omes had been ramshackled by English troops.
Currency fell and prices rose. The farmer, who had by now turned to
wheat instead of tobacco for his livelihood, was receiving high
prices and seemed to be getting rich. However, his labor supply was
extremely limited and he found it difficult to raise enough crops to
supply his own needs. What labor he could find demanded extremely
high wages and the products which the farmer needed came at
extremely costly prices. In spite of difficulties, however, the
farmer saw the need for a good road to Alexandria, where he could
export his wheat. Thus the farmers of Fairfax, Alexandria, and
Loudoun Counties joined together to build The Little River Turnpike,
which was one of the first improved roads in the United States. This
road was completed in 1806 and as stated before, tolls were
collected for it at Earp's Ordinary. Another strong factor in the
completion of this road was the establishment of the County Court
House at the present site in the Town of Fairfax.

[Illustration]

VII. THE COURT HOUSE

In 1618 Gov. Yeardley established the prototype of the county court
by an order stating that "county courts be held in convenient
places, to sit monthly, and to hear civil and criminal cases." It
determined rates of local taxation, registered legal documents,
licensed inns and exercised control over their prices, directed the
building and repair of roads, and rendered judgments in both civil
and criminal cases.

While Fairfax County was still a part of the colony, the first
sessions of Court were probably held in Colchester, a thriving
seaport town where large quantities of tobacco were exported.
Charles Broadwater, John Carlyle, Henry Gunnell, Lord Thomas
Fairfax, George Mason, and George Washington were among the
Gentlemen Justices during the period of 1742 to 1776.

The first entry of the Court's minutes were made in 1742 at a
session held in Colchester. This was an order removing the county
records from Colchester to the new court house two miles north of
Vienna. This court house, where the Fairfax Resolves were written,
was called "Freedom Hill". Ambiguously, a gallows was constructed
here and death sentences were carried out promptly. The court house
remained at Freedom Hill for ten years when it was moved to
Alexandria.

There are many theories concerning the move to Alexandria: Roads
were poor and slow; there was still Indian hostility--the treaty of
Fontaineblea