Tour Guide Out For City Residents in Fairfax

FAIRFAX, VA — Ever had out-of-town guests come to visit you for a day or so — or even, say, a week — and inquire about the best, well, "touristy" sites in town? Ever been unable to provide a comprehensive answer because, well, you've never actually been a tourist in your own town, and thus are more or less clueless?

Well, the good folks of Fairfax city government are ready to relieve you of such an awkward burden. Not only that, but the city's Historic Resources Office also is suggesting you get a keener sense of exactly where you live and un-visited places you might just want to visit. Toward that end, the city is pinpointing May as a month for guided tours and the like to better make you familiar with your environs.

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Here's a list, provided by the city, to help your or your guests on prospective journeys.

• Fairfax Museum and Visitor Center is open from 9 am to 5 pm daily (except major holidays).Housed int he historic Fairfax Elementary School (built in 1873 as the first two-story brick school in Fairfax County and listed on the National Register of Historic Places). The visitor center provides general visitor information for the city and the region, and the museum produces permanent and special exhibitions.

• Historic Blenheim is open from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. It is nationally significant for the voluminous quantity and quality of examples of Civil War inscriptions. More than 120 signatures, pictographs, games, and thoughts were left on the house walls by Union soldiers during their occupation of the Fairfax Court House area in 1862-63. This "diary on walls" provides insight into typical soldier life and extends to the effect of this war on local residents--such as the Willcoxon family--and free and enslaved people of African descent.

• Ratcliffe-Allison-Pozer house tours — Built by Richard Ratcliffe in 1812, this house is one of the city's oldest residences. This house-museum interprets the daily activities of some of its owners and occupants, illustrating commercial and domestic change along Main Street. The Ratcliffe-Allison-Pozer House is open to the public for free tours from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays from April through October, during many city special events, during walking tours and by appointment.

• Guided tours of Old Town Fairfax — Discover Fairfax history on foot with a 90-minute guided tour of Old Town Fairfax. Tours step off at 10 a.m. from Historic Fairfax Courthouse, 4000 Chain Bridge Road, on May 6, June 3, July 1, August 5, September 2, and October 7. Cost is $10 per person, $5 for youth age 6-12, $25 per family (of three or more). Reservations are recommended. Information: 703-385-8414.

• Self-guided history tour — Take a self-guided tour with the City of Fairfax Map of History and additional information about the city's historic landmarks and features.

• Second Sunday Series — Programs are scheduled monthly on the second Sunday (with a few exceptions). At 2 p.m. May 7 (please note date), explore Desegregation of Fairfax County Public Schools. Speaker Megan Garnett, High School Social Studies Department chair at James W. Robinson Secondary School, bases her talk on her master’s thesis. Information: 703-385-8414.

• Civil War Interpretive Center at Historic Blenheim — Programs are held monthly at the Civil War Interpretive Center at Historic Blenheim, 3610 Old Lee Highway. At 2 p.m. May 20, learn about Loudoun Boundary Line and Stuart’s Significant Achievement, the Loudoun/Fairfax County boundary line and J.E.B. Stuart’s difficult journey impacting his late arrival to Gettysburg in 1863. Information: 703-591-0560.

Photo: Fairfax Museum and Visitor Center