Fairfax Circuit Court Awarded Grant to Preserve Local Court Records

The Library of Virginia announced that the Circuit Court Records Preservation (CCRP) program has awarded Fairfax Circuit Court Clerk John T. Frey a grant in the amount of $22,419.50 for local records preservation. The funds will be used to conserve:

• Deed Book C-5, 1882-1883
• Deed Book W-6, 1907
• Proceedings in Land Causes, 1796–1824 and 1806-1832
• Land Tax Books 1875 through 1877
• The Alexandria Annexation Map, circa 1952

All items are housed at the Fairfax Circuit Court Historic Records Center in Historic Fairfax Courthouse. These records will also be digitized so that they can be made available to the public through the clerk’s online CPAN system.

One of the more interesting court records is the Alexandria Annexation Map, which is approximately four feet long and three feet tall when laid flat. 

“This is no small thing, literally," says Deputy Clerk Gerarda Culipher. "This map was a key piece of evidence in a 1950s case about the borders of what is now Fairfax County and its neighbor, Alexandria City. People often ask me why some people with ‘Alexandria’ addresses are actually Fairfax residents. This enormous map and the boundary dispute that precipitated it, tells the history of Northern Virginia’s jurisdictional contours and showcases the pivot from a predominantly rural Fairfax to a sprawling suburb. Commuters might be interested to know that just couple years after the final decree in that Annexation case, construction on the Capital Beltway and the Woodrow Wilson Bridge began.”

Since 1990, the CCRP has awarded more than 2,000 grants totaling more than $34,000,000. This year, the program awarded $4.7 million to 99 localities to assist the clerks’ offices with their preservation efforts.

The CCRP is a collaborative program between the Library of Virginia and the Virginia Court Clerks Association (VCCA). Funded through a $3.50 portion of the clerk’s recordation fee, the CCRP provides resources to help preserve and make accessible permanent circuit court records stored in the 120 circuit courts and at the Library of Virginia. For more information on the Circuit Court Records Preservation Program’s resources and services, visit www.lva.virginia.gov.

For information on these and other records, contact the Historic Records Center at 703-246-4168 or email CCRHistoricRecords@fairfaxcounty.gov.