Arlington County is a
countyIn the United States, a county is a geographic subdivision of a state , usually assigned some governmental authority. The term "county" is used in 48 of the 50 states; Louisiana is divided into parishes and Alaska into boroughs. Parishes and boroughs are called "county-equivalents" by the U.S...
in the Commonwealth of
VirginiaThe Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
. The land that became Arlington was originally donated by Virginia to the United States government to form part of the new federal
capital districtA capital territory or capital district is normally a specially designated administrative division where a country's seat of government is located. As such, in a federal model of government, no state or territory has any political or economic advantage relative to the others because of the...
. On February 27, 1801, the
United States CongressThe United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
organized the area as a subdivision of the
District of ColumbiaWashington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
named
Alexandria CountyAlexandria County was part of the original 100-mile square created as the District of Columbia in 1791 pursuant to Article I, Section 8, paragraph 17, of the United States Constitution...
. Due to issues involving
Congressional representationVoting rights of citizens in the District of Columbia differ from those of United States citizens in each of the fifty states. District of Columbia residents do not have voting representation in the United States Senate, but D.C. is entitled to three electoral votes for President. In the U.S...
, the
abolitionAbolitionism is a movement to end slavery.In western Europe and the Americas abolitionism was a movement to end the slave trade and set slaves free. At the behest of Dominican priest Bartolomé de las Casas who was shocked at the treatment of natives in the New World, Spain enacted the first...
of slavery, and economic decline, Congress returned Alexandria to the Commonwealth of Virginia in 1846. The state legislature changed the county's name to Arlington in 1920 to avoid confusion with the adjacent
City of AlexandriaAlexandria is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of 2009, the city had a total population of 139,966. Located along the Western bank of the Potomac River, Alexandria is approximately six miles south of downtown Washington, D.C.Like the rest of northern Virginia, as well as...
.
The county is situated in
Northern VirginiaNorthern Virginia consists of several counties and independent cities in the Commonwealth of Virginia, in a widespread region generally radiating southerly and westward from Washington, D.C...
on the south bank of the
Potomac RiverThe Potomac River flows into the Chesapeake Bay, located along the mid-Atlantic coast of the United States. The river is approximately long, with a drainage area of about 14,700 square miles...
directly across from Washington, D.C. Arlington is also bordered by
Fairfax CountyFairfax County is a county in Virginia, in the United States. Per the 2010 Census, the population of the county is 1,081,726, making it the most populous jurisdiction in the Commonwealth of Virginia, with 13.5% of Virginia's population...
and the
City of Falls ChurchThe City of Falls Church is an independent city in Virginia, United States, in the Washington Metropolitan Area. The city population was 12,332 in 2010, up from 10,377 in 2000. Taking its name from The Falls Church, an 18th-century Anglican parish, Falls Church gained township status within...
to the southwest, and the City of Alexandria to the southeast. With a land area of 26 square miles (67.3 km²), Arlington is the geographically smallest
self-governing countyThe political subdivisions of Virginia are the areas into which the Commonwealth of Virginia, a U.S. state, is divided for political and administrative purposes. Some are local governments; others are not...
in the United States and has no other incorporated towns within its borders. Given these unique characteristics, for statistical purposes the county is included as a municipality within the
Washington Metropolitan AreaThe Washington Metropolitan Area is the metropolitan area centered on Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States. The area includes all of the federal district and parts of the U.S...
by the
United States Census BureauThe United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...
. As of 2010, Arlington County had a population of 207,627 residents.
Given the county's proximity to Washington, D.C., Arlington is headquarters to many departments and agencies of the
federal government of the United StatesThe federal government of the United States is the national government of the constitutional republic of fifty states that is the United States of America. The federal government comprises three distinct branches of government: a legislative, an executive and a judiciary. These branches and...
, including
the PentagonThe Pentagon is the headquarters of the United States Department of Defense, located in Arlington County, Virginia. As a symbol of the U.S. military, "the Pentagon" is often used metonymically to refer to the Department of Defense rather than the building itself.Designed by the American architect...
, the
Department of DefenseThe United States Department of Defense is the U.S...
, the United States Drug Enforcement Agency, and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). The many federal agencies, government contractors, and service industries contribute to Arlington's stable economy, which has made it one of the
highest-income countiesThere are 3,141 counties in the United States. The source of the data is the U.S. Census Bureau and the data is current as of the indicated year. Independent cities are considered county-equivalent by the Census Bureau.-2011:...
in the United States. Arlington is also the location of national memorials and museums, including
Arlington National CemeteryArlington National Cemetery in Arlington County, Virginia, is a military cemetery in the United States of America, established during the American Civil War on the grounds of Arlington House, formerly the estate of the family of Confederate general Robert E. Lee's wife Mary Anna Lee, a great...
, the
Pentagon MemorialThe Pentagon Memorial, located just southwest of The Pentagon in Arlington County, Virginia, is a permanent outdoor memorial to the 184 men and women who lost their lives as victims of the attack, killed both in the building and on American Airlines Flight 77 in the September 11, 2001...
, the Marine Corps War Memorial, and the
United States Air Force MemorialThe United States Air Force Memorial honors the service of the personnel of the United States Air Force and its predecessors. The Memorial is located in Arlington, Virginia, on the grounds of Fort Myer near The Pentagon and Arlington National Cemetery, at the intersection of Columbia Pike and...
.
Foundation
The area that now forms Arlington County was originally part of Fairfax County in the Colony of Virginia. Land grants from the British monarch were awarded to prominent Englishmen in exchange for political favors and efforts at development. One of the grantees was
Thomas Fairfax, 6th Lord Fairfax of CameronThomas Fairfax, 6th Lord Fairfax of Cameron was the son of Thomas Fairfax, 5th Lord Fairfax of Cameron and of Catherine, daughter of Thomas Culpeper, 2nd Baron Culpeper of Thoresway....
whose lends his name to both Fairfax County and the
City of FairfaxThe City of Fairfax is an independent city forming an enclave within the confines of Fairfax County, in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. Although politically independent of the surrounding county, the City is nevertheless the county seat....
. The name Arlington comes from
Henry Bennet, 1st Earl of ArlingtonHenry Bennet, 1st Earl of Arlington KG, PC was an English statesman.- Background and early life :He was the son of Sir John Bennet of Dawley, Middlesex, and of Dorothy Crofts. He was the younger brother of John Bennet, 1st Baron Ossulston; his sister was Elizabeth Bennet who married Robert Kerr,...
whose name had been applied to a
plantationA plantation is a long artificially established forest, farm or estate, where crops are grown for sale, often in distant markets rather than for local on-site consumption...
along the Potomac River.
George Washington Parke CustisGeorge Washington Parke Custis , the step-grandson of United States President George Washington, was a nineteenth-century American writer, orator, and agricultural reformer.-Family:...
, grandson of First Lady
Martha WashingtonMartha Dandridge Custis Washington was the wife of George Washington, the first president of the United States. Although the title was not coined until after her death, Martha Washington is considered to be the first First Lady of the United States...
, acquired this land in 1802. The estate was eventually passed down to
Mary Anna Custis LeeMary Anna Randolph Custis Lee was the wife of Confederate General Robert E. Lee.-Biography:Mary Anna Custis Lee was the only surviving child of George Washington Parke Custis, George Washington's step-grandson and adopted son and founder of Arlington House, and Mary Lee Fitzhugh Custis, daughter...
, wife of General
Robert E. LeeRobert Edward Lee was a career military officer who is best known for having commanded the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia in the American Civil War....
. The property later became Arlington National Cemetery during the
American Civil WarThe American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, and now lends its name to present-day Arlington County.
The area that now contains Arlington County was ceded to the new United States federal government by the Commonwealth of Virginia. With the passage of the
Residence ActThe Residence Act of 1790, officially titled An Act for establishing the temporary and permanent seat of the Government of the United States, is the United States federal law that settled the question of locating the capital of the United States, selecting a site along the Potomac River...
in 1790, Congress approved a new permanent capital to be located on the
Potomac RiverThe Potomac River flows into the Chesapeake Bay, located along the mid-Atlantic coast of the United States. The river is approximately long, with a drainage area of about 14,700 square miles...
, the exact area to be selected by President
George WashingtonGeorge Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...
. The Residence Act originally only allowed the President to select a location within Maryland as far east as what is now the
Anacostia RiverThe Anacostia River is a river in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States. It flows from Prince George's County in Maryland into Washington, D.C., where it joins with the Washington Channel to empty into the Potomac River at Buzzard Point. It is approximately long...
. However, President Washington shifted the federal territory's borders to the southeast in order to include the pre-existing city of Alexandria at the District's southern tip. In 1791, Congress amended the Residence Act to approve the new site, including the territory ceded by Virginia. However, this amendment to the Residence Act specifically prohibited the "erection of the public buildings otherwise than on the Maryland side of the River Potomac." As permitted by the U.S. Constitution, the initial shape of the federal district was a square, measuring 10 miles (16.1 km) on each side, totaling 100 square miles (259 km²). During 1791–92,
Andrew EllicottAndrew Ellicott was a U.S. surveyor who helped map many of the territories west of the Appalachians, surveyed the boundaries of the District of Columbia, continued and completed Pierre Charles L'Enfant's work on the plan for Washington, D.C., and served as a teacher in survey methods for...
and several assistants placed
boundary stonesThe Boundary Markers of the Original District of Columbia are the 40 milestones that mark the four lines forming the boundaries between the states of Maryland and Virginia and the square of 100 square miles of federal territory that became the District of Columbia in 1801...
at every mile point. Fourteen of these markers were in Virginia and many of the stones are still standing.
When Congress arrived in the new capital, they passed the
Organic Act of 1801The District of Columbia Organic Act of 1801 is an Organic Act enacted by the United States Congress, which incorporated the District of Columbia and divided the territory into two counties: Washington County to the north and east of the Potomac River and Alexandria County...
to officially organize the District of Columbia and placed the entire federal territory, including the cities of Washington, Georgetown, and Alexandria, under the exclusive control of Congress. Further, the unincorporated territory within the District was organized into two counties: the
County of WashingtonThe County of Washington was one of the five political entities contained within the geographic region comprising what was originally the 100-square-mile District of Columbia. These were the City of Alexandria, the County of Alexandria, Georgetown, the City of Washington, and the County of...
to the east of the Potomac and the County of Alexandria to the west. This Act formally established the borders of the area that would eventually become Arlington but the citizens located in the District were no longer considered residents of Maryland or Virginia, thus ending their representation in Congress.
Retrocession
Residents of Alexandria County had expected the federal capital's location to result in land sales and the growth of commerce. Instead the county found itself struggling to compete with the
Chesapeake and Ohio CanalThe Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, abbreviated as the C&O Canal, and occasionally referred to as the "Grand Old Ditch," operated from 1831 until 1924 parallel to the Potomac River in Maryland from Cumberland, Maryland to Washington, D.C. The total length of the canal is about . The elevation change of...
at the port of Georgetown, which was farther inland and on the northern side of the Potomac River next to the City of Washington. Members of Congress from other areas of Virginia also used their power to prohibit funding for projects, such as the Alexandria Canal, which would have increased competition with their home districts. In addition, Congress had prohibited the federal government from establishing any offices in Alexandria, which made the county less important to the functioning of the national government.
Alexandria had also been a major market in the American slave trade, and rumors circulated that
abolitionistsAbolitionism is a movement to end slavery.In western Europe and the Americas abolitionism was a movement to end the slave trade and set slaves free. At the behest of Dominican priest Bartolomé de las Casas who was shocked at the treatment of natives in the New World, Spain enacted the first...
in Congress were attempting to end slavery in the District; such an action would have further depressed Alexandria's slavery-based economy. At the same time, an active abolitionist movement arose in Virginia that created a division on the question of slavery in the Virginia General Assembly. Pro-slavery Virginians recognized that if Alexandria were returned to the Commonwealth, it could provide two new representatives who favored slavery in the state legislature. During the American Civil War, this division led to the formation of the state of
West VirginiaWest Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the northeast and Maryland to the east...
, which comprised the 61 counties in the northwest that favored abolitionism.
Largely as a result of the economic neglect by Congress, divisions over slavery, and the lack of voting rights for the residents of the District, a movement grew to return Alexandria to Virginia from the District of Columbia. From 1840 to 1846, Alexandrians petitioned Congress and the Virginia legislature to approve this transfer known as retrocession. On February 3, 1846, the Virginia General Assembly agreed to accept the retrocession of Alexandria if Congress approved. Following additional lobbying by Alexandrians, Congress passed legislation on July 9, 1846, to return all the District's territory south of the Potomac River back to the Commonwealth of Virginia, pursuant to a referendum; President
James K. PolkJames Knox Polk was the 11th President of the United States . Polk was born in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. He later lived in and represented Tennessee. A Democrat, Polk served as the 17th Speaker of the House of Representatives and the 12th Governor of Tennessee...
signed the legislation the next day. A referendum on retrocession was held on September 1–2, 1846. The residents of the City of Alexandria voted in favor of the retrocession, 734 to 116; however, the residents of Alexandria County voted against retrocession 106 to 29. Despite the objections of those living in Alexandria County, President Polk certified the referendum and issued a proclamation of transfer on September 7, 1846. However, the Virginia legislature did not immediately accept the retrocession offer. Virginia legislators were concerned that the people of Alexandria County had not been properly included in the retrocession proceedings. After months of debate, the Virginia General Assembly voted to formally accept the retrocession legislation on March 13, 1847. In 1852, the Virginia legislature voted to incorporate a portion of Alexandria County to make the City of Alexandria, which until then had been only been considered politically as a town.
Civil War
During the American Civil War, Virginia seceded from the Union as a result of a statewide referendum held on May 23, 1861; the voters from Alexandria County approved secession by a vote of 958–48. This vote indicates the degree to which its only town, Alexandria was pro-secession and pro-Confederate. The Union loyalists who lived in rural areas outside the town of Alexandria, rejected secession. Although Virginia was part of the Confederacy, its control did not extend all the way through Northern Virginia. In 1862, the
United States CongressThe United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
passed a law that provided that those districts in which the "insurrection" persisted were to pay their real estate taxes in person.
In 1864, during the war, the federal government confiscated the
AbingdonAbingdon was an 18th- and 19th-century plantation that the prominent Alexander, Custis, Stuart, and Hunter families owned. The plantation's site is now located in Arlington County in the U.S...
estate, which was located on and near the present
Ronald Reagan Washington National AirportRonald Reagan Washington National Airport is a public airport located south of downtown Washington, D.C., in Arlington County, Virginia. It is the commercial airport nearest to Washington, D.C. For many decades, it was called Washington National Airport, but this airport was renamed in 1998 to...
, when its owner failed to pay the estate's property tax in person because he was serving in the Confederate Army. The government then sold the property at auction, whereupon the purchaser leased the property to a third party.
After the war ended in 1865, the Abingdon estate's heir, Alexander Hunter, initiated a legal action to recover the property. James A. Garfield, a
RepublicanThe Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
member of the
United States House of RepresentativesThe United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
who had been a
Brigadier GeneralA brigadier general in the United States Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps, is a one-star general officer, with the pay grade of O-7. Brigadier general ranks above a colonel and below major general. Brigadier general is equivalent to the rank of rear admiral in the other uniformed...
in the
Union ArmyThe Union Army was the land force that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the U.S. Army, the Northern Army and the National Army...
during the Civil War and who later became the
20th President of the United States, was an
attorneyAn attorney at law in the United States is a practitioner in a court of law who is legally qualified to prosecute and defend actions in such court on the retainer of clients. Alternative terms include counselor and lawyer...
on Hunter's legal team. In 1870, the
Supreme Court of the United StatesThe Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts, and original jurisdiction over a small range of cases...
, in a precedential ruling, found that the government had illegally confiscated the property and ordered that it be returned to Hunter.
The property containing the home of Confederate General
Robert E. LeeRobert Edward Lee was a career military officer who is best known for having commanded the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia in the American Civil War....
's family at and around
Arlington HouseArlington House, The Robert E. Lee Memorial, formerly named the Custis-Lee Mansion, is a Greek revival style mansion located in Arlington, Virginia, USA that was once the home of Confederate General Robert E. Lee. It overlooks the Potomac River, directly across from the National Mall in Washington,...
was subjected to an appraisal of $26,810, on which a tax of $92.07 was assessed. However, Lee's wife,
Mary Anna Custis LeeMary Anna Randolph Custis Lee was the wife of Confederate General Robert E. Lee.-Biography:Mary Anna Custis Lee was the only surviving child of George Washington Parke Custis, George Washington's step-grandson and adopted son and founder of Arlington House, and Mary Lee Fitzhugh Custis, daughter...
, the owner of the property, did not pay this tax in person. As a result of the 1862 law, the Federal government confiscated the property and made it into a military cemetery.
After the war ended and after the death of his parents,
George Washington Custis LeeGeorge Washington Custis Lee , also known as Custis Lee, was the eldest son of Robert E. Lee and Mary Anna Custis Lee...
, the Lee's eldest son, initiated a legal action in an attempt to recover the property. In December 1882, the U.S. Supreme Court found that the federal government had illegally confiscated the property without due process and returned the property to Custis Lee while citing the Court's earlier ruling in the Hunter case. In 1883, the U.S. Congress purchased the property from Lee for $150,000, whereupon the property became a military reservation and eventually
Arlington National CemeteryArlington National Cemetery in Arlington County, Virginia, is a military cemetery in the United States of America, established during the American Civil War on the grounds of Arlington House, formerly the estate of the family of Confederate general Robert E. Lee's wife Mary Anna Lee, a great...
. Although Arlington House is within the National Cemetery, the
National Park ServiceThe National Park Service is the U.S. federal agency that manages all national parks, many national monuments, and other conservation and historical properties with various title designations...
presently administers the House and its grounds as a memorial to Robert E. Lee.
Confederate incursions from Falls Church,
Minor's HillMinor’s Hill is a geographic eminence located in the western tip of Arlington County, Virginia. Its summit rises to 459 feet above sea level.- Location :...
and
Upton's HillUpton’s Hill is a geographic eminence located in western Arlington County, Virginia. Its summit rises to above sea level. - Location :Upton’s Hill straddles the border of Arlington County and Fairfax County, Virginia. The hill is generally conical in shape with its summit lying astride Wilson...
—-then securely in Confederate hands—-occurred as far east as the present-day area of Ballston. On August 17, 1861 an armed force of 600 Confederate soldiers engaged the 23rd New York Infantry near that crossroads, killing one. Another large incursion on August 27 involved between 600 and 800 Confederate soldiers, which clashed with Union soldiers at Ball’s Crossroads, Hall’s Hill and along the modern-day border between the City of Falls Church and Arlington. A number of soldiers on both sides were killed. However, the territory in present-day Arlington was never successfully captured by Confederate forces.
20th century
In 1896, an electric trolley line was built from Washington through Ballston, which lead to growth in the county.
In 1920, the Virginia legislature renamed the area Arlington County to avoid confusion with the City of Alexandria which had become an
independent cityAn independent city is a city that does not form part of another general-purpose local government entity. These type of cities should not be confused with city-states , which are fully sovereign cities that are not part of any other sovereign state.-Historical precursors:In the Holy Roman Empire,...
in 1870 under the new Virginia Constitution adopted after the Civil War.
In the 1930s
Hoover FieldHoover Field was the first airport to serve the city of Washington, D.C. It was constructed as a private airfield in 1925, but opened to public commercial use on July 16, 1926...
was established on the present site of the Pentagon; in that decade, Buckingham, Colonial Heights, and other apartment communities also opened. World War II brought a boom to the county, but one that could not be met by new construction due to rationing imposed by the war effort.
In October 1942, not a single rental unit was available in the county. The
Henry G. ShirleyHenry Garnett Shirley was Commissioner of the Virginia Department of Highways. He was a leader in national highway policy and oversaw the development of an extensive state highway system in Virginia....
Highway (now
Interstate 395Interstate 395 may refer to:*Interstate 395 , a spur from I-95 to Washington, D.C.*Interstate 395 , a spur from I-95 to Auburn, Massachusetts*Interstate 395 , a spur in Miami, Florida...
) was constructed during World War II, along with adjacent developments such as Shirlington, Fairlington, and Parkfairfax.
21st century
On September 11, 2001, five
al-QaedaAl-Qaeda is a global broad-based militant Islamist terrorist organization founded by Osama bin Laden sometime between August 1988 and late 1989. It operates as a network comprising both a multinational, stateless army and a radical Sunni Muslim movement calling for global Jihad...
hijackers deliberately crashed
American Airlines Flight 77American Airlines Flight 77 was American Airlines' daily scheduled morning transcontinental flight, from Washington Dulles International Airport, in Dulles, Virginia to Los Angeles International Airport in Los Angeles, California...
into
The PentagonThe Pentagon is the headquarters of the United States Department of Defense, located in Arlington County, Virginia. As a symbol of the U.S. military, "the Pentagon" is often used metonymically to refer to the Department of Defense rather than the building itself.Designed by the American architect...
killing 125 Pentagon personnel and all 64 people on board, as part of the September 11 attacks.
Geography
Arlington County is located at 38°52′49"N 77°06′30"W and is surrounded by
Fairfax CountyFairfax County is a county in Virginia, in the United States. Per the 2010 Census, the population of the county is 1,081,726, making it the most populous jurisdiction in the Commonwealth of Virginia, with 13.5% of Virginia's population...
and the
Falls ChurchThe City of Falls Church is an independent city in Virginia, United States, in the Washington Metropolitan Area. The city population was 12,332 in 2010, up from 10,377 in 2000. Taking its name from The Falls Church, an 18th-century Anglican parish, Falls Church gained township status within...
to the southwest, the
City of AlexandriaAlexandria is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of 2009, the city had a total population of 139,966. Located along the Western bank of the Potomac River, Alexandria is approximately six miles south of downtown Washington, D.C.Like the rest of northern Virginia, as well as...
to the southeast, and Washington, D.C. to the northeast directly across the
Potomac RiverThe Potomac River flows into the Chesapeake Bay, located along the mid-Atlantic coast of the United States. The river is approximately long, with a drainage area of about 14,700 square miles...
, which forms the county's northern border. Other landforms also form county borders, particularly
Minor's HillMinor’s Hill is a geographic eminence located in the western tip of Arlington County, Virginia. Its summit rises to 459 feet above sea level.- Location :...
and
Upton's HillUpton’s Hill is a geographic eminence located in western Arlington County, Virginia. Its summit rises to above sea level. - Location :Upton’s Hill straddles the border of Arlington County and Fairfax County, Virginia. The hill is generally conical in shape with its summit lying astride Wilson...
on the west.
According to the
U.S. Census BureauThe United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...
, the county has a total area of 26 square miles (67.3 km²), of which about 4.6 square miles (11.9 km²) is federal property. The county is roughly in the shape of a rectangle 4 miles (6.4 km) by 6 miles (9.7 km), with the small end slanting in a northwest-southeast direction. All cities within the Commonwealth of Virginia are
independentAn independent city is a city that does not form part of another general-purpose local government entity. These type of cities should not be confused with city-states , which are fully sovereign cities that are not part of any other sovereign state.-Historical precursors:In the Holy Roman Empire,...
of counties, though towns may be incorporated within counties. However, Arlington has no existing incorporated towns because Virginia law prevents the creation of any new municipality within a county that has a population density greater than 1,000 persons per square mile. Its
county seatA county seat is an administrative center, or seat of government, for a county or civil parish. The term is primarily used in the United States....
is the
census-designated placeA census-designated place is a concentration of population identified by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes. CDPs are delineated for each decennial census as the statistical counterparts of incorporated places such as cities, towns and villages...
(CDP) of Arlington, which is coterminous with the boundaries of the county; however, the county courthouse and most government offices are located in the
CourthouseCourthouse is a transit-oriented neighborhood in Arlington County, Virginia. It is home to the Court House stop on the Orange Line of the Washington Metro....
neighborhood.
There are a number of unincorporated neighborhoods within Arlington that are commonly referred to by name as if they were distinct towns. For over 30 years, the government has pursed a
development strategyUrban planning incorporates areas such as economics, design, ecology, sociology, geography, law, political science, and statistics to guide and ensure the orderly development of settlements and communities....
of concentrating much of its new development near transit facilities, such as
MetrorailThe Washington Metro, commonly called Metro, and unofficially Metrorail, is the rapid transit system in Washington, D.C., United States, and its surrounding suburbs. It is administered by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority , which also operates Metrobus service under the Metro name...
stations and the high-volume bus lines of
Columbia PikeState Route 244, also known as Columbia Pike, is a primary state highway in the U.S. state of Virginia. It is a four-lane road that runs from State Route 236 in Annandale, Fairfax County east to State Route 27 at the Pentagon in Arlington County.-History:Columbia Pike dates to 1810 when the U.S...
. Within the transit areas, the government has a policy of encouraging
mixed-useMixed-use development is the use of a building, set of buildings, or neighborhood for more than one purpose. Since the 1920s, zoning in some countries has required uses to be separated. However, when jobs, housing, and commercial activities are located close together, a community's transportation...
and
pedestrian-Walkability is a measure of how friendly an area is to walking. Walkability has many health, environmental, and economic benefits. Factors influencing walkability include the presence or absence and quality of footpaths, sidewalks or other pedestrian right-of-ways, traffic and road conditions,...
and
transit-oriented developmentA transit-oriented development is a mixed-use residential or commercial area designed to maximize access to public transport, and often incorporates features to encourage transit ridership...
. Some of these "
urban villageAn urban village is an urban planning and urban design concept. It refers to an urban form typically characterized by:* Medium density development* Mixed use zoning* The provision of good public transit...
" communities include:
- Ballston
- Clarendon
- Courthouse
|
Crystal City
Lyon Village
Pentagon City |
Rosslyn
Shirlington
Virginia Square |
Westover
Williamsburg Circle
Palisades |
In 2002, Arlington received the
EPAThe U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is an agency of the federal government of the United States charged with protecting human health and the environment, by writing and enforcing regulations based on laws passed by Congress...
's National Award for Smart Growth Achievement for "Overall Excellence in
Smart GrowthSmart growth is an urban planning and transportation theory that concentrates growth in compact walkable urban centers to avoid sprawl and advocates compact, transit-oriented, walkable, bicycle-friendly land use, including neighborhood schools, complete streets, and mixed-use development with a...
." In 2005, the County implemented an affordable housing ordinance that requires most developers to contribute significant affordable housing resources, either in units or through a cash contribution, in order to obtain the highest allowable amounts of increased building density in new development projects, most of which are planned near Metrorail station areas.
A number of the county's residential neighborhoods and larger garden-style apartment complexes are listed in the
National Register of Historic PlacesThe National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
and/or designated under the County government's zoning ordinance as local Historic Preservation Districts.
These include Arlington Village, Arlington Forest, Ashton Heights, Buckingham, Cherrydale, Claremont, Colonial Village, Fairlington, Lyon Park, Lyon Village, Maywood, Penrose, Waverly Hills and Westover. Many of Arlington County's neighborhoods participate in the Arlington County government's Neighborhood Conservation Program (NCP). Each of these neighborhoods has a Neighborhood Conservation Plan that describes the neighborhood's characteristics, history and recommendations for capital improvement projects that the County government funds through the NCP.
Demographics
The United States Census Bureau found that there were 207,627 residents as of April 1, 2010.
As of the 2000 census, there were:
- 189,453 people
- 86,352 households,
- and 39,290 families residing in Arlington.
The population density was 7,323 people per square mile (2,828/km²), the highest of any county in Virginia. There were 90,426 housing units at an average density of 3,495/sq mi (1,350/km²).
In 2010, the racial makeup of the county was 64.04% non-Hispanic
WhiteWhite Americans are people of the United States who are considered or consider themselves White. The United States Census Bureau defines White people as those "having origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, the Middle East, or North Africa...
, 8.23% Non-Hispanic
Black or African AmericanAfrican Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
, 0.20% Non-Hispanic Native American, 9.52% Non-Hispanic
AsianAsian Americans are Americans of Asian descent. The U.S. Census Bureau definition of Asians as "Asian” refers to a person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian subcontinent, including, for example, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan,...
(2.0% Indian, 1.7% Chinese, 1.1% Filipino, 0.9% Korean, 0.7% Vietnamese, 2.7% Other Asian), 0.08%
Pacific IslanderPacific Islander Americans, also known as Oceanian Americans, are residents of the United States with original ancestry from Oceania. They represent the smallest racial group counted in the United States census of 2000. They numbered 874,000 people or 0.3 percent of the United States population...
, 0.29% Non-Hispanic other races, 2.55% Non-Hispanics reporting two or more race. Hispanics or Latinos made up 15.11% of the county's population. 28% of Arlington residents were foreign-born as of 2000.
There were 86,352 households out of which 19.30% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 35.30% were married couples living together, 7.00% had a female householder with no husband present, and 54.50% were non-families. 40.80% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.30% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.15 and the average family size was 2.96.
Families headed by single parents was the lowest in the DC area, under 6%, as estimated by the Census Bureau for the years 2006–2008. For the same years, the percentage of people estimated to be living alone was the third highest in the DC area, at 45%.
According to a 2007 estimate, the median income for a household in the county was $94,876, and the median income for a family was $127,179. Males had a median income of $51,011 versus $41,552 for females. The per capita income for the county was $37,706. About 5.00% of families and 7.80% of the population were below the
poverty lineThe poverty threshold, or poverty line, is the minimum level of income deemed necessary to achieve an adequate standard of living in a given country...
, including 9.10% of those under age 18 and 7.00% of those age 65 or over.
In 2009, the county was second in the nation (after nearby
Loudoun CountyLoudoun County is a county located in the Commonwealth of Virginia, and is part of the Washington Metropolitan Area. As of the 2010 U.S. Census, the county is estimated to be home to 312,311 people, an 84 percent increase over the 2000 figure of 169,599. That increase makes the county the fourth...
) for the percentage of people ages 25–34 earning over $100,000 annually (8.82% of the population).
In 2009, Arlington was highest in the Washington DC Metropolitan area for percentage of people who were single – 70.9%. 14.3% were married. 14.8% had families.
The age distribution was 16.50% under 18, 10.40% from 18 to 24, 42.40% from 25 to 44, 21.30% from 45 to 64, and 9.40% who were 65 or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 101.50 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 100.70 males.
CNN MoneyMoney is published by Time Inc. Its first issue was published in October 1972. Its articles cover the gamut of personal finance topics ranging from investing, saving, retirement and taxes to family finance issues like paying for college, credit, career and home improvement...
ranked Arlington as the most educated city in 2006 with 35.7% of residents having held graduate degrees. Along with five other counties in
Northern VirginiaNorthern Virginia consists of several counties and independent cities in the Commonwealth of Virginia, in a widespread region generally radiating southerly and westward from Washington, D.C...
, Arlington ranked among the twenty American counties with the
highest median household incomeThere are 3,141 counties in the United States. The source of the data is the U.S. Census Bureau and the data is current as of the indicated year. Independent cities are considered county-equivalent by the Census Bureau.-2011:...
in 2006. In August 2011,
CNN MoneyMoney is published by Time Inc. Its first issue was published in October 1972. Its articles cover the gamut of personal finance topics ranging from investing, saving, retirement and taxes to family finance issues like paying for college, credit, career and home improvement...
ranked Arlington seventh in the country in its listing of "Best Places for the Rich and Single."
In 2008, 20.3% of the population did not have medical health insurance.
In 2010, AIDS prevalence was 341.5 per 100,000 population. This was eight times the rate of nearby Loudoun County and one-quarter the rate of the District of Columbia.
Crime statistics for 2009 included the report of 2 homicides, 15 forcible rapes, 149 robberies, 145 incidents of or aggravated assault, 319 burglaries, 4,140 incidents of larceny, and 297 reports of vehicle theft. This was a reduction in all categories from the previous year.
Government
Presidential elections results
| Year |
RepublicanThe Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
|
Democratic The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
|
2008The United States presidential election of 2008 was the 56th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on November 4, 2008. Democrat Barack Obama, then the junior United States Senator from Illinois, defeated Republican John McCain, the senior U.S. Senator from Arizona. Obama received 365...
|
27.1% |
71.7% |
| 2004 The United States presidential election of 2004 was the United States' 55th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on Tuesday, November 2, 2004. Republican Party candidate and incumbent President George W. Bush defeated Democratic Party candidate John Kerry, the then-junior U.S. Senator...
|
31.3% |
67.6% |
2000The United States presidential election of 2000 was a contest between Republican candidate George W. Bush, then-governor of Texas and son of former president George H. W. Bush , and Democratic candidate Al Gore, then-Vice President....
|
34.2% |
60.1% |
1996The United States presidential election of 1996 was a contest between the Democratic national ticket of President Bill Clinton of Arkansas and Vice President Al Gore of Tennessee and the Republican national ticket of former Senator Bob Dole of Kansas for President and former Housing Secretary Jack...
|
34.6% |
60.5% |
1992The United States presidential election of 1992 had three major candidates: Incumbent Republican President George Bush; Democratic Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton, and independent Texas businessman Ross Perot....
|
31.9% |
57.8% |
1988The United States presidential election of 1988 featured no incumbent president, as President Ronald Reagan was unable to seek re-election after serving the maximum two terms allowed by the Twenty-second Amendment. Reagan's Vice President, George H. W. Bush, won the Republican nomination, while the...
|
45.4% |
53.5% |
1984The United States presidential election of 1984 was a contest between the incumbent President Ronald Reagan, the Republican candidate, and former Vice President Walter Mondale, the Democratic candidate. Reagan was helped by a strong economic recovery from the deep recession of 1981–1982...
|
48.2% |
51.3% |
1980The United States presidential election of 1980 featured a contest between incumbent Democrat Jimmy Carter and his Republican opponent, Ronald Reagan, as well as Republican Congressman John B. Anderson, who ran as an independent...
|
46.1% |
39.6% |
1976The United States presidential election of 1976 followed the resignation of President Richard Nixon in the wake of the Watergate scandal. It pitted incumbent President Gerald Ford, the Republican candidate, against the relatively unknown former governor of Georgia, Jimmy Carter, the Democratic...
|
47.9% |
50.4% |
1972The United States presidential election of 1972 was the 47th quadrennial United States presidential election. It was held on November 7, 1972. The Democratic Party's nomination was eventually won by Senator George McGovern, who ran an anti-war campaign against incumbent Republican President Richard...
|
59.4% |
39.0% |
1968The United States presidential election of 1968 was the 46th quadrennial United States presidential election. Coming four years after Democrat Lyndon B. Johnson won in a historic landslide, it saw Johnson forced out of the race and Republican Richard Nixon elected...
|
45.9% |
42.6% |
1964The United States presidential election of 1964 was held on November 3, 1964. Incumbent President Lyndon B. Johnson had come to office less than a year earlier following the assassination of his predecessor, John F. Kennedy. Johnson, who had successfully associated himself with Kennedy's...
|
37.7% |
61.7% |
1960The United States presidential election of 1960 was the 44th American presidential election, held on November 8, 1960, for the term beginning January 20, 1961, and ending January 20, 1965. The incumbent president, Republican Dwight D. Eisenhower, was not eligible to run again. The Republican Party...
|
48.1% |
51.4% |
Arlington County is the smallest self-governing county in the United States. The county is governed by a five person County Board, whose members are elected at-large to staggered four year terms. They appoint a
county managerIn local government in the Republic of Ireland, the Council Manager is the chief executive of the local authority of a county or city. Whereas the county council and city council are elected officials who formulate policy, the manager is an appointed official who manages the implementation of...
, who is the chief executive of the County Government. Like all Virginia Counties, Arlington also has five elected constitutional officers: a sheriff, a clerk of court, a
commonwealth's attorneyCommonwealth's Attorney is the title given to the elected prosecutor of felony crimes in Kentucky and Virginia. Other states refer to similar prosecutors as District Attorney or State's Attorney....
, a treasurer, and a commissioner of the revenue. The budget for fiscal year 2009 was $1.177 billion.
| Position |
Name |
Party |
First Election |
Next Election |
| Chair of the County Board |
Chris Zimmerman |
Democratic PartyThe Democratic Party of Virginia is based in Richmond in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is affiliated with the national Democratic Party of the United States. The organization is governed by a State Party Plan, which guarantees an open and fair candidate selection process...
|
1997 |
2013 |
| Vice-Chair of the County Board |
Mary Hynes Mary Hughes Hynes is an American politician from Arlington, Virginia.-Biography:Hynes graduated from the College of St. Benedict in St. Joseph. In 1978 she married Patrick Hynes , a widower with two daughters. The couple went on to have a son and two more daughters of their own, and settled in...
|
Democratic PartyThe Democratic Party of Virginia is based in Richmond in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is affiliated with the national Democratic Party of the United States. The organization is governed by a State Party Plan, which guarantees an open and fair candidate selection process...
|
1996 |
2014 |
| Member of the County Board |
Jay Fisette |
Democratic PartyThe Democratic Party of Virginia is based in Richmond in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is affiliated with the national Democratic Party of the United States. The organization is governed by a State Party Plan, which guarantees an open and fair candidate selection process...
|
2007 |
2013 |
| Member of the County Board |
J. Walter Tejada |
Democratic PartyThe Democratic Party of Virginia is based in Richmond in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is affiliated with the national Democratic Party of the United States. The organization is governed by a State Party Plan, which guarantees an open and fair candidate selection process...
|
2003 |
2015 |
| Member of the County Board |
Barbara Favola |
Democratic PartyThe Democratic Party of Virginia is based in Richmond in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is affiliated with the national Democratic Party of the United States. The organization is governed by a State Party Plan, which guarantees an open and fair candidate selection process...
|
1997 |
2012 |
| Treasurer |
Frank O'Leary Francis X. O’Leary is the elected Treasurer of Arlington County, Virginia and a member of the Democratic Party. He began his seventh term as Treasurer in January, 2008. During his tenure, he has lowered the County's tax delinquency rate from a high of more than nine percent in 1982 to an all-time...
|
Democratic PartyThe Democratic Party of Virginia is based in Richmond in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is affiliated with the national Democratic Party of the United States. The organization is governed by a State Party Plan, which guarantees an open and fair candidate selection process...
|
1983 |
2011 |
| Clerk of the Court |
Paul Ferguson |
Democratic PartyThe Democratic Party of Virginia is based in Richmond in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is affiliated with the national Democratic Party of the United States. The organization is governed by a State Party Plan, which guarantees an open and fair candidate selection process...
|
2007 |
2015 |
| Commonwealth's Attorney |
Richard "Dick" Trodden |
Democratic PartyThe Democratic Party of Virginia is based in Richmond in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is affiliated with the national Democratic Party of the United States. The organization is governed by a State Party Plan, which guarantees an open and fair candidate selection process...
|
1993 |
2011 |
| Sheriff |
Beth Arthur |
Democratic PartyThe Democratic Party of Virginia is based in Richmond in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is affiliated with the national Democratic Party of the United States. The organization is governed by a State Party Plan, which guarantees an open and fair candidate selection process...
|
2000 |
2011 |
| Commissioner of Revenue |
Ingrid Morroy |
Democratic PartyThe Democratic Party of Virginia is based in Richmond in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is affiliated with the national Democratic Party of the United States. The organization is governed by a State Party Plan, which guarantees an open and fair candidate selection process...
|
2003 |
2011 |
In 2009, as the state was voting for the Republican candidate for governor by a 59% to 41% margin, Arlington voted for the Democratic candidate 66% to 34%. Voter turnout was 42.78%. Arlington also elects four Members of the 100 Member
Virginia House of DelegatesThe Virginia House of Delegates is the lower house of the Virginia General Assembly. It has 100 members elected for terms of two years; unlike most states, these elections take place during odd-numbered years. The House is presided over by the Speaker of the House, who is elected from among the...
and two Members of the Virginia Senate. State Senators are elected to four year terms, while Delegates are elected to two year terms. The county is included within the
Virginia's 8th congressional districtVirginia's Eighth Congressional District is a U.S. congressional district in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The residents of the 8th District are currently represented by Democratic Congressman Jim Moran, first elected to the 8th's seat in the U.S...
, currently represented by Democrat
Jim MoranJames Patrick "Jim" Moran, Jr. is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 1991. He is a member of the Democratic Party. The district is located in Northern Virginia and includes the cities of Falls Church and Alexandria, all of Arlington County, and a portion of Fairfax County.Jim Moran was...
.
| Office |
Name |
Party and District |
First Election |
Next Election |
| Senator |
Patricia "Patsy" Ticer |
Democratic PartyThe Democratic Party of Virginia is based in Richmond in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is affiliated with the national Democratic Party of the United States. The organization is governed by a State Party Plan, which guarantees an open and fair candidate selection process...
(30) |
1995 |
2011 |
| Senator |
Mary Margaret Whipple Mary Margaret Whipple is a Democratic member of the Senate of Virginia, representing the 31st District since 1996. She is the Chairman of the Senate Democratic Caucus, and she is the first woman to hold a leadership position in the Virginia General Assembly. On February 25, 2011, Whipple announced...
|
Democratic PartyThe Democratic Party of Virginia is based in Richmond in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is affiliated with the national Democratic Party of the United States. The organization is governed by a State Party Plan, which guarantees an open and fair candidate selection process...
(31) |
1995 |
2011 |
| Delegate |
David Englin |
Democratic PartyThe Democratic Party of Virginia is based in Richmond in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is affiliated with the national Democratic Party of the United States. The organization is governed by a State Party Plan, which guarantees an open and fair candidate selection process...
(45) |
2005 |
2011 |
| Delegate |
Patrick Hope |
Democratic PartyThe Democratic Party of Virginia is based in Richmond in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is affiliated with the national Democratic Party of the United States. The organization is governed by a State Party Plan, which guarantees an open and fair candidate selection process...
(47) |
2009 |
2011 |
| Delegate |
Robert Brink Robert Greenleaf Brink is an American violinist, conductor, and educator. He is a professor of music at the New England Conservatory in Boston, Massachusetts....
|
Democratic PartyThe Democratic Party of Virginia is based in Richmond in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is affiliated with the national Democratic Party of the United States. The organization is governed by a State Party Plan, which guarantees an open and fair candidate selection process...
(48) |
1997 |
2011 |
| Delegate |
Adam Ebbin Adam P. Ebbin is an American politician from the Commonwealth of Virginia. A Democrat, he is a member of the Virginia House of Delegates, representing the state's 49th district in Northern Virginia since January 2004...
|
Democratic PartyThe Democratic Party of Virginia is based in Richmond in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is affiliated with the national Democratic Party of the United States. The organization is governed by a State Party Plan, which guarantees an open and fair candidate selection process...
(49) |
2003 |
2011 |
Arlington is governed or represented by three of the four openly gay elected officials in Virginia. Arlington County Board member Jay Fisette was the first in 1997. Adam Ebbin became the first openly gay Delegate in 2003. In 2006, School Board member Sally Baird became the first openly lesbian elected official in Virginia. (The fourth openly gay elected official is Councilman Paul Smedberg of the City of Alexandria Council.)
The
United States Postal ServiceThe United States Postal Service is an independent agency of the United States government responsible for providing postal service in the United States...
designates
zip codeZIP codes are a system of postal codes used by the United States Postal Service since 1963. The term ZIP, an acronym for Zone Improvement Plan, is properly written in capital letters and was chosen to suggest that the mail travels more efficiently, and therefore more quickly, when senders use the...
s starting with "222" for exclusive use in Arlington County. As a result of the unique relationship of some institutions to the federal government,
Ronald Reagan Washington National AirportRonald Reagan Washington National Airport is a public airport located south of downtown Washington, D.C., in Arlington County, Virginia. It is the commercial airport nearest to Washington, D.C. For many decades, it was called Washington National Airport, but this airport was renamed in 1998 to...
and
The PentagonThe Pentagon is the headquarters of the United States Department of Defense, located in Arlington County, Virginia. As a symbol of the U.S. military, "the Pentagon" is often used metonymically to refer to the Department of Defense rather than the building itself.Designed by the American architect...
both use Washington, D.C. as their address and have zip codes that begin with the digits "20" even though each is actually located in Arlington County.
Economy
Arlington has consistently had the lowest unemployment rate of any jurisdiction in Virginia. The unemployment rate in Arlington was 4.2% in August 2009. 60% of office space in the Rosslyn-Ballston corridor is leased to government agencies and government contractors. There were an estimated 205,300 jobs in the county in 2008. About 28.7% of these were with the federal, state or local government; 19.1% technical and professional; 28.9% accommodation, food and other services.
In October 2008,
BusinessWeekBloomberg Businessweek, commonly and formerly known as BusinessWeek, is a weekly business magazine published by Bloomberg L.P. It is currently headquartered in New York City.- History :...
ranked Arlington as the safest city in which to weather a recession, with a 49.4% share of jobs in "strong industries". In October 2009, during the economic downturn, the unemployment in the county reached 4.2%. This was the lowest in the state, which averaged 6.6% for the same time period, and among the lowest in the nation, which averaged 9.5% for the same time.
In 2010, there were an estimated 90,842 residences in the county.
In 2000, the median single family home price was $262,400. About 123 homes were worth $1 million or more. In 2008, the median home was worth $586,200. 4,721 houses, about 10% of all stand-alone homes, were worth $1 million or more.
In 2010, there were 0.9 percent of the homes in foreclosure. This was the lowest rate in the DC area.
A number of federal agencies are headquartered in Arlington, including the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, DARPA,
Drug Enforcement AdministrationThe Drug Enforcement Administration is a federal law enforcement agency under the United States Department of Justice, tasked with combating drug smuggling and use within the United States...
,
Foreign Service InstituteThe Foreign Service Institute is the United States Federal Government's primary training institution for employees of the U.S. foreign affairs community, preparing American diplomats and other professionals to advance U.S. foreign affairs interests overseas and in Washington...
,
National Science FoundationThe National Science Foundation is a United States government agency that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National Institutes of Health...
,
Office of Naval ResearchThe Office of Naval Research , headquartered in Arlington, Virginia , is the office within the United States Department of the Navy that coordinates, executes, and promotes the science and technology programs of the U.S...
,
Transportation Security AdministrationThe Transportation Security Administration is an agency of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security that exercises authority over the safety and security of the traveling public in the United States....
,
United States Department of DefenseThe United States Department of Defense is the U.S...
,
United States Fish and Wildlife ServiceThe United States Fish and Wildlife Service is a federal government agency within the United States Department of the Interior dedicated to the management of fish, wildlife, and natural habitats...
,
United States Marshals ServiceThe United States Marshals Service is a United States federal law enforcement agency within the United States Department of Justice . The office of U.S. Marshal is the oldest federal law enforcement office in the United States; it was created by the Judiciary Act of 1789...
, and the
United States Trade and Development AgencyThe U.S. Trade and Development Agency , located in Rosslyn, Arlington, Virginia, is an independent U.S. Government foreign assistance agency pursuant to section 661 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, as amended . The agency was established to advance economic development and U.S. commercial...
.
Companies headquartered in Arlington include
AESAES Corporation is a Fortune 500 company that generates and distributes electrical power. The company was founded on January 28, 1981, as Applied Energy Services by Roger Sant from the US Federal Energy Administration and Dennis Bakke from the Office of Management and Budget. AES Corporation is...
,
Allbritton Communications CompanyThe Allbritton Communications Company is an owner of television stations and other media, based in Arlington, Virginia. All of its stations are affiliated with ABC after signing an affiliation agreement in 1997.-Currently owned:...
,
Alcalde and FayAlcalde & Fay is a lobbying firm based in Arlington, Virginia. The firm consists of over 35 former politicians, public relations specialists, lawyers, journalists, and corporate executives. A team of Alcalde & Fay associates and a senior partner handles clients...
, Arlington Asset Investment,
CACICACI International Inc is a professional services and information technology company headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. CACI is a member of the Fortune 1000 Largest Companies and the Russell 2000 index. The company has approximately 13,700 employees in over 120 offices in the U.S. and...
,
Corporate Executive BoardThe Corporate Executive Board Company is a for-profit, publicly-traded firm that provides best practices research and analysis to business executives and professionals worldwide. CEB offers benchmarking datasets, decision-support tools, research briefs, and case studies, as well as executive...
, ENVIRON International Corporation,
ESI InternationalESI International, Inc. is a provider of learning-based solutions focused on skills training and consulting in project management, program management, business analysis, business skills and contract management....
,
FBR Capital MarketsFBR & Co. provides investment banking, merger and acquisition advisory, institutional brokerage, and research services through its subsidiary FBR Capital Markets & Co. FBR focuses capital and financial expertise on the following industry sectors: consumer; diversified industrials; energy & natural...
,
Interstate Hotels & ResortsVirginia based Interstate Hotels & Resorts is a subsidiary of Maryland based Thayer Lodging Group. It operates in two sectors, hotel management and hotel ownership..-History:Interstate traces it roots to 1961...
,
Rosetta StoneRosetta Stone is proprietary computer-assisted language learning software developed by Rosetta Stone Inc. Both its title and logo refer to the Rosetta Stone, an artifact inscribed in multiple languages that helped Jean-François Champollion to decipher Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs...
and Strayer Education.
Organizations located here include
Associated General ContractorsThe Associated General Contractors of America is a membership organization dedicated to furthering the ever-changing agenda of commercial construction contractors, improving job site safety, expanding the use of cutting edge technologies and techniques and strengthening the dialogue between...
,
The Conservation FundThe Conservation Fund is an American environmental non-profit with a dual charter to pursue both economic development and environmental preservation.The Fund partners with community, government and corporate leaders to fulfill their conservation priorities...
,
Conservation InternationalConservation International is a nonprofit organization headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, which seeks to ensure the health of humanity by protecting Earth's ecosystems and biodiversity. CI’s work focuses on six key initiatives that affect human well-being: climate, food security, freshwater...
, the
Consumer Electronics AssociationThe Consumer Electronics Association is a standards and trade organization for the consumer electronics industry in the United States. The Consumer Electronics Association is the preeminent trade association promoting growth in the $173 billion U.S...
, The Fellowship, the
Feminist Majority FoundationThe Feminist Majority Foundation is a non-profit organization in the United States dedicated to Women's Equality, Reproductive Health and Non-Violence, headquartered in Arlington County, Virginia. The name Feminist Majority comes from a 1986 Newsweek/Gallup public opinion poll in which 56 percent...
, the
Insurance Institute for Highway SafetyThe Insurance Institute for Highway Safety is a U.S. non-profit organization funded by auto insurers, established in 1959 and headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. It works to reduce the number of motor vehicle crashes, and the rate of injuries and amount of property damage in the crashes that...
, the
National Rural Electric Cooperative AssociationThe National Rural Electric Cooperative Association is the organization that represents over 900 electric cooperatives in the United States. Independent electric utilities are not-for-profit and are owned by their members...
,
The Nature ConservancyThe Nature Conservancy is a US charitable environmental organization that works to preserve the plants, animals, and natural communities that represent the diversity of life on Earth by protecting the lands and waters they need to survive....
, the
Public Broadcasting ServiceThe Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....
,
United Service OrganizationsThe United Service Organizations Inc. is a private, nonprofit organization that provides morale and recreational services to members of the U.S. military, with programs in 160 centers worldwide. Since 1941, it has worked in partnership with the Department of Defense , and has provided support and...
and the
US-Taiwan Business CouncilThe US-Taiwan Business Council is a membership-based, non-profit organization founded in 1976 to foster trade and business relations between the United States and Taiwan....
.
According to the County's 2009 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, the top employers in the county are:
| # |
Employer |
# of Employees |
| 1 |
Virginia Hospital Center |
2,354 |
| 2 |
Corporate Executive BoardThe Corporate Executive Board Company is a for-profit, publicly-traded firm that provides best practices research and analysis to business executives and professionals worldwide. CEB offers benchmarking datasets, decision-support tools, research briefs, and case studies, as well as executive...
|
1,534 |
| 3 |
US Airways GroupUS Airways Group Inc. is an airline holding company based in Tempe, Arizona. US Airways Group operate US Airways, along with its subsidiaries PSA Airlines, Inc. and Piedmont Airlines, Inc., which are wholly owned but marketed under the branding of US Airways Express...
|
1,472 |
| 4 |
Lockheed MartinLockheed Martin is an American global aerospace, defense, security, and advanced technology company with worldwide interests. It was formed by the merger of Lockheed Corporation with Martin Marietta in March 1995. It is headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, in the Washington Metropolitan Area....
|
1,453 |
| 5 |
Marriott InternationalMarriott International, Inc. is a worldwide operator and franchisor of a broad portfolio of hotels and related lodging facilities. Founded by J. Willard Marriott, the company is now led by son J.W. Marriott, Jr...
|
1,450 |
| 6 |
BAE SystemsBAE Systems Inc. is a major subsidiary of the British defense and aerospace company BAE Systems plc. As per its Special Security Agreement, BAE Systems Inc...
|
1,407 |
| 7 |
Booz Allen HamiltonBooz Allen Hamilton Inc. , or more commonly Booz Allen, is an American public consulting firm headquartered in McLean, Fairfax County, Virginia, with 80 other offices throughout the United States. Ralph Shrader is its Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. The firm was founded by Edwin Booz in...
|
1,384 |
| 8 |
SRA InternationalSRA International, Inc. is an information technology services and solutions consulting company incorporated as Systems Research and Applications Corporation in 1976 and beginning operations in 1978. Founded by Dr. Ernst Volgenau, it is headquartered in Fairfax, Virginia, and employs 7200 people...
|
1,283 |
| 9 |
SAIC |
1,257 |
| 10 |
CACICACI International Inc is a professional services and information technology company headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. CACI is a member of the Fortune 1000 Largest Companies and the Russell 2000 index. The company has approximately 13,700 employees in over 120 offices in the U.S. and...
|
1,198 |
| 11 |
Bureau of National AffairsThe Bureau of National Affairs, Inc. — known as BNA — is an independent, privately owned publisher of specialized online and print news and information for professionals in business and government, headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, USA...
|
900 |
| 12 |
Verizon |
790 |
| 13 |
Marymount University Marymount University is a coeducational, four-year Catholic university that has its main campus located in Arlington, Virginia. Marymount offers bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees in a wide range of disciplines and has a diverse and welcoming academic community with approximately 3,600...
|
637 |
| 14 |
BoeingThe Boeing Company is an American multinational aerospace and defense corporation, founded in 1916 by William E. Boeing in Seattle, Washington. Boeing has expanded over the years, merging with McDonnell Douglas in 1997. Boeing Corporate headquarters has been in Chicago, Illinois since 2001...
|
545 |
| 15 |
Cambridge Associates |
520 |
| 16 |
Macy'sMacy's is a U.S. chain of mid-to-high range department stores. In addition to its flagship Herald Square location in New York City, the company operates over 800 stores in the United States...
|
507 |
| 17 |
Interstate Hotels & Resorts Virginia based Interstate Hotels & Resorts is a subsidiary of Maryland based Thayer Lodging Group. It operates in two sectors, hotel management and hotel ownership..-History:Interstate traces it roots to 1961...
|
501 |
| 18 |
Towers Watson Towers Watson is a global consulting firm. Its principal lines of business are risk management and human resource consulting. It also has strong actuarial, investment consulting, and reinsurance brokerage practices. The Towers Watson corporate offices are in New York, New York.Towers Watson was...
|
500 |
| 19 |
National Rural Electric Cooperative Association The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association is the organization that represents over 900 electric cooperatives in the United States. Independent electric utilities are not-for-profit and are owned by their members...
|
500 |
| 20 |
Jacobs Jacobs Engineering Group Inc., a publicly traded company with over 50,000 employees and 2010 revenues of nearly $10 billion, provides technical, professional, and construction services globally. Headquartered in Pasadena, California, it was founded in 1947 by Dr. Joseph J. Jacobs. Jacobs offers...
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Arlington National Cemetery
Arlington National Cemetery is an American military cemetery established during the
American Civil WarThe American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
on the grounds of
ConfederateThe Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...
General
Robert E. LeeRobert Edward Lee was a career military officer who is best known for having commanded the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia in the American Civil War....
's home,
Arlington HouseArlington House, The Robert E. Lee Memorial, formerly named the Custis-Lee Mansion, is a Greek revival style mansion located in Arlington, Virginia, USA that was once the home of Confederate General Robert E. Lee. It overlooks the Potomac River, directly across from the National Mall in Washington,...
(also known as the Custis-Lee Mansion). It is directly across the
Potomac RiverThe Potomac River flows into the Chesapeake Bay, located along the mid-Atlantic coast of the United States. The river is approximately long, with a drainage area of about 14,700 square miles...
from Washington, D.C., north of
the PentagonThe Pentagon is the headquarters of the United States Department of Defense, located in Arlington County, Virginia. As a symbol of the U.S. military, "the Pentagon" is often used metonymically to refer to the Department of Defense rather than the building itself.Designed by the American architect...
. With nearly 300,000 people buried there, Arlington National Cemetery is the second-largest national cemetery in the United States.
Arlington House was named after the Custis family's homestead on Virginia's Eastern Shore. It is associated with the families of Washington, Custis, and Lee. Begun in 1802 and completed in 1817, it was built by
George Washington Parke CustisGeorge Washington Parke Custis , the step-grandson of United States President George Washington, was a nineteenth-century American writer, orator, and agricultural reformer.-Family:...
. After his father died, young Custis was raised by his grandmother and her second husband, the first
US PresidentThe President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
George WashingtonGeorge Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...
, at
Mount VernonThe name Mount Vernon is a dedication to the English Vice-Admiral Edward Vernon. It was first applied to Mount Vernon, the Virginia estate of George Washington, the first President of the United States...
. Custis, a far-sighted agricultural pioneer, painter, playwright, and orator, was interested in perpetuating the memory and principles of George Washington. His house became a "treasury" of Washington heirlooms.
In 1804, Custis married
Mary Lee FitzhughMary Lee Fitzhugh Custis was an Episcopal lay leader in Alexandria County...
. Their only child to survive infancy was Mary Anna Randolph Custis, born in 1808. Young Robert E. Lee, whose mother was a cousin of Mrs. Custis, frequently visited Arlington. Two years after graduating from
West PointThe United States Military Academy at West Point is a four-year coeducational federal service academy located at West Point, New York. The academy sits on scenic high ground overlooking the Hudson River, north of New York City...
, Lieutenant Lee married Mary Custis at Arlington on June 30, 1831. For 30 years, Arlington House was home to the Lees. They spent much of their married life traveling between
U.S. ArmyThe United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
duty stations and Arlington, where six of their seven children were born. They shared this home with Mary's parents, the Custis family.
When George Washington Parke Custis died in 1857, he left the Arlington estate to Mrs. Lee for her lifetime and afterward to the Lees' eldest son,
George Washington Custis LeeGeorge Washington Custis Lee , also known as Custis Lee, was the eldest son of Robert E. Lee and Mary Anna Custis Lee...
.
The U.S. government confiscated Arlington House and 200 acres (80.9 ha) of ground immediately from the wife of General Robert E. Lee during the Civil War. The government designated the grounds as a military cemetery on June 15, 1864, by
Secretary of WarThe Secretary of War was a member of the United States President's Cabinet, beginning with George Washington's administration. A similar position, called either "Secretary at War" or "Secretary of War," was appointed to serve the Congress of the Confederation under the Articles of Confederation...
Edwin M. StantonEdwin McMasters Stanton was an American lawyer and politician who served as Secretary of War under the Lincoln Administration during the American Civil War from 1862–1865...
. In 1882, after many years in the lower courts, the matter of the ownership of Arlington National Cemetery was brought before the
United States Supreme CourtThe Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts, and original jurisdiction over a small range of cases...
. The Court decided that the property rightfully belonged to the Lee family. The
United States CongressThe United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
then appropriated the sum of $150,000 for the purchase of the property from the Lee family.
Veterans from all the nation's wars are buried in the cemetery, from the
American RevolutionThe American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...
through the military actions in
AfghanistanThe War in Afghanistan began on October 7, 2001, as the armed forces of the United States of America, the United Kingdom, Australia, and the Afghan United Front launched Operation Enduring Freedom...
and
IraqThe 2003 invasion of Iraq , was the start of the conflict known as the Iraq War, or Operation Iraqi Freedom, in which a combined force of troops from the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Poland invaded Iraq and toppled the regime of Saddam Hussein in 21 days of major combat operations...
. Pre-Civil War dead were re-interred after 1900.
The
Tomb of the UnknownsThe Tomb of the Unknowns is a monument dedicated to American service members who have died without their remains being identified. It is located in Arlington National Cemetery in the United States...
, also known as the
Tomb of the Unknown SoldierTomb of the Unknown Soldier refers to a grave in which the unidentifiable remains of a soldier are interred. Such tombs can be found in many nations and are usually high-profile national monuments. Throughout history, many soldiers have died in wars without their remains being identified...
, stands atop a hill overlooking Washington, DC. President
John F. KennedyJohn Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
is buried in Arlington National Cemetery with
his wifeJacqueline Lee Bouvier "Jackie" Kennedy Onassis was the wife of the 35th President of the United States, John F. Kennedy, and served as First Lady of the United States during his presidency from 1961 until his assassination in 1963. Five years later she married Greek shipping magnate Aristotle...
and some of their children. His grave is marked with an "Eternal Flame." His brothers, Senators
Robert F. KennedyRobert Francis "Bobby" Kennedy , also referred to by his initials RFK, was an American politician, a Democratic senator from New York, and a noted civil rights activist. An icon of modern American liberalism and member of the Kennedy family, he was a younger brother of President John F...
and
Edward M. KennedyEdward Moore "Ted" Kennedy was a United States Senator from Massachusetts and a member of the Democratic Party. Serving almost 47 years, he was the second most senior member of the Senate when he died and is the fourth-longest-serving senator in United States history...
, are also buried nearby. Another
PresidentThe President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
,
William Howard TaftWilliam Howard Taft was the 27th President of the United States and later the tenth Chief Justice of the United States...
, who was also a
Chief JusticeThe Chief Justice of the United States is the head of the United States federal court system and the chief judge of the Supreme Court of the United States. The Chief Justice is one of nine Supreme Court justices; the other eight are the Associate Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States...
of the U.S. Supreme Court, is the only other President buried at Arlington.
Other frequently visited sites near the cemetery are the
U.S. Marine Corps War MemorialThe Marine Corps War Memorial is a military memorial statue outside the walls of the Arlington National Cemetery and next to the Netherlands Carillon, in Arlington, Virginia, in the United States. The memorial is dedicated to all personnel of the United States Marine Corps who have died in the...
, commonly known as the "Iwo Jima Memorial", the
U.S. Air Force MemorialThe United States Air Force Memorial honors the service of the personnel of the United States Air Force and its predecessors. The Memorial is located in Arlington, Virginia, on the grounds of Fort Myer near The Pentagon and Arlington National Cemetery, at the intersection of Columbia Pike and...
, the
Women in Military Service for America MemorialThe Women in Military Service for America Memorial is located at the Ceremonial Entrance to Arlington National Cemetery and honors all women who have served in the United States Armed Forces. New York architects Marion Weiss and Michael Manfredi, husband and wife, designed the memorial...
, the
Netherlands CarillonThe Netherlands Carillon adjacent to Arlington National Cemetery was a gift from the people of the Netherlands to the people of the United States of America in 1954. The gift was made to thank the United States for its aid during and after World War II. First installed at a nearby site in 1954,...
and the U.S. Army's
Fort MyerFort Myer is a U.S. Army post adjacent to Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington County, Virginia, across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C. It is a small post by U.S...
.
The Pentagon
The PentagonThe Pentagon is the headquarters of the United States Department of Defense, located in Arlington County, Virginia. As a symbol of the U.S. military, "the Pentagon" is often used metonymically to refer to the Department of Defense rather than the building itself.Designed by the American architect...
in Arlington is the headquarters of the United States
Department of DefenseThe United States Department of Defense is the U.S...
. It was dedicated on January 15, 1943 and it is the world's largest office building. Although it is located in Arlington, the
United States Postal ServiceThe United States Postal Service is an independent agency of the United States government responsible for providing postal service in the United States...
requires that "Washington, D.C." be used as the place name in mail addressed to the six
ZIP codeZIP codes are a system of postal codes used by the United States Postal Service since 1963. The term ZIP, an acronym for Zone Improvement Plan, is properly written in capital letters and was chosen to suggest that the mail travels more efficiently, and therefore more quickly, when senders use the...
s assigned to
The PentagonThe Pentagon is the headquarters of the United States Department of Defense, located in Arlington County, Virginia. As a symbol of the U.S. military, "the Pentagon" is often used metonymically to refer to the Department of Defense rather than the building itself.Designed by the American architect...
.
The building is
pentagonIn geometry, a pentagon is any five-sided polygon. A pentagon may be simple or self-intersecting. The sum of the internal angles in a simple pentagon is 540°. A pentagram is an example of a self-intersecting pentagon.- Regular pentagons :In a regular pentagon, all sides are equal in length and...
-shaped in plan and houses about 23,000 military and civilian employees and about 3,000 non-defense support personnel. It has five floors and each floor has five ring corridors. The Pentagon's principal law enforcement arm is the
United States Pentagon PoliceThe United States Pentagon Police is the federal police force of the Secretary of Defense. The mission of the USPPD is to promote high quality law enforcement and security services, in order to provide a safe and orderly work environment for the Department of Defense in the National...
, the agency that protects the Pentagon and various other DoD jurisdictions throughout the National Capital Region.
Built during the early years of
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, it is still thought of as one of the most efficient office buildings in the world. It has 17.5 miles (28 km) of corridors, yet it takes only seven minutes or so to walk between any two points in the building.
It was built from 680000 short tons (607,141 LT) of sand and gravel dredged from the nearby
Potomac RiverThe Potomac River flows into the Chesapeake Bay, located along the mid-Atlantic coast of the United States. The river is approximately long, with a drainage area of about 14,700 square miles...
that were processed into 435,000 cubic yards (330,000 m³) of concrete and molded into the pentagon shape. Very little steel was used in its design due to the needs of the war effort.
The open-air central plaza in the Pentagon is the world's largest "no-salute, no-cover" area (where U.S. servicemembers need not wear hats nor salute). The snack bar in the center is informally known as the
Ground Zero CafeThe term ground zero describes the point on the Earth's surface closest to a detonation...
, a nickname originating during the
Cold WarThe Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
when the Pentagon was targeted by Soviet
nuclear missileNuclear weapons delivery is the technology and systems used to place a nuclear weapon at the position of detonation, on or near its target. Several methods have been developed to carry out this task....
s.
During World War II, the earliest portion of the
Henry G. Shirley Memorial HighwayThe Henry G. Shirley Memorial Highway consists of a portion of Interstates 95 and 395 in the U.S. state of Virginia. Shirley Highway was the first limited-access freeway in Virginia...
was built in Arlington in conjunction with the parking and traffic plan for the Pentagon. This early freeway, opened in 1943, and completed to
Woodbridge, Virginia-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 31,941 people, 10,687 households, and 7,769 families residing in the CDP. The population density was 3,047.8 people per square mile . There were 11,026 housing units at an average density of 1,052.1/sq mi...
in 1952, is now part of
Interstate 395Interstate 395 in Washington, D.C., and Virginia is a 13 mile long spur route that begins at a junction with Interstate 95 in Springfield, Virginia and ends in northwest Washington, D.C. It passes underneath the National Mall near the United States Capitol and ends at a junction with U.S...
.
Transportation
Arlington forms part of region's core transportation network. The county is traversed by two
interstate highwayThe Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, , is a network of limited-access roads including freeways, highways, and expressways forming part of the National Highway System of the United States of America...
s,
Interstate 66Interstate 66 is an Interstate Highway in the eastern United States. As indicated by its even route number, it runs in an east–west direction. Its western terminus is at Middletown, Virginia, at an intersection with Interstate 81; its eastern terminus is in Washington, D.C., at an...
in the northern part of the county and
Interstate 395Interstate 395 in Washington, D.C., and Virginia is a 13 mile long spur route that begins at a junction with Interstate 95 in Springfield, Virginia and ends in northwest Washington, D.C. It passes underneath the National Mall near the United States Capitol and ends at a junction with U.S...
in the eastern part, both with
high-occupancy vehicle laneIn transportation engineering and transportation planning, a high-occupancy vehicle lane is a lane reserved for vehicles with a driver and one or more passengers...
s or restrictions. In addition, the county is served by the
George Washington Memorial ParkwayThe George Washington Memorial Parkway, known to local motorists simply as the "G.W. Parkway", is a parkway maintained by the U.S. National Park Service. It is located mostly in Northern Virginia, although a short section northwest of the Arlington Memorial Bridge passes over Columbia Island,...
. In total, Arlington County maintains 376 miles (605.1 km) of roads.
The street names in Arlington generally follow a unified countywide convention. The north-south streets are generally alphabetical, starting with one-syllable names, then two-, three- and four-syllable names. The "lowest" alphabetical street is Ball Street. The "highest" is Arizona. Many east-west streets are numbered. Route 50 divides Arlington County. Streets are generally labeled North above Route 50, and South below.
Arlington is served by the
OrangeThe Orange Line of the Washington Metro consists of 26 rapid transit stations from Vienna to New Carrollton. It has stations in Fairfax County and Arlington, Virginia, the District of Columbia, and Prince George's County, Maryland. Half of the line's stations are shared with the Blue Line, and over...
,
BlueThe Blue Line of the Washington Metro in the United States consists of 27 rapid transit stations from Franconia–Springfield to Largo Town Center. It has stations in Fairfax County, Alexandria and Arlington, Virginia, the District of Columbia, and Prince George's County, Maryland...
and
YellowThe Yellow Line of the Washington Metro consists of 17 rapid transit stations from Huntington to Fort Totten. The line terminates at the Mount Vernon Square station during peak hours.Peak hours are 5 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. and 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. Service is extended to the Green Line stations during...
lines of the
Washington MetroThe Washington Metro, commonly called Metro, and unofficially Metrorail, is the rapid transit system in Washington, D.C., United States, and its surrounding suburbs. It is administered by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority , which also operates Metrobus service under the Metro name...
. Additionally, it is served by
Virginia Railway ExpressThe Virginia Railway Express is a regional/ commuter rail service that connects the Northern Virginia suburbs to Union Station in Washington, D.C., via two lines: the Fredericksburg Line from Fredericksburg, Virginia, and the Manassas Line from Broad Run/Airport station in Bristow,...
commuter rail,
MetrobusThe Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority is a tri-jurisdictional government agency that operates transit service in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area, including the Metrorail, Metrobus and MetroAccess...
(regional public bus),
Fairfax ConnectorFairfax Connector is a public bus service provided by Fairfax County, Virginia, and operated under contract by MV Transportation. The first buses rolled out in September 1985 as a lower-cost alternative to the Metrobus service of the regional Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority...
(regional public bus),
Potomac and Rappahannock Transportation CommissionPotomac and Rappahannock Transportation Commission is the public transportation system in Prince William County, Virginia, plus two adjacent independent cities, Manassas and Manassas Park, that together are surrounded by the county. Services provided by PRTC include OmniRide, OmniLink, and...
(PRTC) (regional public bus), and a county public bus system,
Arlington TransitArlington Transit is a bus transit company that operates in Arlington County, Virginia. It includes part of the Pike Ride service along Columbia Pike, shared with WMATA. Most of its services are designed to connect city neighborhoods with nearby Metro stations...
(ART).
Arlington County is home to
Ronald Reagan Washington National AirportRonald Reagan Washington National Airport is a public airport located south of downtown Washington, D.C., in Arlington County, Virginia. It is the commercial airport nearest to Washington, D.C. For many decades, it was called Washington National Airport, but this airport was renamed in 1998 to...
, which provides domestic air services to the Washington, D.C. area. In 2009,
Condé Nast TravelerCondé Nast Traveler is a US magazine published by Condé Nast. It has its origins in a mailing sent out by the Diners Club club beginning in 1953, listing locations that would take the card. It began taking advertising in 1955. In order to attract more advertisers, it became a full-fledged magazine,...
readers voted it the country's best airport. Nearby international airports are
Washington Dulles International AirportWashington Dulles International Airport is a public airport in Dulles, Virginia, 26 miles west of downtown Washington, D.C. The airport serves the Baltimore-Washington-Northern Virginia metropolitan area centered on the District of Columbia. It is named after John Foster Dulles, Secretary of...
, located in
FairfaxFairfax County is a county in Virginia, in the United States. Per the 2010 Census, the population of the county is 1,081,726, making it the most populous jurisdiction in the Commonwealth of Virginia, with 13.5% of Virginia's population...
and
LoudounLoudoun County is a county located in the Commonwealth of Virginia, and is part of the Washington Metropolitan Area. As of the 2010 U.S. Census, the county is estimated to be home to 312,311 people, an 84 percent increase over the 2000 figure of 169,599. That increase makes the county the fourth...
counties in Virginia, and
Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall AirportBaltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport is an international airport serving the Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area in the United States. It is commonly called BWI, BWI Airport or BWI Marshall, BWI being an initialism for "Baltimore/Washington International" and the...
, located in
Anne Arundel County, MarylandAnne Arundel County is a county located in the U.S. state of Maryland. It is named for Anne Arundell , a member of the ancient family of Arundells in Cornwall, England and the wife of Cæcilius Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore. Its county seat is Annapolis, which is also the capital of the state...
.
In 2007, the county authorized
EnviroCABEnviroCAB is a taxicab service provider based in Arlington County, Virginia, which provides service exclusively with a fleet of hybrid electric vehicles...
, a new taxi company, to operate exclusively with a
hybrid-electricA hybrid electric vehicle is a type of hybrid vehicle and electric vehicle which combines a conventional internal combustion engine propulsion system with an electric propulsion system. The presence of the electric powertrain is intended to achieve either better fuel economy than a conventional...
fleet of 50 vehicles and also issued permits for existing companies to add 35 hybrid cabs to their fleets. As operations began in 2008, EnvironCab became the first all-hybrid taxicab fleet in the U.S. and the company not only offsets the emissions generated by its fleet of hybrids, but also the equivalent emissions of 100 non-hybrid taxis in service in the metropolitan area. The green taxi expansion is part of a county campaign known as Fresh AIRE, or Arlington Initiative to Reduce Emissions, that aims to cut production of greenhouse gases from county buildings and vehicles by 10 percent by 2012.
Arlington has 86 miles (138.4 km) of on-street and paved off-road bicycle trails. Off-road trails travel along the
Potomac RiverThe Potomac River flows into the Chesapeake Bay, located along the mid-Atlantic coast of the United States. The river is approximately long, with a drainage area of about 14,700 square miles...
or its tributaries,
abandoned railroad bedsA rail trail is the conversion of a disused railway easement into a multi-use path, typically for walking, cycling and sometimes horse riding. The characteristics of former tracks—flat, long, frequently running through historical areas—are appealing for various development. The term sometimes also...
, or major highways, including:
Four Mile Run TrailThe Four Mile Run Trail is a 7-mile, paved bike trail in Arlington County, Virginia that runs along Four Mile Run from Falls Church to the Mount Vernon Trail near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, where Four Mile Run empties into the Potomac River...
that travels the length of the county; the
Custis TrailThe Custis Trail is a 4-mile, paved bike trail in Arlington County, Virginia that extends from Key Bridge at Rosslyn westward to the Washington & Old Dominion Railroad Trail...
, which runs the width of the county from Rosslyn; the
Washington & Old Dominion Railroad TrailThe Washington & Old Dominion Railroad Regional Park is a popular and unusually-shaped regional park in Northern Virginia. The park's primary feature is the Washington & Old Dominion Railroad Trail , an asphalt-surfaced paved rail trail that runs through densely populated urban and suburban...
(W&OD Trail) that travels 45 miles (72.4 km) from the Shirlington neighborhood out to western Loudoun County; the
Mount Vernon TrailThe Mount Vernon Trail is a popular running and bike path in Northern Virginia that follows the west bank of the Potomac River from near Theodore Roosevelt Island to Mount Vernon. The northern, urban half is open and has views of Washington, D.C. across the river. The southern below Alexandria is...
that runs for 17 miles (27.4 km) along the Potomac, continuing through Alexandria to
Mount VernonThe name Mount Vernon is a dedication to the English Vice-Admiral Edward Vernon. It was first applied to Mount Vernon, the Virginia estate of George Washington, the first President of the United States...
.
Capital BikeshareCapital Bikeshare is a bicycle sharing system that serves Washington, D.C., and Arlington County, Virginia. The stations and bicycles are owned by the participating local governments and operated in a public-private partnership with Alta Bike Share, Inc...
, a bicycle sharing system, began operations in September 2010 with 14 rental locations primarily around
Washington MetroThe Washington Metro, commonly called Metro, and unofficially Metrorail, is the rapid transit system in Washington, D.C., United States, and its surrounding suburbs. It is administered by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority , which also operates Metrobus service under the Metro name...
stations in throughout the county.
Education
Arlington Public SchoolsArlington Public Schools is a public school division in Arlington County, Virginia. In 2010, there were 19,903 students, up from 18,715 a year earlier. In 2010, the students had come from more than 120 countries. There were 2,166 teachers....
operates the county's public K-12 education system of 22 elementary schools, 5 middle schools, and 4 public high schools in Arlington County including
Wakefield High SchoolWakefield High School is one of three public high schools located in Arlington, Virginia, and is just one block away from Alexandria. There are 140 teachers and 1364 students as of March 2008. It is a fully accredited high school based on Virginia's Standards of Learning examinations...
,
Washington-Lee High SchoolWashington-Lee High School is one of three traditional public high schools in the Arlington Public Schools district in Arlington, Virginia, covering grades 9-12. As of 2009-2010, the school had over 1,800 students and 120 teachers...
, Yorktown High School and the
H-B WoodlawnThe H-B Woodlawn Secondary Program, commonly referred to as H-B, is an alternative all-county public school located in Arlington County, Virginia, United States based on the liberal educational movements of the 1960s and 1970s...
alternative school. Arlington County spends about half of its local revenues on education, making it one of the top ten per-pupil spenders in the nation. As of 2004, over $13,000, the second highest amount spent on education in the United States, behind New York City.
Arlington has an elected five-person school board whose members are elected to four year terms. Virginia law does not permit political parties to place school board candidates on the ballot.
| Position |
Name |
First Election |
Next Election |
| Chair |
Sally Baird |
2006 |
2010 |
| Vice Chair |
Libby Garvey |
1996 |
2012 |
| Member |
James Lander |
2009 |
2013 |
| Member |
Abby Raphael |
2007 |
2011 |
| Member |
Emma Sanchez-Violand |
2008 |
2012 |
Through an agreement with
Fairfax CountyFairfax County is a county in Virginia, in the United States. Per the 2010 Census, the population of the county is 1,081,726, making it the most populous jurisdiction in the Commonwealth of Virginia, with 13.5% of Virginia's population...
Public Schools approved by the school board in 1999, up to 26 students residing in Arlington per grade level may be enrolled at the
Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and TechnologyThomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology is a Virginia state-chartered magnet school located within Fairfax County, Virginia, United States...
in Fairfax at a cost to Arlington of approximately $8000 per student. For the first time in 2006, more students (36) were offered admission in the selective high school than allowed by the previously established enrollment cap.
Marymount UniversityMarymount University is a coeducational, four-year Catholic university that has its main campus located in Arlington, Virginia. Marymount offers bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees in a wide range of disciplines and has a diverse and welcoming academic community with approximately 3,600...
is the only university with its main campus located in Arlington. Founded in 1950 by the
Religious of the Sacred Heart of MaryThe Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary are a global Roman Catholic community of about 900 apostolic religious women, connected by personal contact, local, provincial and general meetings, telephone, e-mail and many websites to one another with a hope of promoting the integral development and...
as Marymount College of Virginia, both its main campus and its Ballston Center are located on North Glebe Road, with a shuttle service connecting the two.
George Mason UniversityGeorge Mason University is a public university based in unincorporated Fairfax County, Virginia, United States, south of and adjacent to the city of Fairfax. Additional campuses are located nearby in Arlington County, Prince William County, and Loudoun County...
operates an Arlington campus in the Virginia Square area between
ClarendonClarendon is a neighborhood in Arlington County, Virginia, USA, located between the Rosslyn area and the Ballston area. The main thoroughfares are Wilson Boulevard and Clarendon Boulevard .-Boundaries and geography:...
and
BallstonBallston is a neighborhood in Arlington County, Virginia and is home to the Ballston-MU station on the Orange Line of the Metrorail subway system.-History:...
. The campus houses the
George Mason University School of LawGeorge Mason University School of Law is the law school of George Mason University, a state university in Virginia, United States...
, School of Public Policy and other programs.
In June 2011,
Virginia TechVirginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, popularly known as Virginia Tech , is a public land-grant university with the main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia with other research and educational centers throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States, and internationally.Founded in...
opened the Virginia Tech Research Center - Arlington in
BallstonBallston is a neighborhood in Arlington County, Virginia and is home to the Ballston-MU station on the Orange Line of the Metrorail subway system.-History:...
, providing a teaching and research base for graduate students in computer research and engineering to interact with organizations and research agencies in the National Capital area.
Other private and technical schools maintain a campus in Arlington, including the
Institute for the Psychological SciencesThe Institute for the Psychological Sciences is a graduate school affiliated with the Legion of Christ, a Catholic religious congregation.The school offers masters and doctoral degrees in psychology and clinical psychology. Its stated goal is to provide instruction that is consistent with the...
, the
John Leland Center for Theological StudiesThe John Leland Center for Theological Studies is a Christian institution of higher education, comprising a seminary and a school of ministry. The center offers classes in Falls Church, Virginia, and at several satellite locations throughout Virginia...
, the University of Management and Technology,
The Art Institute of WashingtonThe Art Institute of Washington – is one of The Art Institutes, a system of more than 40 for-profit educational institutions located throughout North America, providing education in design, media arts, fashion and culinary arts...
,
DeVry UniversityDeVry University and DeVry Institute of Technology are divisions of DeVry Inc , a proprietary, for-profit higher education organization that is also the parent organization for Keller Graduate School of Management, Ross University, American University of the Caribbean, Apollo College, Western...
.
Strayer UniversityStrayer University, formerly Strayer College of Baltimore, Maryland, is a private, for-profit educational institution. The Strayer University campuses are owned by Strayer Education, Inc. , headquartered in Herndon, Virginia....
has a campus in Arlington as well as its corporate headquarters.
In addition,
Argosy UniversityArgosy University is a for-profit university owned by Education Management Corporation, with 19 locations in 13 U.S. states and online. The university offers numerous programs at various levels, including certification; associates, bachelors, masters, specialist, and doctoral degrees, postdoctoral...
,
Banner CollegeAnthem Institute is a chain of for-profit technical schools with six locations in the northeastern United States.-History:...
,
Everest CollegeEverest College is a system of for-profit colleges in the United States and the Canadian province of Ontario. The schools are owned and operated by Corinthian Colleges, Inc. which also owns Everest University, Everest Institute, Heald College, and WyoTech...
, George Washington University,
Georgetown UniversityGeorgetown University is a private, Jesuit, research university whose main campus is in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic university in the United States...
,
Northern Virginia Community CollegeNorthern Virginia Community College, often abbreviated NVCC and colloquially as NOVA, comprises several locations in the Northern Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C., and is both the second largest multi-campus community college in the United States and the largest educational institution in the...
,
Troy UniversityTroy University is a public university that is located in Troy, Alabama, United States. It was originally founded in 1887 as Troy Normal School. Its main campus enrollment is 7,194 students. The total enrollment of all Troy University campuses is 29,689...
, the
University of New HavenThe University of New Haven is a private university that combines a liberal arts education with professional training. The university comprises five colleges: the College of Arts and Sciences, the College of Business, the Tagliatela College of Engineering, the Henry C...
, the
University of OklahomaThe University of Oklahoma is a coeducational public research university located in Norman, Oklahoma. Founded in 1890, it existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two became the state of Oklahoma. the university had 29,931 students enrolled, most located at its...
, and
Westwood CollegeWestwood College, owned by Alta Colleges Inc., is a United States for-profit institution of higher learning with 17 campus locations in six states and online learning options. Westwood is accredited by national organizations including the Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges of...
all have campuses in Arlington.
Sister cities
AachenAachen has historically been a spa town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Aachen was a favoured residence of Charlemagne, and the place of coronation of the Kings of Germany. Geographically, Aachen is the westernmost town of Germany, located along its borders with Belgium and the Netherlands, ...
, Germany
ReimsReims , a city in the Champagne-Ardenne region of France, lies east-northeast of Paris. Founded by the Gauls, it became a major city during the period of the Roman Empire....
, France
San MiguelSan Miguel is the fourth most populous city in El Salvador after Santa Ana and Soyapango and the second most important after San Salvador. It is located 138 km east of the capital, San Salvador. It is also the capital of the department of San Miguel and a municipality...
, El Salvador
CoyoacánCoyoacán refers to one of the sixteen boroughs of the Federal District of Mexico City as well as the former village which is now the borough’s “historic center.” The name comes from Nahuatl and most likely means “place of coyotes,” when the Aztecs named a pre-Hispanic village on the southern shore...
, Mexico
Notable residents
- Patch Adams
Hunter Doherty "Patch" Adams, M.D. is an American physician, social activist, citizen diplomat and author. He founded the Gesundheit! Institute in 1971...
- Danny Ahn
Danny Ahn is a Korean American rapper and actor originally a part of the popular boy band g.o.d. He is notable for his unique rapping. He has one older sister...
, musician
- Aldrich Hazen Ames
- Connor Barth
Connor Thomas Barth is an American football placekicker for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League. He was signed by the Kansas City Chiefs as an undrafted free agent in 2008. He played college football at North Carolina....
, kicker for the Tampa Bay BuccaneersThe Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football franchise based in Tampa, Florida, U.S. They are currently members of the Southern Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League – they are the only team in the division not to come from the old NFC West...
- Dave Batista, former WWE professional wrestler
- Warren Beatty
Warren Beatty born March 30, 1937) is an American actor, producer, screenwriter and director. He has received a total of fourteen Academy Award nominations, winning one for Best Director in 1982. He has also won four Golden Globe Awards including the Cecil B. DeMille Award.-Early life and...
, actor and director
- David McDowell Brown
David McDowell Brown was a United States Naval Captain and a NASA astronaut. He died on his first space flight, when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during orbital reentry into the Earth's atmosphere...
, NASA astronaut, died during Shuttle Columbia mission STS-107-Mission parameters:*Mass:**Orbiter Liftoff: **Orbiter Landing: **Payload: *Perigee: *Apogee: *Inclination: 39.0°*Period: 90.1 min- Insignia :...
- Sandra Bullock
Sandra Annette Bullock is an Academy Award winning American actress and producer who rose to fame in the 1990s after roles in successful films such as Demolition Man, Speed, The Net, A Time to Kill, and While You Were Sleeping. She continued with films such as Miss Congeniality, The Lake House,...
, movie actress
- Katie Couric
Katherine Anne "Katie" Couric is an American journalist and author. She serves as Special Correspondent for ABC News, contributing to ABC World News, Nightline, 20/20, Good Morning America, This Week and primetime news specials...
, journalist, CBS News anchor, interviewer
- George Washington Parke Custis
George Washington Parke Custis , the step-grandson of United States President George Washington, was a nineteenth-century American writer, orator, and agricultural reformer.-Family:...
, orator and playwright, the stepgrandson and informally adopted son of President George WashingtonGeorge Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...
- Tom Dolan
Tom Dolan is a swimmer from the United States, who won a gold medal and silver medal at the 2000 Summer Olympics and a gold medal at the 1996 Summer Olympics...
, Olympic swimmer
- Zac Hanson
Zachary Walker "Zac" Hanson is an American musician, best known as a member of the pop band Hanson. He plays drums, percussion, piano, guitar and also sings back-up and lead vocals...
- Major Nidal Malik Hasan
Nidal Malik Hasan, USA is a United States Army officer and sole suspect in the November 5, 2009, Fort Hood shooting, which occurred less than a month before he would have deployed to Afghanistan....
, the sole suspect in the November 5, 2009, Fort Hood shootings. Born in Arlington.
- Robert E. Lee
Robert Edward Lee was a career military officer who is best known for having commanded the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia in the American Civil War....
, Confederate general who lived at Arlington HouseArlington House, The Robert E. Lee Memorial, formerly named the Custis-Lee Mansion, is a Greek revival style mansion located in Arlington, Virginia, USA that was once the home of Confederate General Robert E. Lee. It overlooks the Potomac River, directly across from the National Mall in Washington,...
- Shirley MacLaine
Shirley MacLaine is an American film and theater actress, singer, dancer, activist and author, well-known for her beliefs in new age spirituality and reincarnation. She has written a large number of autobiographical works, many dealing with her spiritual beliefs as well as her Hollywood career...
, actress
- Alexander Ovechkin
Alexander Mikhaylovich Ovechkin is a Russian professional ice hockey left winger and captain of the Washington Capitals of the National Hockey League...
, NHLThe National Hockey League is an unincorporated not-for-profit association which operates a major professional ice hockey league of 30 franchised member clubs, of which 7 are currently located in Canada and 23 in the United States...
player with the Washington CapitalsThe Washington Capitals are a professional ice hockey team based in Washington, D.C. They are members of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . Since their founding in 1974, "The Caps" have won one conference championship to reach the 1998 Stanley Cup...
- Mikhail Kutzik and Natalia Pereverzeva, accused spies
- Alexander Semin
Alexander Valerievich Semin , also known by fans as The Great 28, The Other Alex, or most commonly known as Sasha, is a Russian professional ice hockey player currently playing for the Washington Capitals in the National Hockey League ....
, NHLThe National Hockey League is an unincorporated not-for-profit association which operates a major professional ice hockey league of 30 franchised member clubs, of which 7 are currently located in Canada and 23 in the United States...
player with the Washington CapitalsThe Washington Capitals are a professional ice hockey team based in Washington, D.C. They are members of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . Since their founding in 1974, "The Caps" have won one conference championship to reach the 1998 Stanley Cup...
See also
External links