Lorton, VA

The former Lorton Reformatory now connects Lorton's institutional past with an active arts campus. Fairfax County acquired the property in 2002 and, since 2008, has worked with the Workhouse Arts Foundation to adapt prison buildings for juried artists, performances, arts education, and the Lucy Burns Museum. The surrounding census-designated place occupies southern Fairfax County between Newington, Laurel Hill, Fort Belvoir, Mason Neck, and Woodbridge; 20,072 people lived there in 2020. Its name came from a village in England's Lake District. A Nike missile site operated in Lorton from 1955 to 1973, another trace of the area's federal and military history. The community also has an unusual transportation role: Amtrak's Auto Train carries passengers and their vehicles nonstop between Lorton and Sanford, Florida, near Orlando.

Several of Lorton's principal gathering places sit within a few miles of one another. The Workhouse hosts arts programming, performances, and large public events; Fairfax County's 2026 Mount Vernon Nights schedule includes concerts there. The Lorton Community Center and renovated library opened together with Lorton Park in October 2022. The 30,000-square-foot center provides a gym, fitness classes, teen programs, meeting space, and senior and community-action services, while the adjoining library has more than 30,000 items, children's and teen rooms, Wi-Fi, and study and meeting rooms. Nearby Occoquan Regional Park extends across 350 acres along the river, with a waterfront plaza, cafe, marina, kayak rentals, batting cages, and a five-kilometer loop trail.