I edited my profile with Thomas' Myspace Editor V4.4The area of Fairfax County known as Burke is named for Silas Burke (1796–1854), a 19th century farmer, merchant, and local politician who built a house on a hill overlooking the valley of Pohick Creek in approximately 1824. The house is still standing. When the Orange and Alexandria Railroad was constructed in the late 1840s, the railroad station at the base of that hill was named Burke's Station after Burke, who owned the land in the area and donated a right-of-way to the railroad company. The community that grew up around the railroad station acquired a post office branch in 1852.
During the American Civil War, the railway station was garrisoned by Union troops. On December 28, 1862, Confederate cavalry under General J.E.B. Stuart raided the station. Stuart seized supplies from the area, destroyed a nearby bridge, monitored Union messages passing over the telegraph lines, and then famously sent a telegram to Union Quartermaster General Montgomery C. Meigs complaining of the poor quality of the mules he had captured.
At the turn of the century, the little village of Burke thrived. Horse racing fans from as far away as Alexandria flocked to Burke to enjoy its racetrack and to stay at Henry Copperhites country resort (located .. east of the old Burke Post Office). In the 1950s residents successfully fought plans to locate what is now Dulles Airport in the Burke area.
The first large subdivision in the vicinity, Kings Park, was constructed beginning in 1960, and was followed by many others over the next two decades, converting Burke into a densely-populated suburban community.
