Four Mile Fork is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

Spotsylvania County Spotsylvania County is a county (United States), county in the U.S. state of Virginia. As of the July 2021 estimate, the population was 143,676. Its county seat is Spotsylvania Courthouse, Virginia, Spotsylvania Courthouse. History At the time ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

, United States, south of the city limits of Fredericksburg. Its name derives from the junction of State Route 208,

U.S. Route 1 U.S. Route 1 or U.S. Highway 1 (US 1) is a major north–south United States Numbered Highway that serves the East Coast of the United States. It runs from Key West, Florida, north to Fort Kent, Maine, at the Canadian border, making i ...

, and U.S. Route 1 Business, which is located approximately four miles south of downtown Fredericksburg. Four Mile Fork was also known as Thomas' Store. The Daily Star
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March 25, 1924 The community began developing as a suburb of Fredericksburg in the mid-20th century, with

tract housing Tract housing is a type of housing development in which multiple similar houses are built on a tract (area) of land that is subdivided into smaller lots. Tract housing developments are found in suburb developments that were modeled on the "Levitt ...

spreading out from the city along U.S. Route 1 Business (or Lafayette Boulevard). Commercial development remained predominantly small-scale and scattered until after the completion of Interstate 95 through the area in 1964. The completion of a highway interchange with U.S. Route 1 just south of Four Mile Fork spurred new development, including lodging, restaurants, and service stations. Commercial development diversified from the late 1960s through the 1980s, with the addition of multiple automotive sales businesses, a shopping center, furniture stores, a multi-screen movie theater, and other local businesses. The completion in 1980 of a regional shopping mall, Spotsylvania Mall (now Spotsylvania Towne Center) on Virginia Route 3 west of Fredericksburg, shifted the focus of commercial development from the Route 1 corridor to the west of the city, resulting in some decline in business activity and the closure or relocation of several prominent businesses. Since the 1990s, however, new development to the south along Routes 1 and 208 and the redevelopment of older commercial properties around Four Mile Fork has renewed business interest in the community. Although most of the subdivision development between Four Mile Fork and the city limits of Fredericksburg had been completed by the 1990s, in-fill residential development continues throughout the area.

References

Unincorporated communities in Spotsylvania County, Virginia Unincorporated communities in Virginia {{SpotsylvaniaCountyVA-geo-stub