As the court house drew men to this area and the population increased, a school for girls was established on the property west of Truro Episcopal Church. Known as Coomb's Cottage, it was a finishing school for young girls and boasted a roster of approximately one hundred young ladies from both the north and the south.
The school was built and established by Dr. and Mrs. Baker, who were English. In addition to the main house (a white frame building west of the church), there were a number of other buildings. Two of these are located across Route 236 from the Church and are still standing today. One is a professional building, the other a private home. They were moved to their present location by Judge Love when he bought the original school property. (The school closed down during the Civil War and was never re-opened).
The present Truro Episcopal Rectory had been built as a home by Judge Love's father, Thomas R. Love, who later sold it to Dr. William Gunnell and built his home in the large grove of trees on the Layton Hall property, near the site of the present town hall. "Dunleith", as the large brick home was called, was destroyed by Union forces and replaced by an ordinary frame house after the war.
The Cooper Carriage house was built during this time by a Mr. Cooper who had come to Fairfax from the North. Mr. Cooper was a highly respected citizen and a very gallant Confederate soldier. He was wounded seven times. Cooper Carriage House is located east of the professional building which was a part of Coomb's Cottage.
Another house built before the Civil War was the home of Judge Henry W. Thomas which stood on the site now occupied by the large, pillared, grey stucco house belonging to Mrs. John Barbour. This house served as headquarters for the Union officers and afterwards as a hospital.
The old cedar posts on the porch of the frame part of this house were the original posts that held the gallery in the old court house. When some remodeling of the court house was done, Judge Thomas bought the posts. They were later removed to a white frame house which served as a tenement house for the Barbour estate. This house is still standing today and the porch roof is sustained by tapering posts, which are more delicate and slender than ones usually found on outside porches.
Also built during this era was the D'Astre place, which is the present home of Mr. A. B. McClure. This home was owned by a Frenchman who had the reputation for making wonderful wines. The vineyard of Niagaras, Delawares, Concords bear out the tribute. The runway from the cellar to the highway where the barrels were loaded is evidenced today by a road leading to a log house near the grape arbors. The tenement house, now owned by Mrs. Douglas Murray, boasts a concealed attic room, hidden behind a closet. Here Confederate soldiers picked off the Union troops as they marched past. The house was raided many times by Union troops but still managed to keep its secret.
Beyond the D'Astre place was the home of Charles Broadwater, which has recently been torn down for widening of The Little River Turnpike. When torn down, the well house revealed numerous musket balls from the war. The house itself was a study in architectural beaming. Each wall header was constructed of large hand-hewn oak timbers. Each timber had hand-hewn slots which received studs secured by wooden pegs.
The large colonial brick house at the corner of Sager Avenue and University Drive was possibly built during this era too. The land had been part of the Ratcliffe division, designated as Lot 26, and had passed from the Moss family to the Jackson family. Later, a Mr. Harry Fitzhugh, who taught school here, bought it and eventually sold it to Mr. F. W. Richardson.
The Draper house at the corner of Main and Route 237 was built in 1827 by Dr. S. Draper who occupied it until 1842, at which time a Mr. William Chapman bought it. The wide upstairs portico and two immense chimneys at each end of the brick house were characteristic of the houses built at that time.