The history of St. Mary Of Sorrows Catholic Church dates to 1836 when two Catholic families living in Fairfax, the Hamills and the Cunninghams, donated land to the Diocese of Richmond on which they requested that a church and cemetery be built. An in-depth history of this historic church can be found on the church's official web site, http://www.stmaryofsorrows.org.

The Story of Clara Barton and the American Red Cross

Clara Barton, a clerk in the U.S. Patent Office, arrived on one of the trains coming from Alexandria, VA during the Battle Of Second Manassas in the Civil War. She organized a group of volunteers to care for the wounded soldiers, using pews in the church as hospital beds. During the heavy rains, the doctors working with her performed surgery in the only dry place, the church. She remained with her patients until the last wounded soldier was evacuated. She then watched, from the window of the last departing train, as Confederate soldiers captured and burned Fairfax Station. The church, however, was spared, and the original building which Barton and her volunteers occupied, remains today. It was during the time spent at St. Mary Of Sorrows that Barton began the movement to found what has become the American Red Cross.