Fairfax County Neighborhood & Community Services is seeking public input on a new name for Bailey's Community Center in Falls Church, VA. The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors is considering renaming the facility after a mid-20th Century pillar of the Black community, Minnie Peyton. The three-week community engagement period includes a community meeting and a public vote to determine community preference for a potential name change. 

A community meeting will be held on Wednesday, June 26, 2024 at 6 p.m. at Bailey's Community Center (5920 Summers Lane, Falls Church, VA). The public is invited to learn about Minnie Peyton and the history of Bailey’s Community Center. Attendees will also have the opportunity to share input on the renaming of the center. Spanish interpretation available; for additional language or transportation needs, call 703-533-5750.   

Three options have been identified as potential names. The public may vote on the following options through July 11, 2023: 

• Minnie Peyton Community Center
• Minnie H. Peyton Community Center
• Minnie H. Peyton Community Center at Bailey’s

Born in 1889 in Washington, DC, Minnie (Hungerford) Peyton was a well-known matriarch of Springdale, a historically Black community in Bailey’s Crossroads. In 1928, Minnie and her sister Florence (Hungerford) Green agreed to buy five acres of land in Bailey’s Crossroads; the land was conveyed to the sisters in 1935. In 1954, each sister sold approximately 1.5 acres of land to the Fairfax County School Board. On September 4, 1956, Lillian Carey Elementary School opened on the property previously owned by sisters Minnie and Florence. Fairfax County opened the adjacent Bailey’s Community Center on January 28, 1978. Bailey’s Community Center – which now includes the former Lillian Carey School – offers a variety of programs and activities for all ages and abilities.

Minnie died in 1985 at the age of 96, having spent 50 years in the Springdale community. On Sept. 12, 2023 – at the request of then-Mason District Supervisor Penny Gross – the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors directed the Fairfax County History Commission to verify documentation related to Minnie Peyton and the desire to name Bailey’s Community Center in her honor. In a May 21, 2024, Board Matter (#20), Mason District Supervisor Andres Jimenez shared that the History Commission had completed its report. The Board of Supervisors then directed NCS to begin the process of broader inclusive engagement for the community to collectively contribute recommendations that inform the naming decision. 

For more information on the renaming effort, visit Renaming of Bailey's Community Center.