Monday of this week was a national holiday - Labor Day - and in Herndon there was a Labour day Festival on the town green behind the town hall - and in the surrounding streets.
Live music, food trucks, wine and beer tastings and an extremely hot day made for a successful event.
For us, with temperatures in the 30's and very little shade, it was rather warm.
As we left the town green we noticed the inscription on a round building - Herndon Fortnightly Library'. Here is a better photo from the web of this Library, which moved to this building in 1995.
The modern library functions are those of many small town libraries - newspapers and periodicals to read; books and other resources to study or borrow; community activities and meeting spaces to rent.
The original organization - which gave the Fortnightly Library its name - was a women's club, established in 1889 to enable the women of the then village of Herndon to 'mutually improve the education of its members in literature, art, science and the vital interests of the day' There were 11 members and they met each fortnight.
The library grew from initially 40 volumes to 1,000 in 1900 and was then opened to the public as a reading room. A fire in Herndon in 1917 destroyed the Library as well as much of the town Centre but the collection was rebuilt. In 1929 after extensive fundraising the Fortnightly Club built a new library to house the books.
Many years later it was taken over by the Fairfax County Libraries - but the name was retained and indeed the Fortnightly Club still exists!
Something to join?
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