Oakton Trolley Station
Introduction
Text-to-speech Audio
Images
A view of the station house in 2012 ((By JERRYE & ROY KLOTZ MD (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons))
![A view of the station house in 2012 ((By JERRYE & ROY KLOTZ MD (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons))](https://storage.googleapis.com/clio-images/medium_25377.55681.jpg)
Backstory and Context
Text-to-speech Audio
Around the turn of the nineteenth century into the 1900s, the Washington and Fairfax Electric Railway Company was a prominent figure in the development of urban and suburban transit in Virginia. Beginning with the courthouse as a terminus in 1904, the Washington and Fairfax Electric Railway Company would continue to expand its coverage of Virginia in the coming years. In 1905, the company built a trolley station and ticket office in Oakton, and for a time the line and company flourished, specializing in transporting goods into the city and serving commuters. However, around 1929, trolleys started to lost business as public transportation began to develop further and become more convenient than the trolley service. The Washington and Fairfax Electric Railway Company persisted, operating at a loss, until it was completely shut down in 1939.
After the shutdown of the Washington and Fairfax Electric Railway Company, the Oakton Trolley Station was converted into a general store and post office for a time. After the 1950s, the building was occasionally used as a boarding home, and then fell out of service in the 1980s. In 1988, though, the building was purchased by a family who began restoring the property and converting it into a private residence. On October 19th, 1994, it was designated on the Virginia Landmark Register, and on February 8th, 1995, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places.