Gum Springs is Fairfax County’s largest African-American community. It is located at the intersection of Richmond Highway and Mount Vernon Road on the northern boundary of the original Mount Vernon property. In 1829, West Ford, an antebellum freedman, purchased the land tract that comprises most of what is now Gum Springs. Ford who was born a slave, gained his freedom under the terms of the will of Hannah Bushrod Washington, a relative of George Washington. Ford farmed his land while he continued to work and live at Mount Vernon. Similar to Ford, many of Gum Springs’ earliest black residents were associated with Mount Vernon. After the Civil War as the number of free blacks swelled, Gum Springs’ population grew. The history of the black community in Gum Springs spans over 150 years and is characterized by economic struggle and aspiration as well as African-American community building. In the 20th century, its residents struggled to maintain their rural livelihoods in the face of post-World War II suburbanization. It was the first community to receive anti-poverty funding under the federal “War on Poverty.”

In 1984, the Fairfax County Park Authority issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) for the Feasibility of Developing and Maintaining a Black History Museum in Fairfax County. The RFP solicitation specified that the museum had to be in the Gum Springs area of Fairfax County. The resulting feasibility study became known as the Gum Springs Black History Museum Study. Through the RFP process, the Center for History Now was designated as the study consultant. The scope of work included recommendations for an effective, cost-efficient concept and plan, and implementation plan, and an evaluation of its benefits. The Gum Springs Historical Society's Museum & Cultural Center opened on November 24, 1996.