ed because they were considered appropriate due to former
association with the courthouse. And, as noted earlier, the pews
which possibly had been obtained from the Jerusalem Baptist Church
were retained in the restored courtroom.[170]

_General Setting and Building Site._ The original Fairfax County
courthouse today comprises the north end section of the courthouse
building. Together with its immediately adjacent grounds, the present
courthouse complex occupies almost the entire four-acre tract which
was the original site. This tract still forms a square near the center
of the City of Fairfax, at the intersections of two main roads, Routes
236 (Little River Turnpike) and 123 (Chain Bridge Road). The general
setting is gently rolling terrain, and the courthouse site is on a
slightly higher elevation than the surrounding area, with stone
retaining walls on the two sides facing the turnpike and road. On the
west side of the courthouse building is a parking lot occupying
approximately two acres. The twelve-story county office building
(Massey Building) completed in 1969 is located approximately 200 yards
south and west of the courthouse.

_The Exterior_

_Overall Dimensions._ The restored, original courthouse building is a
plain rectangle, 61 feet long by 32 feet wide. It is oriented with the
long sides facing north and south, with the main entrance at the east
end of the building. A portico extends across the entire east end of
the building, covering an area 12 by 32 feet. The height of the
building at the gable ends is 32 feet; and the height of the eaves
from the ground is 21 feet.

_Foundations._ As originally built, the courthouse rested on brick
foundation walls, anchored at the corners in brick piers, with a crawl
space of approximately 1-1/2 to 2 feet in height beneath all but the
front (east) quarter of the floor space. Additional brick bases,
approximately 18 inches square and resting on the ground, were located
in the crawl space beneath the two columns supporting the courthouse
balcony. In the late nineteenth century, a partial basement was dug
beneath the central section of the courtroom.[171]

As reconstructed, the exterior foundation walls were pointed up and
repaired, and were strengthened by the addition of several new
footings. Across the back (west end) of the building, the crawl space
was deepened to a uniform 3 feet, and four 12 x 12 inch brick piers
were placed on concrete footings. In the cen