A town of major architectural interest, Warrenton is a farming center for the region, a crossroads town, and a social center for a number of large equestrian estates in the region. The county seat of Fauquier County (formed 1759), it was known as Fauquier Courthouse before its incorporation in 1810. In 1811 the town was laid out in a gridiron pattern imposed on the hilly slopes. Main Street follows the top of the ridge, and cross streets run downhill. Since the 1960s the town has fallen into the northern Virginia–Washington, D.C., orbit, and sprawl has developed. Attempts to bypass and preserve the old town have been semisuccessful. Warrenton has a tremendous stock of nineteenth-century houses, of which only a few can be covered here. Much of the downtown tour should be walked.
Writing Credits
If SAH Archipedia has been useful to you, please consider supporting it.
SAH Archipedia tells the story of the United States through its buildings, landscapes, and cities. This freely available resource empowers the public with authoritative knowledge that deepens their understanding and appreciation of the built environment. But the Society of Architectural Historians, which created SAH Archipedia with University of Virginia Press, needs your support to maintain the high-caliber research, writing, photography, cartography, editing, design, and programming that make SAH Archipedia a trusted online resource available to all who value the history of place, heritage tourism, and learning.