Crowds and cars form the first Beltway backup when the circumferential highway opened in 1964. (Copyright Washington Post; Reprinted by permission of the D.C. Public Library)

Fairfax County's unprecedented growth in population, development and prosperity continued, and in many ways accelerated, in the 1960's. When the Board of Supervisors created an industrial master plan for the county, Chamber President Charles Neviaser complimented the government for a document that "gives assurance that future development can be on a sound economic basis while retaining the residential advantages" of the county. In 1960, the Chamber also supported a $26 million school construction bond referendum. There were 59,870 students in the public school system that year, up from 17,680 nine years before. Within twelve months, continued growth in the number of students forced the system to build more than one classroom every day.

In February 1961, construction plans for the new George Mason College of the University of Virginia were approved for a 150-acre site adjacent to the Town of Fairfax. Ground-breaking occurred on August 8, 1962, and Governor Albertis Harrison helped dedicate the new college on November 12, 1964.

In March 1962, plans were announced for a new planned community near the Chantilly airport then under construction. "New City Proposed," blared the Fairfax Herald headline, and the seeds that would grow to become Reston were planted. Nine months later, President John F. Kennedy presided over the dedication of the $108 billion airport in Chantilly, named for former President Dwight Eisenhower's late Secretary of State, John Foster Dulles, the CIA director's brother (Left, photo courtesy of the Fairfax County Public Library Photographic Archive).

In 1962, the Chamber also hosted a dinner for the Board of Supervisors and thirty-two county business leaders. Executive Director Grow said the purpose was to enable the Board to "realize how much industry the County has."

"(The Chamber is) the principal voice of the business community in Richmond."

The next year the Chamber's work plan included efforts to "secure revision of State highway allocation formulas" and "promote the relocation of the U.S. Patent Office facilities" to McLean. Among the foreseen benefits was the provision of "some of the highest-paid secretarial jobs...at the doorsteps of the County's women residents." Commending the Chamber's legislative program, the Fairfax County Sun Echo, termed the organization the "principal voice of the business community in Richmond," presaging the slogan adopted in 1997, "The Voice of Business in Northern Virginia."

In 1964, Realtor Anne Wilkins (left, Copyright Washington Post; Reprinted by permission of the D.C. Public Library) ,defeated by Stanford Parris after 12 years as the Mason District member of the Board of Supervisors, joined the Chamber's Board of Directors. A George Washington University Law School graduate, Wilkins was widely acclaimed for her role in guiding Fairfax's early development. Due to her successful efforts on behalf of a county-wide sewer system and land use planning initiatives, she had been selected by the Supervisors to serve as Chairman for three years, the standard method then of filling that position.

In a column for the Fairfax County Sun Echo, Chamber President Timberlake S. McCue argued that the organization "has been instrumental in holding down property tax rates through encouraging more efficient (county government) administration." Elsewhere, he reported the Chamber's goals for the year included securing an "orderly and comprehensive land use plan" to help the county guide development brought on by Dulles, the interstate highways, high rise apartments, and the proposed "rapid mass transportation project."

The Fairfax County Industrial Development Authority, the precursor to the EDA, was established by an act of the General Assembly. Its new director wrote of the county's "emergence as a major center of research and development." Said a local newspaper: "By far the predominant type of private industry in Fairfax County involves electronics and other technologies of the space age." Thirty-nine "science-oriented companies" with 8,700 employees were located in Fairfax at the time, including ten General Electric workers conducting "research into digital computerization."

The Chamber's Annual Dinner for 400 guests was held at the Portals Restaurant at Dulles Airport and Governor Harrison later spoke at the Chamber's Industry Appreciation Dinner. The Chamber had about 500 members. Indeed, because of the scope of its responsibilities and the diversity of the member businesses, the Chamber actively considered "becoming a Federation of small community Chambers of Commerce, instead of operating on its own."

The most significant event of the year, however, was the completion of the Beltway. Construction of Virginia's twenty-two mile, $75.6 million portion had begun seven years earlier. The Chamber expected the Beltway would pay important economic benefits to the county, and was initially concerned with the lack of directional signs noting Fairfax's communities. "It doesn't really make much sense," said General Grow, who asserted of the signage decisions: "they did it in Richmond from a map, and it wasn't too good a map."

The photo above appeared in the Washington Star on December 13, 1961, showing the Woodrow Wilson bridge two weeks before it opened. The photo to the right shows the bridge on its first day of business, with none of the traffic jams regularly experienced today. (Copyright Washington Post; Reprinted by permission of the D.C. Public Library)

Regardless, few anticipated the manner in which the highway would facilitate development. Soon, Tysons Corner (then a rural country crossroads) was transformed into the nation's fourteenth largest "downtown." Not until 1997, however, did the Virginia Department of Transportation erect Beltway signs designating Tysons Corner, bringing praise from the Fairfax County Chamber of Commerce.

The Cabin John Bridge - since renamed the American Legion Bridge - soon after it opened, completing the Beltway's northern Potomac Crossing. (Copyright Washington Post; Reprinted with permission of the D.C. Public Library.)

From road signs to taxes, the Chamber was always looking out for business. "High taxes hurt industries," the Chamber told the Board of Supervisors during consideration of the county budget in 1965. President Joe Cochran (of Atlantic Research Corporation) was pleased with the Board's response and noted members "can be sure that the Chamber will continue its efforts for a fair and equitable tax which will keep R&D firms in the County competitive." Cochran also attended the White House ceremony at which Lyndon Johnson signed the bill establishing the Metrorail system.

Virginia Governor Mills E. Godwin (speaking) and other distinguished guests join the cornerstone unveiling ceremonies at the new Tysons Corner shopping center, on October 1, 1967. (Copyright Washington Post, Reprinted by permission of the D.C. Public Library.

Lieutenant Governor Mills Godwin (later Governor) spoke about "education and its significance and impact on the cultural and industrial development of the State" at the Chamber's 1965 annual dinner, which netted a $226 profit. General Grow resigned as executive director, but a successor was named and other staff added. A "Legislative Bull Roast" was held with over 200 attendees, including every General Assembly candidate from the area. The Chamber, with nearly 600 members, also moved from near the courthouse to the new Dewberry & Nealon Building in Merrifield.

Dr. and Mrs. E.B. Henderson of Falls Church,
leaders of the Fairfax County branch of the NAACP.
(Copyright Washington Post; Reprinted by permission
of the D. C. Public Library.

There were more than 60,000 students enrolled in the Fairfax County Public Schools during the 1964-1965 school year. It was also the first year the system was fully racially integrated, following the 1954 U.S. Supreme Court decision that declared segregated public schools unconstitutional. Edwin B. Henderson and the Fairfax County Branch of the NAACP, which was the first rural affiliate when it was established in 1915, had worked tirelessly to bring this about.

"Fairfax County," said president R. Brandon Marsh (of Melpar, Inc.) in a 1966 tribute to the county's Industrial Development Authority, "is one of the fastest growing areas in the State, but unfortunately the growth of industry in the County has not kept pace with the residential development. To have a balanced community where people can both live and work is highly desirable... [G]rowth of business and industry is necessary not only to provide new employment sources, but to broaden the tax base," he declared.

At the Annual Dinner that year, Governor Godwin defended his support of a sales tax created during the last General Assembly session. He also lauded the additional state funds provided to the Fairfax County school system. The gathering was held at the Arlington Twin Bridges Marriott, probably because of a lack of a sufficiently large facility in Fairfax.

An evaluation of the Fairfax County Chamber of Commerce and investigation into the activities of similarly sized organizations nationwide led to "reorganization and expansion of activities" in 1967.

January 3, 1968 brought the first Board of Supervisors under the Urban County form of government. The result of a citizens study and a public referendum, the new system was primarily intended to ensure adequate electoral representation and ease administration of the growing jurisdiction. The key component was the election of the Chairman of the Board of Supervisors by all voters countywide. Frederick A. Babson was the first to fill the office.

During 1968, the Chamber also threw its full support behind three major bond referenda. It first endorsed the May 28 referendum to borrow $67 million to build 15 new schools and renovate 34 others, to keep pace with the county's public school population of 121,000 students. Later that year, the Chamber gave its support to a regional referendum to provide $61.9 million for the Washington area's subway system, and to a $67.2 million statewide referendum to fund Virginia college buildings, Chamber President Roland Tibbetts announced.

In May of 1969, the Chamber joined with other business groups in opposition to the application of the Business and Professional Occupational License (BPOL) Tax to professional and service businesses in the county. Still county Supervisors could not say no to the estimated $1 million the newly extended levy would generate annually.

The Chamber supported severing George Mason College from the University of Virginia, and upgrading it to a university with "an emphasis on programs that would grant specialized degrees at the master's and doctoral levels to meet company needs in the area" in 1969.

In the fall of that year, Fairfax County government workers - including the Chairman of the Board of Supervisors - started moving into the new office tower in the City of Fairfax, named for Carlton C. Massey, the first County Executive.

Vice President Spiro Agnew was the keynote speaker at the
Chamber's 1969 Annual Dinner. (Photo, Fairfax County Chamber of Commerce)

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