According to tradition the name Manassas was derived either from an Indian source or from
Manasseh, a Jewish innkeeper at Manassas Gap (35 miles west). The community originated in
1852 at the junction of the Manassas Gap and Orange & Alexandria railroads, which linked
northern Virginia and Washington, D.C. with the Shenandoah Valley and central Virginia. During
the Civil War the junction's strategic importance led to the battles of First and Second Manassas
(Bull Run), both Confederate victories. Manassas was incorporated as a town in 1873 and
became a city in 1975.
Erected 1991