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"Old Fairfax Station" by Paul McGehee depicts a train of the Southern Railway passing Fairfax Station, Virginia in the mid-1920's. The historic Fairfax Station was established in 1851 as Lee's Station for the Orange and Alexandria Railroad. The name was changed to Fairfax Station after a year. The rail line was first created to transport farm goods north from central Virginia to Alexandria and Washington, DC, and in turn transport supplies south from the cites back to the farms. By the time of the Civil War, Fairfax Station had become one of the main transportation hubs for the Northern Virginia region. When war broke out, the important rail line became the scene of many skirmishes and, in August through September of 1862, was the scene of treatment for mass casualties coming in from Manassas during and after the 2nd Battle of Bull Run (Manassas) and Chantilly. A young employee of the U.S. Patent Office named Clara Barton had answered the call to nursing as the need arose...she took it upon herself to organize and tend to the wounded along the Union evacuation route at Fairfax Station. Two decades later, Clara Barton founded the American Red Cross. As time went on, Fairfax Station was rebuilt several times as the area prospered, the most recent structure dating back to 1903, and by this time was serving the passengers and freight of the Southern Railway, a large outfit whose engines sported a beautiful bright green livery. The small town that sprang up around the station (the main features being a postal depot and a church) was changed to Swetnam in 1897, and then briefly to Faircroft in 1918. It officially became Fairfax Station once again in 1921, and the name has stayed. Today, Fairfax Station is a well-populated mixture of beautiful suburban homes and burgeoning businesses, with modern highways coursing through the woodland setting. The Fairfax Station (which ceased operation in 1973) is still there, saved from a sad fate by volunteers banding together and was moved away from the tracks for safety's sake. Today it is a museum devoted to local rail history encompassing everything from the Civil War to model railroading. "Old Fairfax Station" is faithfully reproduced from Paul's original color pencil and acrylic artwork in a limited edition of 2,000 hand-signed prints.
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