Old Cameron Valley School (Site)

Here follows a history of the school as published on the Fairfax County Public Schools website:

What’s in a Name?
Cameron Elementary School is named after the Cameron area which was the residence of General Samuel Cooper. He served in the United States Army from 1815 to 1861. His wife was the granddaughter of the patriot George Mason, who signed the Declaration of Independence. General Cooper was also the proprietor of Gunston Hall which is standing today on the Potomac River in southern Fairfax County. During the Civil War, the Cameron Mansion was torn down by Union troops who had decided to build a powder magazine on the site. Learn more about the origin of the name Cameron in this video produced for Fairfax County Public Schools’ cable television channel Red Apple 21:

Cameron Elementary School opened in September 1953. The origin of its name can ultimately be traced to Thomas, the Sixth Lord Fairfax, Baron of Cameron for whom Fairfax County is named. Part of Lord Fairfax’s title, Cameron, has been used for nearly 300 years as a name for Fairfax County waterways, homes, and roads. Cameron Run, a creek north of Cameron Elementary School, is a tributary of Great Hunting Creek which flows into the Potomac River. A historic plantation called Cameron, once located north of Cameron Run along Quaker Lane, was the home of General Samuel Cooper, the highest-ranking officer in the Confederate Army. During the American Civil War, Cooper’s home was destroyed by Union Army soldiers, and Fort Williams was constructed on the site. The first public school located in the vicinity opened in the 1870s, in a small hamlet on Telegraph Road south of Cameron Run. Known variously as the Valley School, Pulman School, and Cameron School, it was replaced in 1892, by a new one-room structure located three quarters of a mile to the south on Telegraph Road. This new schoolhouse, called the Cameron School, was built on land donated by sisters Anne and Elizabeth Frobel of nearby Wilton Hill. The school served for 40 years, closing in 1932. By the early 1950s, the small hamlet on Telegraph Road, once known as Cameron, had become known as Happy Valley. In May 1952, the Fairfax County School Board chose Happy Valley Elementary School as the name for the new school under construction in that area. However, the school board grew dissatisfied with the name, and voted to rename it Cameron Elementary School in January 1953.
Cameron Elementary School preserves in its name the rich history of the Cameron community and its schools of yesteryear.

Choosing a Name
Shortly after construction began, the School Board was approached by David Scull, President of the Board of Directors of the Burgundy Farm Country Day School. Mr. Scull requested that the name of the new elementary school be something other than Burgundy in order to avoid confusion with his school which had already been in operation for several years. On May 29, 1952, Mrs. Beatrice Claire Lofchie, Chairman of the committee for naming the new school under construction in Burgundy Village, submitted three names to the School Board for consideration: Cameron Run, Happy Valley, and Elmwood. Superintendent W. T. Woodson suggested that Cameron was a good choice because there had been a one-room schoolhouse in the area by that name. However, the School Board selected the name Happy Valley instead.

The Cameron School, also known as the Cameron Valley School, was located on Telegraph Road near Wilton Road. The school opened circa 1893 and closed in 1932. Photograph courtesy of the Franconia Museum.