Phone:
(703) 250-6711
Fax:
(703) 764-9204

PRICES

ORDER FORM

DRAWING
INDEX

  PLACES OF INTEREST NOTECARD ASSORTMENTS      PLACES OF INTEREST UNMATTED PRINT SETS  

The American Red Cross can trace its roots to St. Mary's Church, where Clara Barton, the organization's founder, tirelessly nursed Union soldiers wounded at the Second Battle of Manassas and the action at Chantilly in early September 1862. Previously a file clerk in the U.S. Patent Office in Washington, D.C., Barton became known as the Angel of the Battlefield.

Called St. Mary of Sorrows for years after the Civil War, the church was built largely by Orange and Alexandria Railroad workers who had settled in the area. The Irish Catholic railroad laborers had tired of celebrating Mass from boxcars standing at Fairfax Station. The graves of a number of these church builders and their family members can be found in the churchyard today.

The location of the church near the railroad depot on the main road from the Fairfax Courthouse made it vulnerable to Union and Confederate conflicts over control of rail lines in the area. As President, Ulysses S. Grant authorized $765 to compensate the church for damage inflicted by the Union troops.

St. Mary's remains an active parish with strong ties to the past. Since 1873, parishioners have enjoyed the Annual Labor Day Picnic in the churchyard. The church also continues to be a popular location for weddings. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.

Text © 1997 Tery White, Drawing © 1997 Bill Harrah