Fairfax County has a long history of courageous, pioneering women, from fearless spies in the Civil War to those whose determination turned a farm into the nation’s only National Park for the Performing Arts.
But, in the Potomac Banks area of Fairfax County, the sites—and freedoms—that women created in this narrow region along the Potomac River have had huge impacts that still resonate throughout the United States.
Join us for a two-day tour (or create your own itinerary!) of these historic sites and learn about the women behind them.
Day 1: A Story of Four Homes
George Washington's Mount Vernon
Your itinerary begins where this nation began – the home of America’s first president. Frankly, George Washington’s Mount Vernon is filled with fascinating stories, from agricultural innovations to the consequences of slavery and, of course, our nation's founding. But many of those tales would be lost to history if not for women.
In the mid-1800s, Ann Pamela Cunningham’s mother took a steamboat down the Potomac River. When the boat passed Mount Vernon, she was alarmed. She wrote to her daughter, “I was painfully distressed at the ruin and desolation of the home of Washington and the thought passed through my mind: Why was it the women of his country did not try to keep it in repair if the men could not do it? It does seem such a blot on our country!”
That letter inspired Cunningham to found the Mount Vernon Ladies Association. The MVLA protected Mount Vernon through the Civil War and preserves it still to this day. Read the full story here.
Open 9am-4pm, 365 days a year
Plan on spending 3-4 hours here
TIP: If you are hungry after your tour, you can dine at the on-site Mount Vernon Inn.
Woodlawn
While not primarily known as a “women’s history” site, Woodlawn was an estate commissioned by George Washington for his step-granddaughter, Eleanor "Nelly" Parke Custis Lewis as a wedding gift. (Nelly was the daughter of John Parke Custis, Martha Washington's son from her first marriage.) After Washington’s death, Nelly was an important preserver of his legacy and helped have his tomb erected at Mount Vernon.
Woodlawn is only open for tours April to December, but during the entire month of March (except Tuesdays), the site is home to the Woodlawn Needlework Show, where you can view many of the rooms in the home, alongside historic needlework including pieces done by Nelly and Martha. If you are here in March, it is well worth seeing.
Woodlawn’s grounds are open year-round for touring and, as you’ll read below, a visit to Woodlawn is a two-fer of historic homes.
Open 9am-3pm
Plan on spending 1-2 hours here
Frank Lloyd Wright’s Pope-Leighey House
On the same grounds of Woodlawn, you’ll also find the Pope-Leighey House, the only Frank Lloyd Wright home that’s open to the public in the Washington, DC area. Named for two separate owners (Loren Pope and Marjorie Leighey), it was built in 1940 as an affordable home in Wright’s Usonian style.
To save the house from demolition during the expansion of Interstate 66, the home’s second owner, Marjorie Leighey, donated the home to the National Trust for Historic Preservation. (It was then moved to its current site.) Mrs. Leighey lived in that home on the expansive Woodlawn estate until her death in 1983.
Tours are available late April through the end of the year. But the estate grounds are open all year so you can see the house from the outside.
Open Thursday-Monday, 10am to 4pm
Plan on spending the same 1-2 hours here that you spend at Woodlawn
National Museum of the United States Army
The National Museum of the United States Army is a different kind of home. It’s home to the priceless artifacts and stories of our bravest soldiers. And some of those stories belong to women. From the Woman’s Army Corps (WAC) and Woman Air Service Pilots (WASPs) to those who braved and conquered those early days at West Point, the museum recounts the stories and preserves them for history.
Open 9am to 5pm, every day but Christmas
Plan on spending 2 hours here
Day 2: Activism That Created Lasting Change
Workhouse Arts Center
Day 2 begins with the REAL story behind how women got the right to vote!
The Workhouse Arts Center is a former prison that has since been turned into an artist’s colony where artists create and sell their works. It’s a wonderfully creative space and, if you are into decorative and wearable art, you get the added value of meeting the artists themselves. It’s such a lively space that you’d never know the tensions that unfolded within these halls in the early 1900s.
In 1917, suffragists started picketing the Woodrow Wilson White House for the right to vote. They were ultimately arrested and sent to the Lorton Correctional Facility, which in part became the Workhouse Arts Center we know today. The conditions were less than tolerable. In protest, the suffragists launched a hunger strike. The guards responded by strapping them in chairs and force feeding them through tubes stuck up their noses.
The tension escalated into what is now known as “The Night of Terror.” Lucy Burns was forced to stand all night with her hands shackled above her head. Dora Lewis was knocked unconscious when her head was rammed into an iron bed. Upon observing Dora’s plight, Alice Cosu had a heart attack and was left untreated until the next day.
When news of what happened got out, the entire nation was up in arms and pressure was put on officials to take action. The 19th Amendment, giving women the right to vote, was introduced in 1918 and ultimately enacted in 1920. Read the full story here.
Aside from the artwork that lines the halls, you’ll also find the Lorton Prison Museum & Lucy Burns Gallery that tells the tale not only of the suffragists held there, but also of other prisoners held at the Lorton Correctional Facility over its 91-year history, including G. Gordon Liddy, Chuck Brown and Norman Mailer.
Open Wed-Sat 11am-6pm, Sunday Noon-5pm. Museum hours vary.
Plan on spending 2 hours here
Turning Point Suffragist Memorial
About a mile from the Workhouse, you’ll find the Turning Point Suffragist Memorial at Occoquan Regional Park. This memorial stands in tribute and tells the story of ALL American suffragists, including the often underrepresented, who earned women the right to vote. There are 19 information stations, replica White House gates and a meditation garden. You can even stand in front of a small section of the ACTUAL White House gates that the Silent Sentinels protested in front of in 1917, on loan from the National Park Service.
Open dawn to dusk, 7 days a week
Plan on spending less than 1 hour here
Tip: If you are hungry at this point, try the Brickmakers Café in Occoquan Regional Park for a lovely waterfront lunch.
Elizabeth Hartwell Mason Neck National Wildlife Refuge
Elizabeth Hartwell was a native Virginian who loved the outdoors and the natural beauty of Mason Neck, the peninsula where founding father George Mason built his home, Gunston Hall.
In 1965, she heard of plans to turn the peninsula into a planned community and was immediately concerned about the bald eagles that call the area home. So she started writing letters, testifying at hearings, giving speeches and arranging boat tours of the marshes—anything to get officials listening.
It took years, but in 1969, the Mason Neck National Wildlife Refuge was established—the first refuge in America dedicated solely to the preservation of our national symbol, the bald eagle. It was later renamed to honor Mrs. Hartwell. Read the full story here.
Today, Mason Neck is a beautiful park with multiple nature trails, sweeping views of the bay, and the bald eagles that call this tract of land their home. It’s located at the end of a long, tree-lined lane on the right. You can’t reach the park without passing Gunston Hall, a worthy stop if you like historic homes and gardens. And there’s another park you’ll pass along the way, Pohick Bay Regional Park.
Open dawn to dusk, 7 days a week
Plan on spending 1-2 hours here
Imagine a world where you couldn’t tour Mount Vernon, the most visited historic home in the nation. Or a world where women didn’t have the right to vote. Fairfax County is proud to be home to such transformational stories at the hands of women – and home to many who are still making history each and every day.
