 30, Mayor Read and the City Council released the official city proclamation for Historic Preservation Month. The proclamation reads:

Whereas historic preservation is important and an effective tool for economic development, tourism generation, smart and sustainable growth, neighborhood revitalization and maintaining community character and identifying while enhancing livability;

Whereas the theme for Historic Preservation Month is “People Saving Places,” it is fitting to honor the contribution of those community members who have saved places of both national and local historical importance in the City of Fairfax;

Whereas Kitty Barrett Pozer, the private owner of today’s Ratcliffe-Allison-Pozer House dating from 1807, performed the necessary research to have her home listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973, and at her death donated the house to the City of Fairfax to be opened as a public historic site. Her efforts enlightened city officials and the community to the importance of historic preservation;

Whereas on October 26, 1982, the City chartered Historic Fairfax City, Inc (“HFCI”) to manage and preserve historic properties and to increase the public’s appreciation for local history. HFCI managed the rehabilitation of Old Town Hall, the former 1873 Fairfax Public School #1, which opened in 1992 as Fairfax Museum and Visitors Center, and the opening of Ratcliffe-Allison-Pozer House in 1998;

Whereas in 1986, the City of Fairfax published a manual “Historic District Guidelines” and then charged staff with preparing the nomination which led to the City of Fairfax Historic District gaining a listing in the National Register of Historic Places in 1987;

Whereas a group of city residents formed the Coalition to Save Blenheim, a campaign which led to the City’s purchase in 1999 of an 1859 house with extent writings left by federal soldiers during the Civil War and the surrounding nearly 12-acre landscape;

Whereas in February 2000, the City created the Office of Historic Resources to manage the historic sites and HFCI transitioned from its role as historic site manager to one of advocacy and fundraising;

Whereas it is important to encourage the community to participate in activities that foster awareness and appreciation of historic structures and the contributions of those who shape the history of the City of Fairfax, Virginia.

Now therefore I, Catherine S. Read, Mayor of the City of Fairfax, do hereby proclaim May 2024 as Historic Preservation Month in the City of Fairfax and encourage the community to participate in activities that foster awareness and appreciation of historic structures and historic contributions to shaping the history of the city of Fairfax, Virginia.

Done this 30^th day of April, 2024.