Fairfax, chartered in 1893 and incorporated in 1896, grew from an early community centered on Owens' Crossroads, where a store was established in 1814 and Bethlehem Baptist Church, now First Baptist Church, was founded in 1852. When the Port Royal Railroad was completed through the area in 1873, a depot and post office were built 1½ miles east and named Cambellton. By 1881, W.J. and J.F. Sanders operated a store and post office one-half mile from the original Owens' Crossroads, and the area soon was called Sanders. After the South Bound Railroad completed its line through the area in 1891, it crossed the earlier railroad line, and the crossing became the center of Fairfax, a name chosen when a local child drew it from a hat belonging to a railroad official.