The Location

Burke is the 10th most boring place in Virginia, at least according to a 2015 Movoto ranking.

“Congratulations, Burke! You barely made the [Top-10] cut, but due to your underwhelming presence of nightlife venues (the seventh fewest per capita), restaurants (also the seventh fewest), and arts (the ninth fewest), you secured yourself the No. 10 spot.” (1)

So why would Sam and Eric decide this is the best place to open Northern Virginia’s newest brewery? Clearly, Movoto’s analytical ranking system doesn’t dive into urban lore.

What’s the story with the Bunnyman?

If you grew up in the area you’ve probably heard the stories, for those of you who haven’t here’s a summary of the most common version. In the early 1900s, located in the woods of the bustling train station town of Clifton, an asylum for the insane closed and patients were transferred to the new Lorton Workhouse. During the transfer, one patient escaped. He survived alongside the train tracks of Clifton, trapping and mutilating woodland animals, especially rabbits. Eventually, his mutilation of the bunnies progressed when, dressing in a bunny suit, he murdered and hung the bodies of two children from the trestle of the tracks. He became known as “The Bunnyman”.

Well, that’s the urban legend at least.

In reality, former local Fairfax County Historian-Archivist Brian A. Conley performed an exhaustive search for the origin of the Bunnyman urban legend. He found that there was never an asylum in Clifton, nor were there murders that matched any of this description. He quotes the Washington Post from an October 18, 1970 article which described “Man in Bunny Suit Sought in Fairfax. Fairfax County police said yesterday they are looking for a man who likes to wear ‘a white bunny rabbit costume’ and throw hatchets through car windows. Honest.” (2)

The report continued “that Air Force Academy cadet Robert Bennett and his fiancée were sitting in a car on the 5400 block of Guinea Road in Fairfax around midnight near Bennett’s uncle’s house when “a man dressed in a white suit with long bunny ears appeared.” He yelled at the couple that they were on private property and he had their tag number. Then, he threw a wood-handled hatchet through the front car window. Luckily, neither of them was hurt.

All told, Conley chronicled “14 tales mentioning a couple in a parked car being attacked, but nine of these specifically mention a hatchet being thrown into the car. Of the five that mention vandalism, two describe “columns” being chopped.” In most cases, the bunny yelled “No Trespassing” as he threw the hatchet. All the attacks took place within the 5300 and 5400 block of Guinea Road, the cusp of Fairfax and Burke. Police investigated the reports and no “bunny man” was ever found. (3)

Since the reports in the 70’s of a “man in a bunny suit” the urban legend of the Bunnyman grew and evolved and the Bunnyman Bridge in Clifton became the central point of the urban legend. Based on the actual documented accounts it looks like the real origin is a few miles down track of the Norfolk Southern Railway at Guinea Road.

One block away from the location of the Bunnyman stories, Sam and Eric are creating their own legend in Bunnyman Brewing. Maybe, just maybe, having innovative, creative and quality brews— and reminding people of some local lore can elevate Burke off Movoto’s most boring list.