Annandale, located in Fairfax County, got its start in 1685 when Col. William Fitzhugh of England bought 24,000 acres of land which his descendants later called Ravensworth. He turned the land into one of the biggest tobacco plantations in northern Virginia. Those descendants slowly sold off portions of Ravensworth over the next 6 generations, and in 1830, that community became known as Annandale, in honor of a Scottish village.