Arlington County
Located
only a few hundred feet across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C.,
Arlington’s proximity to our nation’s capital has created a common history,
connecting it to Washington, D.C. from very day the city was first conceived.
Originally part of the 10-mile square boundary of the Capital City, Arlington
played a central role in the birth of our nation’s capital, and in the
formation of our country. But few are aware of deep ties that bound Arlington
to Washington, and the unbroken thread that wove its way through our national
fabric, beginning with our founding fathers, and ending with our modern-day
heroes. This is the story of Arlington.
From Washington’s beginnings, the City and the surrounding communities have been integrally related. The Constitution’s specifications of a city “not to exceed ten miles square” left the dilemma of a separate city to grow up in the broader region. Architect Pierre Charles L’Enfant designed the City to be situated on both sides of the Potomac River. And although part of the City’s land was given back to Virginia, the ring of Civil War fortifications expanded the City’s boundaries so that after the war, many properties acquired for military reasons remained in Federal hands. In 1902, Senator James McMillan, chairman of the newly created Park Improvement Commission of the District of Columbia (better known as the McMillan Commission) created a plan for the National Capital. In the decades that followed, many of the McMillan Plan’s proposals were implemented. However, the connections to the growing suburbs were integral in creating a metropolitan region for the twentieth century. This vast metropolitan view created a National Capital Area stretching from Great Falls to Mount Vernon.
In 1788, Article I, Section 8 of the newly framed Constitution gave the Congress power to accept a territory "not exceeding ten miles square" to be used as the seat of the Federal Government. There was intense rivalry between the states to provide the site of the new Capital. Cities in the North and South put forth pleas to be the one selected. Some notable cities from the Revolutionary War were considered: Boston, where the first shot had been fired; Philadelphia, where independence had been proclaimed; Yorktown where it had been won. To appease everyone, Congress resorted to “choosing no city already in existence, but building a new one on purpose.”
On July 16, 1790, Congress made up its mind for good and decided that the President should be entrusted with choosing “on the river Potomac” a territory, ten miles square, which should become the “Federal Territory” and the permanent seat of the Government of the United States.
President George Washington was quick to make a decision. As a native Virginian and an avid horseback rider, the hills and valleys of the Potomac River region were and an avid horseback rider, the hills and valleys of the Potomac River region were familiar to him. Not only was the region easy to navigate, it provided access to the Chesapeake Bay and was inland enough to be secure. An additional consideration, which Washington mentioned repeatedly, was the region’s central location among the chain of the 13 United States.
Upon learning of President Washington’s selection, a French army officer who had fought for him wrote:
“Sir…. No nation, perhaps, had ever before the opportunity offered them of deliberately deciding on the spot where their capital should be fixed…. And, although the means now within the power of the country are not such as to pursue the design to any great extent, it will be obvious that the plan should be drawn on such a scale as to leave room for that aggrandizement and embellishment which the increase of the wealth a the nation will permit it to pursue at any period, however remote….”
Major Pierre Charles L’Enfant
Washington knew of L’Enfant’s engineering and architectural talents and in 1791 L’Enfant was chosen to draw up designs for the Federal City. As L’Enfant began the design, Washington commissioned Major Andrew Ellicott, the U.S. Geographer-General, to conduct the survey of the new District of Columbia. Benjamin Banneker, a notable free black man, was called upon to assist him.
The 1801 Act by which the Congress of the United States took jurisdiction over this area specified that the portion ceded by Maryland should be known as the County of Washington, and that the portion ceded by Virginia, including the Town of Alexandria, should be known as the County of Alexandria (present day Arlington). Since George Washington owned land in this region, he did not want it to appear that he was seeking personal gain through his selection. Therefore, it was specified that no public buildings were to be erected on the Virginia side of the Potomac.
Arlington, which had once been part of the frontier of America, was now in the heart of the United States’ national government.
Layout of City / Boundary Stones
The original boundaries of the Capital City encompassed a ten-mile square, or an area of 100 square miles, in a diamond shape with north, east, south and west corners as indicated in the diagram. Four boundary stones were placed to mark these four corners of the diamond. Smaller stones were added at one mile intervals between the four corners for a total of 40 stones. The Virginia stones are the South Cornerstone, Southwest stones 1-9, the West Cornerstone, and Northwest stones 1 through 3. The marker stones were sandstone and were quarried at the Aquia Creek quarry on the Potomac River, in Stafford County, Virginia, about 40 miles south of Washington, D.C. This same sandstone was later used for many early Federal buildings, including the White House and the center portion of the U.S. Capitol.
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Born in 1731, Benjamin Banneker, was the free, self-taught mathematician and astronomer known as the “first black man of science” and part of Andrew Ellicott’s survey team that laid out the boundary of the District of Columbia, at the direction of George Washington. Banneker fixed the position of the first boundary stone by lying on his back to find the exact starting point for the survey of the District, and plotting six stars as they crossed his spot at a particular time of night. This first cornerstone was set on April 15, 1791, and marked the south corner stone of the District of Columbia. From that location, the surveyors advanced northwest into Virginia and then crossed the Potomac into Maryland. In 1847. Banneker’s boundaries define what is today Arlington County. Boundary Stone # 9 has been denoted a National Historic Landmark to honor Banneker, and is located today at Jones Point, Virginia.
Cable TV - Comcast of Arlington
Phone: 703-841-7700
Electricity - Dominion Virginia Power
1-888-667-3000 (TTY 800-552-4015)
http://www.dom.com
Gas - Washington Gas
Phone: 703-750-1000/ (TTY 703-750-7975)
703-954-6222 for residential service
1-800-826-2355 for business service. (TTY 800-564-0999).
Pet Licenses: 703-228-3081
Refuse/Sewer/Water Services:
Call the Arlington County Utilities Services Office 228-6570 (TTY: 703-228-4611). Homeowners, and possibly renters, need to establish a County utilities account for these services.
Arlington Public Schools:
Student Registration: Parents should enroll school-age children as soon as they arrive in Arlington County. Register your child at the school he or she will attend. To determine the appropriate school(s), call 228-7600 and then call the Intake Center at 228-7663 to make an appointment. More information is available at the Arlington Public Schools website.
Vehicle Registration, State of Virginia
New Virginia residents must register their vehicles within 30 days after becoming a resident in Virginia. Immediately upon registration a vehicle safety inspection is required; there is no grace period. In addition, an emissions inspection is required before the vehicle can be registered. The Arlington branch of the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) office is located at 4150 S. Four Mile Run Drive. You may title your vehicle in Virginia, register for state license plates, and apply for a Virginia driver's license there. For complete details, visit DMV online or telephone them at 1-866-368-5463 (TTY 800-272-9268).
Vehicle Registration, Arlington
After you complete DMV registration, the next step is to register your vehicle in Arlington County. New Arlington residents must register their vehicles with the County within 30 days after moving to Arlington or immediately upon display of permanent Virginia state tags. To register your vehicle with the County, fill out the online form or simply bring your state registration papers to the Office of the Commissioner of Revenue, 2100 Clarendon Blvd., Suite 218. Hours are 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. weekdays. Your first County windshield decal will cost $24.00. With this registration, you are automatically registered on the County's personal property tax rolls. For more information, telephone (703) 228-3135.
Voter Registration:
If you are a new Virginia resident, you must register in order to be able to vote in Virginia. If you moved to Arlington from another Virginia jurisdiction, you must transfer your voter registration to Arlington County. Both tasks may be accomplished at the Office of Voter Registration, 2100 Clarendon Boulevard, Suite 320. Hours are 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. weekdays. Or, you may register to vote when you register your vehicle with the Department of Motor Vehicles. Registration forms also are available in Arlington Public Libraries and Arlington Public Schools. You must register at least 29 days before a primary or general election or 14 days before a special election.
Arlington County Government ~
Information & Referral
2100 Clarendon Boulevard (Courthouse Metro, Orange Line), Arlington, VA 22201
Phone:
703-228-3000 (TTY/TDD: 703-228-4611)
Website:
http://www.co.arlington.va.us
Email: inforeferral@arlingtonva.us
Shopping Centers and Malls – Arlington County
Ballston Common Mall
4238
Wilson Boulevard, Arlington,
VA 22203
One hundred specialty stores on four
floors with an international food court on the ground floor and stadium-style
movie theaters.
Telephone:
703-243-8088
Website:
http://www.ballston-common.com
Crystal City Shops
1608
Crystal Square Arcade, Arlington, VA 22202
Featuring the Underground and Plaza
Shops, this subterranean shopping experience is unique in the area and is
connected by a climate-controlled walkway. Over 125 specialty shops, including
a food court and restaurants.
Telephone:
703-992-4636
Fashion Centre at
Pentagon City
1100
South Hayes Street, Arlington, VA 22202
Anchored by Nordstrom's and Macy's,
this four-story shoppers' extravaganza boasts 130 upscale stores, a sunlit
food court (with palm trees), and six movie theatres.
Telephone:
703-415-2400