Finding a Permanent Home in Fairfax

Story and Photos Provided By Veronica Fletcher, Special Collections & Archives, University Libraries

By the beginning of 1958, the University of Virginia had been looking for a permanent location for its Northern Virginia branch college, the school that would become George Mason University, for several years. Finding such a property in Northern Virginia had become difficult for a number of reasons and there were signs that the UVA was about to suspend the search indefinitely. However, on Sunday, January 19, 1958 local leaders from the Town of Fairfax held an emergency meeting to discuss a possible location in Fairfax.

This time Virginia State Senator Charles Fenwick had suggested a tract of land owned by Wilson M. Farr and his daughter, Viola Orr. Located just south of the Town of Fairfax’s corporate limits, the Farr property fulfilled many of the criteria UVA had been looking for. The Farr property was 150 acres of aesthetically pleasing woods, it was near major traffic arteries, and it had access to sewer and water facilities. The Town Council voted unanimously that same day to purchase the land and offer it to UVA. After some thought, the UVA Board of Visitors accepted the Farr property as the site for the new branch college.

It took a little over a year for the sale to go through, but on February 10, 1959 John C. Wood, Mayor of the Town of Fairfax, presented the deed to the University of Virginia’s Rector and Board of Visitors. UVA quickly began planning for the new campus, and ground broke on the Fairfax campus in August of 1963.