While driving to Blackwater Falls State Park on Friday, I noticed a sign for the Fairfax Stone Historical Marker. I’d driven by it on multiple occasions but had never felt a need to stop. With time to kill before checking in at my final destination, I drove a couple of miles off the main drag, going down a narrow but well-maintained little road. I wasn’t too impressed with the marker but dutifully took pictures. I walked around for a few minutes but, because it was raining, I didn’t linger. After visiting, I still had no clue about the significance of what I’d seen other than the stone said that it was placed at the headspring of the Potomac River. This confused me because the only water I saw was from the raindrops that kept falling on my head!

Now that I’m home again, with WiFi, I was shocked to find out that I’d actually visited a West Virginia State Park! The Western Maryland Railroad donated the land for the park in 1957. At just four acres, the Fairfax Stone State Park ties with Tu-Endie-Wei State Park as the smallest in the state. I thought it was way cool because the stone rests at the spot where Tucker, Grant, and Preston counties meet. In addition, it marks a boundary between West Virginia and Maryland. I suppose that people who live near borders wouldn’t think it strange, but I felt like I was living a few steps beyond normal by standing with one foot in Maryland and one in West Virginia!