ing on the table
are frequently mixed and confused, and many times thrown down by
persons crowding in and throwing their hats and gloves on the said
table, the ill consequences thereof being considered, it is
ordered that Charles Broadwater, Gent. agree with some workman to
erect a bar around the said clerk's table for the better
security of the books and papers.[11]

[Illustration: Cartograph of the Market Square and Fairfax County
Courthouse in Alexandria, as they might have appeared in the
eighteenth century. Drawn by Worth Bailey, 1949.]

In 1750, Fairfax County's western border closely approached the edge
of English settlement in Virginia. Settlements in the western part of
the County were growing far less rapidly than in the centers of
population in the eastern part. Alexandria, established as a town in
1749, showed signs of becoming a major seaport, and its merchants
complained that travel to the courthouse at Springfield was
burdensome, and that service of process and execution of writs was
well-nigh impossible.[12] They actively campaigned for moving the
courthouse to Alexandria, and overcame the opposition of the
"up-country" residents by offering to provide a suitable lot and build
a new courthouse in Alexandria.

Alexandria prevailed in 1752, and the records of the colonial Governor
in Council showed the following entries:

March 23, 1752. A petition subscribed by many of the principal
inhabitants of Fairfax County for removing the court house and
prison of that county to the town of Alexandria, which they
propose to build by subscription, was this day read, ORDERED that
the justices of the said county be acquainted therewith and
required to signify their objection against such removal, if they
have any, by the 25th of next month, on which day the Board will
resume the consideration thereof.

And:

April 25, 1752. Upon the petition of many of the inhabitants of
Fairfax County for removing the court house and prison of the said
county by subscription to the town of Alexandria, the Board being
satisfy'd that it is generally desired by the people, and on
notice given, no objection being made to it, ORDERED that the
court house and prison be removed accordingly to the town of
Alexandria.[13]

By May 1752, the County Court's Minute Book carried the final record
of business transacted at the Spring Fields Courthouse.

I