Shirlington is a population center officially called an "urban village" in the southern part of
Arlington CountyArlington County is a county of about 210,000 residents in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is located directly across the Potomac River to the southwest of Washington, D.C. Formerly part of the District of Columbia, the land now composing the county was retroceded to Virginia on July 9, 1846, in...
,
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" because it is the birthplace of eight U.S. presidents. The geography and climate of the state are shaped by the Blue...
,
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, adjacent to the
FairlingtonFairlington is an unincorporated neighborhood in Arlington County, Virginia, United States, located adjacent to Shirlington in the southernmost part of the county on the boundary with the City of Alexandria...
area. The word "Shirlington" is a combination of "Shirley" (from the
Shirley HighwayThe Henry G. Shirley Memorial Highway was the first limited access freeway in the U.S. state of Virginia. Begun in 1946, the road was completed from Woodbridge, Virginia to the 14th Street Bridge over the Potomac River between Virginia and Washington, D.C., in 1952.- History :The Shirley Highway...
or
Interstate 395Interstate 395 in 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...
) and "Arlington." It is mostly middle-class residential, but like most of Arlington County has been experiencing an
economicEconomics is the social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek from + , hence "rules of the house"...
renaissance and is now home to many upscale dwellings and retail and service establishments that also serve the nearby
FairlingtonFairlington is an unincorporated neighborhood in Arlington County, Virginia, United States, located adjacent to Shirlington in the southernmost part of the county on the boundary with the City of Alexandria...
,
ParkfairfaxParkfairfax is a neighborhood in Alexandria, Virginia, United States, located in the northwestern part of the city near the boundary with Arlington County...
, and Nauck areas.
Shirlington lies in the valley of
Four Mile RunFour Mile Run is a stream in Northern Virginia that proceeds from Fairfax County southeast through Falls Church to Arlington County in the U.S. state of Virginia...
, a tributary 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 383 statute miles long, with a drainage area of about 14,700 square miles . In terms of area, this makes the Potomac River the fourth largest river along the...
.
Shirlington is a population center officially called an "urban village" in the southern part of
Arlington CountyArlington County is a county of about 210,000 residents in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is located directly across the Potomac River to the southwest of Washington, D.C. Formerly part of the District of Columbia, the land now composing the county was retroceded to Virginia on July 9, 1846, in...
,
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" because it is the birthplace of eight U.S. presidents. The geography and climate of the state are shaped by the Blue...
,
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, adjacent to the
FairlingtonFairlington is an unincorporated neighborhood in Arlington County, Virginia, United States, located adjacent to Shirlington in the southernmost part of the county on the boundary with the City of Alexandria...
area. The word "Shirlington" is a combination of "Shirley" (from the
Shirley HighwayThe Henry G. Shirley Memorial Highway was the first limited access freeway in the U.S. state of Virginia. Begun in 1946, the road was completed from Woodbridge, Virginia to the 14th Street Bridge over the Potomac River between Virginia and Washington, D.C., in 1952.- History :The Shirley Highway...
or
Interstate 395Interstate 395 in 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...
) and "Arlington." It is mostly middle-class residential, but like most of Arlington County has been experiencing an
economicEconomics is the social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek from + , hence "rules of the house"...
renaissance and is now home to many upscale dwellings and retail and service establishments that also serve the nearby
FairlingtonFairlington is an unincorporated neighborhood in Arlington County, Virginia, United States, located adjacent to Shirlington in the southernmost part of the county on the boundary with the City of Alexandria...
,
ParkfairfaxParkfairfax is a neighborhood in Alexandria, Virginia, United States, located in the northwestern part of the city near the boundary with Arlington County...
, and Nauck areas.
Shirlington lies in the valley of
Four Mile RunFour Mile Run is a stream in Northern Virginia that proceeds from Fairfax County southeast through Falls Church to Arlington County in the U.S. state of Virginia...
, a tributary 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 383 statute miles long, with a drainage area of about 14,700 square miles . In terms of area, this makes the Potomac River the fourth largest river along the...
. It is the site of the
trailheadThe trailhead is the point at which a path, usually intended primarily or solely for walking and/or horseback traffic, starts. Modern trailheads often contain rest rooms, maps, sign posts and distribution centers for informational brochures about the trail and its features, and parking areas for...
of 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...
, a
rail trailA 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...
that travels along the route of a railroad that closed in 1968. Shirlington lies adjacent to I-395 and is immediately accessible from
Shirlington CircleShirlington Circle is a roundabout interchange connecting I-395 with several surface roads in two Virginia suburbs of the United States capital of Washington, D.C.—Arlington County and Alexandria. Although the circle is named after the Arlington County community of Shirlington, roughly half...
(Exit 6 on I-395). It is home to
WETA-TVWETA-TV is a Public Broadcasting Service network television station serving the Washington, D.C. area of the United States. Its studios are located in Arlington, Virginia...
, WETA-FM radio, the Signature Theatre, and some
USPTOThe United States Patent and Trademark Office is an agency in the United States Department of Commerce that issues patents to inventors and businesses for their inventions, and trademark registration for product and intellectual property identification.The USPTO is currently based in Alexandria,...
satellite offices. The Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International is also headquartered here. Closeby shopping can be found at
The Village at ShirlingtonThe Village at Shirlington opened as Shirlington Shopping Center in 1944, and was the first large shopping center to open in the Washington, D.C. suburbs and one of the earliest in the United States. It is located along Campbell Avenue at the intersection of Shirley Highway and Quaker Lane /...
, originally opened in 1944, as one of the earliest suburban shopping centers.
External links