Another season for HFCI’s Old Town Walking Tour is done, the second since the Covid-19 hiatus. By all measures it was a success, with more tourists, more guides, and more compelling stories about our National Register Historic District.

We would like to offer a heart-felt “thank you” to our knowledgeable volunteer tour guides. Without this all-star team of prominent citizens, the tour would not be possible:

• Grace Brooks
• Stephen Hoyle
• Al Leightley
• Bob Reinsel
• Tom Scibilia
• Mitch Sutterfield
• Matt West

The HFCI Old Town Walking Tour is a compact presentation: five blocks, ten stops (more or less), one hour. It starts at 11:00 am on the last Saturdays of May through October. And the best part is: the tour is free.

A journey of more than two hundred years, the tour begins in the late 18^th century at the place that put us on the map, the Historic Fairfax Courthouse. Then follows the places of the tumultuous nineteenth century, prosperity followed by the great dramas of the Civil War—dashing deeds, forbidden romance, and the bloody destruction of a lost cause.

The last half of the tour enters the early 20^th century, the town refreshing its energies with commercial buildings that are nestled against the last stop, the Old Town Hall. The gift of a wealthy benefactor in 1900, this freshly renovated classical gem has witnessed the down-at-heels farming village of Fairfax transformed into a government center, a university town, and a hub of commerce today.

The Old Town Walking Tour will restart again in May 2025. All tour dates and information will be posted on the HFCI website Events page and on Eventbrite. You can also call the Fairfax Museum and Visitors Center at 703.385.8414.