A Collection in the Library of Virginia
Accession number 50584, 51432
Library of Virginia
The Library of Virginia 800 East Broad Street Richmond, Virginia 23219-8000 USA Phone: (804) 692-3888 (Archives Reference) Fax: (804) 692-3556 (Archives Reference) Email: archdesk@lva.virginia.gov(Archives) URL: http://www.lva.virginia.gov/
The town of Herndon is located in Fairfax County. The tracks of the Alexandria, Loudoun and Hampshire Railroad came through
the area around 1857 and residents requested that a post office be located at the railroad station. The town was named for
William Lewis Herndon, captain of the sidewheel steamer Central America who had gone down with his ship off of the Carolinas,
by a resident who was a survivor of the shipwreck. The town was incorporated in 1879.