Lake Fairfax Park

Lake Fairfax Park
Location Reston, Fairfax County, Virginia, USA
Coordinates 38°57′52″N 77°19′05″W / 38.964355°N 77.318139°W / 38.964355; -77.318139Coordinates: 38°57′52″N 77°19′05″W / 38.964355°N 77.318139°W / 38.964355; -77.318139
Area 476 acres (1.93 km2)
Operated by Fairfax County Park Authority
Status Open all year
Website Official FCPA site

Lake Fairfax Park is a park in Reston, Fairfax County, Virginia, USA owned and maintained by the Fairfax County Park Authority. Contained within the park is the 18-acre (0.073 km2) Lake Fairfax. The park also offers a waterpark, carousel, picnic areas, campgrounds, trails, playground and more.

The park has also played host to music festivals, including Lollapalooza and The HFStival.

The Water Mine

The Water Mine is a waterpark contained within Lake Fairfax Park which has over an acre of water play activities surrounded by a lazy river called Rattlesnake River with a 2.5-mile-per-hour (4.0 km/h) current.

History

Lake Fairfax was originally developed as a private recreation facility in the late 1950s - early 1960s by local developer and entrepreneur Mack Slye "Jack" Crippen Jr..

In 1965, James S. Mott and his wife Marguerite were denied entry to the park because they were black. Mott sued Lake Fairfax under the 1964 Civil Rights Act, and Lake Fairfax was enjoined from refusing entry to people on account of their race.[1][2]

At the end of 1965, the Fairfax County Park Authority expressed interest in purchasing the facility, and Crippen sold Lake Fairfax to the authority in 1966 for $1.7 million.[3][4]

References

  1. ↑ "Couple Sues Lake Fairfax, Alleges Rights Violation". The Washington Post. 18 June 1965. Retrieved 25 October 2015 – via Proquest. (subscription required (help)).
  2. ↑ "Racial Ban At Lake Fairfax Ended". The Washington Post. 13 July 1965. Retrieved 25 October 2015 – via Proquest. (subscription required (help)).
  3. ↑ "Lake Fairfax Is Sought for Public Park". The Washington Post. 19 December 1965. Retrieved 26 October 2015 – via Proquest. (subscription required (help)).
  4. ↑ "Fairfax Lake Payment Is Deferred". The Washington Post. 5 August 1970. Retrieved 25 October 2015 – via Proquest. (subscription required (help)).

External links


This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 4/30/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.