Esthetician School in Annandale, VA

When Europeans arrived in the 17th century, the area around Annandale, which became Fairfax County, was inhabited by an Algonquian-speaking sub-group called the Taux, also known as the Doeg or Dogue.

In 1685, an Englishman, Col. William H. Fitzhugh, purchased over 24,000 acres (37.5 square miles) of wilderness in the area and converted it into one of the largest tobacco plantations in Northern Virginia. It stretched from current day Fairfax City to Springfield and Falls Church and south to Pohick Church. Fitzhugh’s descendants later named it “Ravensworth.” For over six generations, the Fitzhugh family farmed at Ravensworth and slowly sold off portions of the land.

In 1830, the community of Annandale was named by a Scottish settler, after the town named Annan located at the mouth of the River Annan. Annandale followed nearby Dumfries to become the second place in Dumfriesshire to become the name of a settlement in Virginia. In 1806, the Little River Turnpike (now Virginia State Route 236) had been completed through the community, connecting it with Alexandria and Fairfax. In 1808, the Columbia Pike (now Virginia State Route 244) was built, connecting the District of Columbia with Little River Turnpike in what is now Annandale. The first businessman to locate in Annandale was William Garges, who built a blacksmith shop and a livery stable at the intersection of Columbia Pike, Little River Turnpike and Backlick Road, which would become the center of town. Garges became the first postmaster at the Annandale Post Office, which opened in 1837. Small farms and businesses grew up around the town and its first church, the Annandale Methodist Chapel, was built in 1846.