ANNANDALE, Va. — Gooding's Tavern was operated by William Gooding Jr. (1768–1861) from 1807 until his death, and by his heirs until the building burned in 1879. Known as the "ten-mile house" because it stood ten miles from Alexandria on the Little River Turnpike, the tavern was famous throughout Northern Virginia for its fried chicken, peaches, and honey and served as a social, commercial, and postal gathering place for the surrounding community. The Goodings also operated a blacksmith shop and stable across the road. The tavern and the surrounding 2,100-acre property were sustained by the labor of enslaved people, and the site's African American heritage is directly connected to the community that later grew from it.
After the Civil War, Gooding's heirs sold parcels of land to freedpeople, enabling the founding of Ilda, a racially integrated community established by formerly enslaved blacksmiths Horace Gibson and Moses Parker near the intersection of Little River Turnpike and Guinea Road.
A Fairfax County History Commission marker commemorating Gooding's Tavern was erected in 2011 and stands just outside the boundaries of Pleasant Valley Memorial Park, across Little River Turnpike from the Northern Virginia Community College Annandale Campus.
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