Historic Manassas Walking and Driving Tour
The Technology Academy, Historic Manassas and the Manassas Museum System invite you to take walking and driving tours of the city's historic sites. The map found in the brochure and on the web site shows the locations of the sites featured on these tours. Copies of the map may be downloaded from www.Welcome2Manassas.com or obtained from the Museum or historic Manassas to take with you. To begin the Historic Old Towne Manassas walking tour, follow Kosmos the explorer on a trail marked with his picture.
Manassas is located approximately 15 miles southwest of Washington, DC, and during its history, has been an important crossroads where the North and South meet. According to tradition, the name Manassas was derived either from an Indian source or from Manasseh, a Jewish innkeeper at Manassas Gap (35 miles west). In the 18th century and first half of the 19th century, this area was exclusively agricultural and part of several large family estates. In the 1850s, Manassas became a key switching point for two railroad lines - the Orange & Alexandria and the Manassas Gap Railroads. During this time, the community was known as Manassas Junction. The community originated in 1852 at the junction of the Manassas Gap and Orange & Alexandria railroads, which linked northern Virginia and Washington, DC with the Shenandoah Valley and central Virginia.