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Once described by the Alexandria Gazette as "one of the best roadside inns in the state of Virginia," the Dranesville Tavern is one of the few remaining examples of Virginia wayside inns that served working travellers during the 18th and 19th centuries. Also known as a "drovers' rest," the Dranesville Tavern was located at the intersection of the Alexandria-Leesburg and Georgetown Turnpikes. When originally constructed in 1823, it consisted of two log cabins, joined by a post and beam section with an enclosed porch. The eastern building was two stories high with an attic and the second building was the kitchen.

Dranesville Tavern served all those who traveled the turnpikes—the driver and passengers of the mail coach, the wagoner and his team and the drovers taking livestock to the Georgetown, Washington and Alexandria markets. The cost of a meal was 25 cents and a bed for the night was 35 cents. Cattle were fed for five cents a night and sheep for three cents. The tavern was surrounded with sheds and pens where animals could be fed, watered and kept safe overnight.

Because buildings such as this rarely survive, this tavern is of great importance as an example of a 19th-century wayside inn. With a few exceptions, the complete structure stands. The Jenkins family, who were the last owners, operated the tavern as a hostelry between 1881 and 1946. The Tavern was open to boarders until 1968. In 1968 the Dranesville Tavern was acquired by the Fairfax County Park Authority and moved 100 feet south of its original location. It was restored in the 1970s and placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972.

Text © 1996 Dianne Harrah, Drawing © 1996 Bill Harrah