In the early 1850’s, the Orange & Alexandria Railroad (now Southern Railroad) was built through Fairfax County with stations at Springfield (aka Daingerfield’s), Burke, Sideburn (abandoned), Fairfax Station, Devereaux (now Clifton) and Sangster’s (abandoned).

Sideburn Station was created in the 1870’s and named for Philadelphia, PA native John S. Burnside and his wife Josephine Broughton Burnside, of Troy, NY, who owned a farm of over 300 acres along the O & A Railroad. Owing to confusion with nearby Burke Station, the syllables of “Burn-side” were reversed in favor of “Side-burn.” Sideburn Station was once a thriving community of small farmers who relied heavily on the railroad to get their produce to markets in Alexandria and Washington, D.C.

Sideburn Road, which originates on Sager Avenue in the City of Fairfax (formerly Fairfax Court House) once ran all the way to Sideburn Station. The road traversed land that is now George Mason University exiting the City of Fairfax at Green Acres Elementary School. A portion of Patriot Circle roughly follows the path of the former Sideburn Road to the Braddock Road entrance of GMU and beyond to the railroad.

By the early 70’s, the road through GMU was largely overgrown and hardly more than a footpath and dirt bike trail for rowdy teenagers, who shall remain nameless!