People plant trees on Arbor Day, a celebration that was originated by J. Sterling Morton, a Nebraska newspaper editor who later became President Cleveland’s Secretary of Agriculture. The first Arbor Day was held in Nebraska on April 10, 1872, and the event resulted in the planting of more than a million trees. The Town of Herndon was incorporated just seven years later, in 1879. Although formal Arbor Day celebrations did not begin in the town until the 1980s, the people of Herndon have always demonstrated a respect for trees. In 1910, the Town Council passed an ordinance that made it …

  Our last article, “Private French Dulany, C.S.A.” (March 25), was about a young Confederate soldier who was killed in Herndon during the Civil War. That young soldier was buried on a hill where the Crounse house now stands, at the corner of Madison and Monroe Streets. Herndon residents may remember the property as having one of the oldest trees in Herndon, which came down during a storm in 2009. The Crouse family came to Herndon right after the Civil War. In the early 1800s, Herndon was a nameless village that was surrounded by farms. Before, during and after the Civil War, there was in an …

On March 17, 1863, Saint Patrick’s Day, Captain John S. Mosby made a raid on a Union outpost near one of his favorite targets, the Herndon train station on the Alexandria Loudoun & Hampshire Railroad. This raid also involved Kitty Kitchen Hanna, one very frightened resident in the village of Herndon. A Union picket post had been deployed at a sawmill near the station at the intersection of today’s Elden and Center Streets. The post consisted of 25 men under the command of Lieutenant Alexander G. Watson, Company L, of the First Vermont Cavalry. At noon, Mosby approached the Herndon train …

Many Herndon residents are familiar with Confederate Captain John S. Mosby’s raid at Herndon Station on March 17, 1863. But few may be familiar with the story of a famous Union Officer who was also involved in that raid, Major William Wells. William Wells was born in Vermont in 1837 and attended school at Kimball Union Academy in New Hampshire. When the Civil War broke out in 1861, William and three of his brothers joined the Union Army. He enlisted as a private and joined the First Vermont Cavalry. Within months he was promoted to 1st Lieutenant, and soon after to Captain. By 1862 he had …

Much has been written about Mosby’s Raid on Herndon Station, but who exactly was Colonel John Mosby? John Singleton Mosby was born in 1833 in Powhatan County, just west of Richmond, Virginia. He was named after his grandfather, John Singleton. When he was a young boy his family moved to Albemarle County, near Charlottesville. He was a small and sickly child. He was often picked on by school bullies, fighting back but always losing. As an adult he was 5’8” and weighed only about 125 pounds. He enrolled in Hampden-Sydney College in 1847. He left that school after two years and later, in 1850, …

Chuck Roberts, the  owner of Robert’s Carpets, started doing business in Herndon at 697 Spring St., in the building that now is home to Jimmy’s Old Town Tavern. Twenty years later, Chuck moved it to the current location, a few doors away at 681 Spring St. The building that houses Jimmy’s today dates to 1897, when the original owner, Magnus T. Wilkins, opened a general store there. Roberts Carpets operated in Alexandria for six years before opening a second store in Herndon. Chuck ran into Reston developer Robert E. Simon in the early ‘60s, saw what he was doing, and decided to move to Herndon…

This is another in an occasional series of columns that looks at some of the interesting—and sometimes amusing—insights into Herndon’s past that can be found in the old Town Council minute books. From the very beginning, livestock were a topic of considerable interest among the Town’s elected officials. On April 26, 1879, the Council adopted regulations that made it unlawful “to allow horses, mules, hogs, cows, and ox to run at large and graze on sidewalks or highways of the Town.” In furtherance of the cause, two months later—on June 7—it was announced that the first pound for animals picked…

The Medal of Honor is the highest award that can be bestowed upon an individual serving in the Armed Services. One of those medals was awarded to a Marine who was born in the Herndon area—Colonel Wesley L. Fox. The oldest of 10 children, Wesley Fox was born in 1931 to John Wesley and Desola Lee Fox. They lived off Dranesville Road, not too far outside the Town limits. John, a bricklayer by trade, had a small farm of about 50 acres where he raised cattle, hogs, wheat, and corn. John’s brother, Dave—who lived nearby—also was a farmer. Dave often helped John with his farm. In a recent interview…

A 100-year-old newspaper article provides a glimpse back at the origins of Herndon’s 21st century reality. At the Herndon Depot Museum there is a 100-year-old copy of The Observer newspaper, dated October 12, 1912. (The Observer name of 1912 was the inspiration for the name of the more recent Herndon Observer newspaper that served Herndon from 1976 until 2010.) The headline on a front-page article read, “Electric Cars In Operation - New Schedule Convenient and Satisfactory—Some Operating Troubles—Changes in Mail Service.” With Metro opening at the Wiehle Avenue station in 2013 and scheduled …

Exactly 100 years ago last month the Town began moving toward providing public utilities for its residents. On August 5, 1912, the Town Council passed the Electric Light Ordinance. It said, “it is deemed desirable by the Town Council of the Town of Herndon, Va. that electricity may be introduced into the said Town.” We’re not sure exactly when the contract to the first provider—the Herndon Light and Power Company—was awarded, but on January 7, 1916, the Town Sergeant reported that 16 lamps were lighted “every night when it is necessary and that it would be well to procure more.” Street lamps …

Sitting proudly at the corner of Elden and Station Streets is Herndon’s first official municipal building, now commonly referred to as the Old Town Hall. But long before the building was erected in 1939, the Town Hall property served as a center of commerce, government, and community activity. In 1856, the Alexandria and Washington Railroad Company installed a railroad turntable on the property to re-route train traffic. Later, that piece of land became known as a railroad park, a community gathering place. Picnics were held there, and later there were fundraising carnivals sponsored by the …

It was the American scientist, inventor, statesman, printer, and philosopher Benjamin Franklin who said, “…in this world nothing is certain but death and taxes.” We all pay them. Many of us complain about them. Some politicians today argue against them. Taxes have always been a certainty in the Town of Herndon, although by today’s standards they were slightly less than negligible in years past. For example: On October 25, 1879, the Town Council voted that “persons having less than $100 valuation in real estate or personal property should pay a tax of 10 cents.” On August 23, 1881, the Town …

If you have ever wandered around the Town Green behind the Herndon Municipal Center you have probably noticed the tall grey obelisk, Herndon’s Veterans Memorial. It is a half-size replica of the famous Herndon Monument located on the grounds of the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. The Annapolis monument was dedicated in memory of Commander William Lewis Herndon, the Town of Herndon’s namesake. Herndon was known for courageously going down with the ship he commanded, the S.S. Central America, during a three-day hurricane off of Cape Hatteras. He ensured the rescue of all 152 women …

What’s the story behind the old stained glass windows that two Grace Street residents recently found in their garage? We may never know for sure, but the mystery is an intriguing one. While I was acting as a docent in the Herndon Depot Museum one recent Sunday afternoon, two Town residents—Phil Jones and Aubrey Stokes—walked in and inquired about the significance of the stained glass windows in the transom above the depot doors. They were plastic, I explained. The originals were colored glass, but I did not know when the change occurred. Jones and Stokes, who live in an old brick home on …

Flashback to 1980: Jimmy Carter was President, Tom Rust was Mayor of Herndon, and Herndon’s population was a little over 13,000. At that time, the Town had an annual arts and crafts show near the old Town Hall, but a man named Arno Randall wanted more. A Herndon resident, Randall had just been elected as an officer in the Herndon Jaycees, a civic organization that was very active in Town at that time. Trying to think of an activity that would bring local businesses, civic organizations, residents and shoppers together, he recalled a festival that he had once seen in his travels. This was …

We've gathered some more interesting and amusing stories from Herndon's old Town Council minute books. Once again, thank you to Town Clerk Viki Wellershaus and her staff for their assistance with this column.  There must have been some attendance issues at those early Council meetings, because on January 12, 1882, a resolution was approved stating that any member of the Council failing to attend a regular meeting “shall pay a fine of twenty-five cents for each failure, unless excused by unanimous vote of the Council at its next regular meeting.” Today, the Herndon Department of Public Works …

One of the most important of the many duties carried out by the Town Clerk’s office is keeping the minutes of the Town Council meetings. Those minutes, going back to the first Town Council meeting on January 14, 1879, are archived on the Town website (www.herndon-va.gov), and anyone can access them. While most folks I know look to the minutes to document or verify something that took place at a recent meeting, skimming through the old records is a great way to get some insight into Herndon life in days past, and to find out how much things have (or haven’t, in some cases) changed. Following …

Lottie Dyer Schneider was born in Herndon in 1879, the year the Town was incorporated. In 1962, while living in Marion, Virginia, she wrote Memories of Herndon, Virginia, her recollection of life in her hometown. In 1979, the Herndon Historical Society reprinted the book and it remains available for purchase in the Depot today.  “My purpose in writing a chronicle of those early days,” she said, “is to preserve, if possible, for those who come after me the atmosphere of the village which characterized Herndon at that period—an atmosphere that is rapidly ceasing to exist and by many scarcely …

William Lewis Herndon, a Commander in the U.S. Navy, explored the entire length of the Amazon beginning in 1850. His goal was to spur steam travel on the river.  In 1855, he became the Captain of the S.S. Central America. Captain Herndon went down with his ship in 1857 in a hurricane off of North Carolina. The sinking of the Central America was one of America’s greatest maritime disasters. The train depot on the Alexandria Loudon & Hampshire Railroad was built in 1857, before the area became known as Herndon. The train allowed area residents to commute to Washington and Alexandria.  In 1858, …

• The Carroll House, located in Runnymede Park, has an interesting history that includes, possibly, a murder mystery. To learn more about the park, join the Friends of Runnymede Park for their annual meeting next Sunday, March 11, from 7-9 p.m. at ArtSpace Herndon. The meeting, which is free and open to the public, will begin with a wine and cheese reception and a slide show of photos taken in the park by Herndon High photography students. Runnymede Park, the Town’s 58-acre natural park, contains heavily wooded areas and a large meadow. It boasts over 450 native plant species, diverse …