The date on the original charter reads 1953 which marks the official beginning of the Prince William Association of REALTORS®.
There were seven charter members H. Ewing Wall, Edward B. Wright, John L. Eby, Leon T. Edwards, Claude E. Hixon, Bessie Chapman and Vincent Vasquez. The new organization would be known as the Prince William Stafford Real Estate Board and its first president would be H. Ewing Wall.
President Wall served from inception through 1955, at which time the leadership was turned over to President Hixson. President Edward Wright served in 1956 and in 1957 & 58. The next President was John J. Norman who served four terms: 1959 & 60 and later a partial term in 1963 and again in 1965. He was followed by the first woman to lead the Board, President Phoebe Arrowsmith. Earlier meetings were held alternately between Stafford and Manassas. The current president was the keeper of the Board’s records. The president’s secretary recorded the meeting minutes and worked on the other Board affairs.
In the early 1960s, The Stafford and Prince William Board divided into two separate Boards. By the late 60s, membership had grown to more than 30 members and meetings were being held at various restaurants. In the early 1970s, the President O.E. “Matt” Dillion, called a meeting of member brokers to discuss a cooperative sharing of all listings. The result of that and subsequent meetings was the birth of the Multiple Listings Service. An office was rented in Manassas and 11 firms joined. An Executive Secretary was hired to serve the MLS. In 1971 the Board staff consisted of Secretary Dorothea Lohr assisted by Lois Broadwater. They were later joined by Susan Durham, Lea Hacker and Printer Gene Treier.
The first MLS listing, 305 B Street Woodbridge, Virginia was $21,000. It was a Victorian cape cod with 9,600 square foot of living space, a full basement, 4 bedrooms and 1.5 baths. The PITI payment for the home was $98.20 and the interest rate was 4.75%. The sellers were offering to “put up a new front door and remove the car from the backyard.” The home was shown beginning February 23, 1970. The lister was Jack Veax of Blue Ridge Realty.
Today our Association is headquartered in a new building in mid-county with over 15,000 square feet which enables us to service our 1,900 approximate members with excellent programs, products and services.