Colchester Inn
GPS Coordinates: 38.6682807, -77.2356832
Closest Address: 10712 Old Colchester Road, Lorton, VA 22079

The Colchester Inn is more commonly known by the name Fairfax Arms Tavern.
<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>
<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>
Here follows an excerpt from the website of the Fairfax County Park Authority's Resident Curator program:
The Fairfax Arms tavern was constructed in the 1750s and is the only surviving original building from the town of Old Colchester. The building was used as the town`s tavern until the early 1800s, when it became a residential dwelling. Improvements were made to the house over the years with much of the integrity of the original 18th century building preserved. In the 1980s, the current owners added a large addition to the North-East side of the building that included, among other things, a modern kitchen. The building is listed under both the National Register of Historic Places and the Fairfax Inventory of Historic sites.
<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>
<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>
Here follows an excerpt from the 1970 Fairfax County Master Inventory of Historic Sites which contained entries from the Historic American Buildings Survey Inventory:
Fairfax Arms is one of two early structures still standing on the site of the old port town of Colchester, which was established in 1753. This structure and the Metzger house both face the old King's Highway right-of-way which was, until about 1805, the main road from Alexandria to Williamsburg. (Alexandria Gazette, August 1, 1805.)
Banjamin Grayson bought three town lots, including this one, at the first sale by the trustees in May 1756. When Grayson's estate went through bankruptcy in 1767, three lots were advertised, including the present location of Fairfax Arms, as having "a dwelling suitable for an ordinary or private family." (July 9, 1767, Maryland Gazette.) For a number of years and through several changes of ownership the property was in the hands, at one time or another, of all the prominent merchants in town. The three lots were sold as a unit until 1811. It was possibly once the "Colchester Inn," a popular ordinary where the Truro Parish Vestry is thought to have met on occasion. It was used mainly as a tavern. Few changes appear to have been made to the original structure over the years. It has a pair of exterior stone end chimneys and a twin-door entrance. Early woodwork and mantels can be seen on the main floor, where there are corner fireplaces and ten foot ceilings. Regarding the framing of the basement ceiling, T. T. Russell, A.I.A., has commented on the "truly remarkable bit of colonial engineering in timber construction." Addition of the cement front porch which forms the roof of the garage was made in the 1930's be the then owners, the Gillinghams.
The 38 foot deep stone-lined dug well in the yard bears resemblance to the wells at the Metzger house and at Mount Air.
<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>
<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>
Here follows an excerpt from the Clio Foundation website as written by Laurie Paonessa and Benjamin Woodard:
Introduction
This late 18th-century structure is one of only two buildings remaining from the era when the town of Colchester was a thriving port. The nearly forgotten town took advantage of the Occoquan River location until the port silted up. Also known as the Fairfax Arms Tavern, the Colchester Inn may have been constructed around 1753 and was last used as an "ordinary" in 1800. A visitor in the 1790s praised the hospitality and comfort of the tavern with its spacious rooms and Madeira on ice. Since 1800, the frame building on a stone foundation with twin entrances has served as a private home. The structure was listed on the Virginia Landmark and National Registers in the 1970s and continues to serve as a private home.
Backstory and Context
The Colchester Inn, also known as the Fairfax Arms Tavern, may have been built around 1753, when the new town of Colchester was being laid out in 41 lots plus a market square. In 1763, the owner of the lot, William Linton, was fined for operating a tavern without a license; this seems to be the first evidence of a structure on the lot. An advertisement in 1767 for sale of the lot mentioned the presence of a house that would serve well as a tavern/ ordinary. A tavern was kept here by William Thompson from 1779 until he died in 1800 shortly after mortgaging the property; since he was the town postmaster, the tavern likely doubled as the local post office. After Thompson's death, the home reverted to a private residence. Thompson's widow was still trying to sell the property in 1802, when it was occupied by a Dr. Blake. The tract was finally sold in 1811 to Peter Wagener; and then again in 1835 to Thomas Baird. The home's value in 1835, $230, was one of the most valuable properties in Colchester.
The Colchester Inn is located near Old Colchester Road. Colchester was a thriving seaport on the Occoquan River in the eighteenth century, especially for tobacco exporting. The town fell into hard times by the 1790s after a fire destroyed many of its buildings and the harbor silted up. The merchant ships headed up the Potomac River to another town, Alexandria, which became one of the busiest seaport of its time. Colchester has essentially disappeared over time, and the Colchester Inn is one of only two buildings left from the town's heyday.
The Colchester Inn is constructed in a simple vernacular style in a rectangular plan of only 25 by 32 feet. The building is wood frame, 1-1/2 stories, with twin entrances. The gable roof has twin hipped dormers on each face. Alas, the two chimneys are not twins though they may have once been - the west one is built of stone and the other begins as stone and tops out as brick. The house is on a sloping lot so the stone foundation is taller on the downslope side. Owners in the late 1930s removed a wooden stoop entrance on one side and replaced it with a poured concrete porch along the length of the house. A vestibule has been added to the rear door, as well as an asphalt shingle roof, gutters and downspouts.
An Englishman named John Davis was living across the river in the town of Occoquan while tutoring the Ellicott children. Davis wrote a book about his travels in America from 1798 to 1802, and mentioned enjoying being treated royally while enjoying this tavern's food and drink. Davis raved about the building's luxurious carpeting, large mirrors, and ice-chilled Madeira.
The building was documented in 1937 and 1959 by the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS). The house served as a summer home for the 1959 owners, the Robert V. Duncan family from Alexandria.
The Colchester Inn was listed as a Virginia Landmark in 1973, when it already was over 200 years old! Six years later, the building was added to the National Register of Historic Places, when it again was owned by a Thompson family. The building is significant for the eighteenth century in the areas of architecture, commerce, communications, and transportation. The building is privately owned and has not been sold since 1976.
<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>
<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>
Here follows an excerpt from "The Fairfax Arms: The Place to Be" as written by Raymond Nye and published on the University of Central Florida History Department website:
The town of Colchester, established in 1753 by the Virginia Assembly, was laid out in a triangular shape and consisted of forty-one lots and a marketplace. Colchester quickly became a thriving port town, shipping tobacco to Great Britain. One of the earliest businesses to be established in the port town were ordinaries or taverns that provided a place where merchants, craftsmen, and planters could go and enjoy good fare, talk about life or business, all in a warm and friendly environment.
Situated approximately three hundred meters from the Occoquan River along Essex Street (formerly known as the King’s Highway) stood the Colchester Inn, commonly known as the Fairfax Arms Tavern. On May 17, 1756, lot 21 was one of six lots purchased by Benjamin Grayson that became the Fairfax Arms Tavern. William Linton rented the property from Grayson and was granted a license to run an ordinary at the premises on July 21, 1761, which was renewed on February 15, 1763. Linton was financially backed by Hugh West, a local attorney and prominent land owner, who had made his wealth through inheritance and tobacco.
Evidence of the Colchester Inn can be found in the accounts of the Colchester store of the mercantile firm of John Glassford & Company, established in Colchester in 1758. As can be seen in the account below, the tavern keeper William Linton made several purchases from Henderson’s Colchester store in 1761. The purchase of the tea kettle suggests that, even in the American colonies, the English still enjoyed a nice cup of hot tea when they were away from home. The candlesticks infer that there was an inviting, cozy atmosphere for the patrons of the Fairfax Arms.
Benjamin Grayson ran into some financial troubles in 1762 and was forced to mortgage the property, and eventually put the property up for sale in 1767. Hector Ross purchased it in 1772 but sold it again a year later to Alexander Henderson, the manager and owner of the Colchester store where William Linton made his purchases in 1761.
During the late 1770s, the Fairfax Arms started to provide another important service for the residents of Colchester. Alexander Henderson and William Thompson were the town’s postmasters, and it is believed that they operated their postal business from the premises. Henderson sold the property to Thompson who in July 1784 tried to put the property up for sale in the Virginia Journal and Alexandria Advertiser. However, he was unable to sell the property and held onto it until his death in 1800. According to the listing, excerpted below, the property by that time included a stable and a meat house.
A large and convenient dwelling with excellent cellar, four rooms on a floor with a fireplace to each and three rooms above. Good kitchen with oven adjacent to the fireplace, a room at one end with a planked floor, lathed and plastered, glass windows, was intended for a housekeeper or white servant; stable for eight horses and a meat house, garden and about one acre adjacent in grass well enclosed.
What makes this tavern extra interesting is that it is one of only two original buildings built in Colchester in the 1760s still standing today. Now a private residence, the building represents an important part of colonial America in Virginia. Because of its value to the port town of Colchester, the Fairfax Arms was included in the Historic American Buildings Survey in 1933 and was listed on the National Register of Historical Places in 1979.
<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>
<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>
Here follows an excerpt from the website of the Fairfax County Park Authority's Resident Curator program:
Fairfax Arms Historic Site:
10712 Old Colchester Road, Lorton, Virginia
The Fairfax Arms property occupies Lot #21 of the original town of Colchester, an approximately one half acre parcel that edges Old Colchester Road near the Occoquan River, a tributary of the Potomac River in eastern Fairfax County, Virginia. U.S. Highway 1 and Interstate 95 are located to the northwest of the property, while the town of Lorton is located due north.
History Overview:
The Fairfax Arms is the only original structure still standing in the town of Colchester. This port town, chartered in 1753, was located at a strategic point on the main road between Alexandria and points south. At Colchester, the road crossed the Occoquan via a ferry which began operation during the 1690s. Benjamin Grayson purchased the lots upon which the building now stands in 1756 from the Trustees of the town of Colchester. Grayson's deed specifically states that he must erect "one house of brick stone or wood well framed" within two years, or forfeit the lot back to the Trustees (D-1, 331). The lots were advertised in 1767 as having a dwelling "suitable for an ordinary or private family." It appears that the structure originally served as a dwelling and was converted to a tavern later.
During its period of operation, the Fairfax Arms was probably a center of activity in Colchester. It appears that the County Court for Fairfax County, as well as the Vestry of Truro Parish, may have met at the ordinary during the 1760s. John Davis, a writer during the colonial period, praised the Arms' owner, "Enter but his house with money in your pocket, and his features will soften into blandishments of delight!" The structure was known to have been used as a tavern as late as 1800. Modern owners have been sensitive to the historic value of the house, and have done surprisingly little to alter the original structure. Until 1927 the cellar housed the kitchen and had a dirt floor. The Gillinghams added a bathroom and plumbing and heating after their 1927 purchase. Sometime after 1934 they replaced the original high front entry stoop with the present porch.
A.R. Roberts, who purchased the house in 1941, installed the oak flooring on the first floor. The old flooring had been covered with linoleum. The original floorboards may still be underneath. The Duncans installed a new kitchen and built a swimming pool in 1971. In 1988 a large addition was added to the northeast end of the house. This addition faithfully replicates the look of the original block and is appended to it with a hyphen. [A note on this addition: some DPZ sources indicate a "1970s" construction date. Most claim 1988. It may be that something was added in the 1970s and something else in 1988.] The foregoing information is based on "Colchester: Colonial Port on the Potomac" by Edith Moore Sprouse, and "Historic Houses of the Potomac Path" by Michael Bohn.