Gum Springs Community Building Chosen for Historical Significance
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Gum Springs Community Building Chosen for Historical Significance

The Pride of Fairfax Lodge #298 among 13 new sites for registry in Virginia.

A cornerstone building in historic Gum Springs was recently added to the Virginia Landmarks Register for its role in bringing the sense of community to the county’s oldest African American community. The Pride of Fairfax Lodge #298 building played a significant role, housing the activities of two organizations. One was the Mount Vernon Enterprise Lodge No. 3488, a fraternal order of the Grand United Order of Odd Fellows; and the other, Pride of Fairfax County Lodge #298, a chapter of the Prince Hall Masons in Virginia, according to the Virginia Department of Historic Resources.

In a 40-year period from the 1940s to the 1980s, community and fraternity members and their families supported education and mentoring programs at the lodge hall, and it was the first headquarters of the Saunders B. Moon Community Action Association, starting in 1965. This was part of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s Great Society program.

In the midst of the mid-1960s civil rights movement, Gum Springs residents formed the Saunders B. Moon Community Action Association, named after the late principal of Gum Springs’ Drew-Smith School. The Saunders B. Moon Community Action Association changed its name to the Gum Springs Community Development Corporation (GSCDC) in the mid-1980s.

In the 1990s, the building’s ownership was transferred to the Pride of Fairfax County Lodge #298, which continues to use the building as a fraternal hall and community center.

The Gum Spring's building was among 13 sites named by the commonwealth’s Board of Historic Resources, approved the Virginia Landmarks Register listings during its quarterly public meeting on Dec. 9, 2021. The Virginia Landmarks Register is the commonwealth’s official list of places of historic, architectural, archeological and cultural significance. Others on the list include the Upperville Colt & Horse Show Grounds in Fauquier County and the Clovelly mansion In Richmond.

The Virginia Department of Historic Resources will forward the documentation for these newly listed Virginia Landmarks sites to the National Park Service for nomination to the National Register of Historic Places. This historical designation marks the entity as an authentic and significant place in Virginia’s history.

The historical designation also provides an owner the opportunity to pursue historic rehabilitation tax credit improvements to the building.