Explore a Park: Eakin Community Park was the first park in Fairfax County

Springtime wildflowers along the trail in Eakin Park.

This article is part of our series on parks in the Annandale/Mason District area. The last piece explored Spring Lane Park in Bailey’s Crossroads. See other stories in the series on the Parks page. 

The 57-acre Eakin Community Park, located at 8515 Tobin Road in Annandale, was the first park in Fairfax County, after the land was donated in 1951.

It borders the Accotink Stream Valley Park to the south and Eakin Mantua Park and Sally Ormsby Park on the other side of Prosperity Avenue.

Features: At the Tobin Road entrance, there are two baseball fields, two tennis courts, three beach sand volleyball courts, a picnic shelter that can be rented, community gardens, a trail, a bike rack, and a porta-potty. There is a playground off Prosperity Road.

A pond along the trail has many turtles and frogs. There are wetlands along the trail, especially after heavy rains.

Access: There are parking lots at the end of Tobin Road and at the Prosperity Road entrance and a small gravel lot next to the community gardens. The park is accessible by foot from the Gerry Connolly Cross County Trail.

History: After the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors created the Park Authority in 1950, LeRoy Eakin Sr., a housing developer, donated 14 acres of land in 1951 for the county’s first park. In subsequent years, the Eakin family donated another 240 acres.

In honor of those gifts, the Fairfax County Park Foundation established the Eakin Philanthropy Award to recognize visionary financial and material contributions that significantly enhance Fairfax County parks.

The Eakin Family Shelter.

The area currently occupied by the park was mostly devoted to farming, and at least two working farms remained viable into the early 20th century, according to the Eakin Park Master Plan approved in 1995.

Farming ended in 1939 when Eakin Properties Inc. purchased the land to develop housing, including Pine Ridge, Mantua, and other subdivisions.

There are remnants of several water-powered mills from the 19th century in the park, identified by signs posted along the trail, the Master Plan notes.

The Cross County Trail.

One was operated by Daniel McCarty Chichester who applied for a mill in 1801. In 1820, he produced 4,500 bushels of flour. He died that same year, and by 1839, the mill was no longer operational.

Related story: Explore a park: Mason District Park has something for everyone

Another mill, depicted on an 1862 map, was located on the western boundary of the park on Accotink Creek and is known as the Fairfax Circle Mill. There was also a mill on the eastern boundary of the park. In addition, maps dating from 1894 depict a steam sawmill owned by M.M. Wakefield on a tributary of Accotink Creek.

Improvements: The tennis courts were resurfaced during the summer of 2021. A picnic shelter, with four tables and a grill, was constructed in 2017.