We’d originally planned to go on a hike at Great Falls for Columbus Day, but rain changed those plans to a more indoorsy venue: the Fairfax Museum and Visitor Center, which I’d been wanting to see but never got down to since we moved out to the county five years ago.

The museum occupies an old schoolhouse built in 1873 along Main Street. Upstairs is “The Fairfax Story,” a permanent exhibit of local history, small but dense with displays and artifacts ranging from pre-colonial times to the Civil War to the modern day.

There was even a bit of space history in the mix, with a display case on NASA astronaut and Fairfax native Pierre Thuot.

Downstairs is a mezzanine level for traveling and temporary exhibits. Out front is the visitor center, and from the front desk, a computer loudly broadcasts another historical artifact: an AOL “You’ve got mail” alert.

A nice little educational museum, right near Fairfax City, well worth a visit if you live in or near the County.