Did You Know?

OK…these aren’t necessarily direct sales tools, but they’re fun. The trivia bits also serve as great anecdotal conversation starters when meeting with clients!  Did you know that George Washington operated the largest Whiskey Distillery in early America...or that the Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird set a new transcontinental speed record on its last ceremonial flight to Fairfax County’s National Air and Space Museum Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center? Use these wonderful facts about the one-of-a-kind attractions and experiences awaiting your clients here in Fairfax County! 


•    The Women’s Rights movement was alive and well in Fairfax County before it caught on elsewhere in America; Colvin Run Mill had a woman miller in the late 19th century! When Emma Millard’s husband, miller Addison Millard, died in 1896, she inherited the family gristmill business and ran it under her own name.

•    Did you know that Fairfax County is home to a natural Olympic training facility? In the Great Falls area, Olympic kayakers test themselves by going through class V rapids at various locations along the Potomac River. And where else in the country could they enjoy 5-star dining that same night? 

•    Colvin Run Mill is one of the only places in Fairfax County where visitors can buy freshly ground grits— the most delicious in the county!

•    In its last ceremonial flight from Los Angeles to the National Air and Space Museum Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center located in Fairfax County, the Museum’s Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird set a new transcontinental speed record of 1 hour, 4 minutes and 20 seconds.

•    George Washington's Mount Vernon in Fairfax County is America's most visited historic estate with one million visitors per year. 

•    Tysons Corner is easily one of the East Coast’s best shopping experiences. With over 500 stores and restaurants within walking distance from one another, any shopping fanatic is sure to be pleased.

•    Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts is the only national park in the country that is solely dedicated to the performing arts. With nearly 100 shows in 100 days during the summer months, artists ranging from Sting and Elvis Costello to The Bolshoi Ballet have been scheduled to perform at this venue.

•    The first national preservation project in America is located in Fairfax County. Can you name it? Mount Vernon was opened to the public in 1860, just before the Civil War. It has been in continuous operation for 145 years and has never taken taxpayer money.

•    Former slave West Ford founded the community of Gum Springs after being freed by George Washington. Located close to the Mount Vernon Estate, the community was a haven for freedmen and runaway slaves.

•    Fairfax County’s own George Washington operated the largest whiskey distillery in early America, producing 11,000 gallons in 1797. You can visit the reconstructed site today from April - October.

•    In stark contrast to the white-domed ambiance of the main building at the National Air and Space Museum Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, the exposed steel of the Space Hangar has been painted black to simulate space.

•    In the Space Hall at the National Air and Space Museum Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, the direct light shining on the popular Space Shuttle Discovery was done on purpose to mimic the sun shining on a shuttle in orbit.

•    You might know that a great feature of the National Air and Space Museum Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center is the Donald Engen Observation Tower that allows you to view air traffic into Dulles International Airport as never before. What you might not know is that the tower had to be encased in concrete to cut down on motion from the wind.

•    The concrete mat floor beneath the almost 200,000-pound Discovery is just over 15 inches thick. Talk about a strong floor!

•    The Udvar-Hazy Center contains 40,000 cubic yards of concrete, 6,500 tons of steel, 87,000 square feet of masonry, 800,000 square feet of roofing, and 209,000 square feet of metal panel, and 12 miles of Walker duct.

•    The Washington and Old Dominion Railroad Regional Park (W&OD) has been used by locals and visitors alike as the main exercise highway in Fairfax County. People walk, run, bike, and skate their way through various parts of the trail but you have to eat your Wheaties before you travel this landmark from beginning to end, its 45 miles spans the width of Fairfax County and beyond.

•    It is only fitting that our nation’s official bird, the bald eagle, would find its first official home so close to Washington D.C. Mason Neck National Wildlife Refuge, in Fairfax County, was the first national refuge established for bald eagles. The 2,000-acre park is located along the banks of the Potomac River. (Mason Neck National Wildlife Refuge)

•    George Washington, Fairfax County’s most famous resident, still has the record for the shortest inaugural address for a President. His 135-word speech was given on March 4, 1793.

•    Their family headquarters may have been in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts, but the true center of the Kennedy political dynasty in the Fifties and Sixties was Hickory Hill, the Virginia home of Robert and Ethel Kennedy located in McLean.

•    Fairfax County has 50 square miles of parkland that includes three lakefront parks, nine municipal golf courses, five nature centers, and hundreds of recreation areas. (Fairfax County Park Authority)

•    William Thornton, the architect of the first U.S. Capitol, is also the designer of Woodlawn Estate in Fairfax County.

•    George Washington once owned the land that Colvin Run Mill stands on and he had plans to build a mill here. Unfortunately he died before he had a chance to begin building.

•    In 1964, Frank Lloyd Wright’s Pope Leighey House was moved from its original site in Falls Church to its present location, on the grounds of Woodlawn in Fairfax County.

•    The George Washington Memorial Parkway, which runs along the river in Fairfax County from the 14th Street Bridge to Washington’s home at Mount Vernon, was built in 1932 to commemorate Washington’s 200th birthday.

•    Fairfax County was named for the English nobleman Thomas, sixth Lord Fairfax.

•    The main house at Sully Historic Site was completed by Richard Bland Lee, who was Northern Virginia’s first Representative to Congress, as well as General Robert E. Lee's uncle.

•    The Vienna Volunteer Fire Department is the oldest in Fairfax County. Fathered by Leon Freeman, it started in 1903 with a small hand-drawn chemical engine that was housed under Mr. Freeman´s porch to prevent it from freezing in cold weather.

•    George Mason, a Fairfax County resident, wrote the Virginia Constitution and the Virginia Bill of Rights, on which the U.S. Bill of Rights is based. You can visit his home, Gunston Hall, located in southern Fairfax County.

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