The region that is now know as Arlington has been occupied by various people for approximately 4000 years. The earliest people, prehistoric Native Americans, mostly the Iroquois and Powhatan, had approximately 11 historic sites within the present borders of Arlington.
In July of 1706, John Smith, the famous leader of Jamestown, took fourteen Englishmen to the Potomac, which he called Nameroughquend. The Algonquin Indians there were indifferent to the Europeans. In 1722 the Iroquois ceded all their land South of the Potomac East to the Blue Ridge Mountains to the Virginia colony. 114 years later, the first effective and permanent settlement in Northern Virgina was established. In 1732, there were finally enough settlers North of Occoquan to warrant the construction of a tobacco inspection warehouse. In 1733, Falls Church was established, and in 1742 Fairfax was established.
Arlington was previously part of Northumberland County (1645), Westmoreland County (1663), Stafford County (1664), and Prince William County (1731). In 1749 Alexandria was founded, and in 1791 the federal square of Washington, DC was established. In 1847, the land of the federal square south of the Potomac was ceded to Virginia. This land was Alexandria (founded in 1801), and in 1864 Arlington was created a separate entity and its own county. It is still the smallest self-governing county in the country. In 1920, the county was named as Arlington, after the Earl of Arlington who had a plantation on the Eastern shore. National Cemetery was created after the Civil War when Robert E. Lee’s land was seized, which is where the cemetery now sits. The lost town of Potomac was once located within the boundaries of Arlington, but by 1930 had become lost as the county was simply known as Arlington.
All of the land within the county was owned by gentlemen, and the land was their private farms. They owned large sections of property, usually upwards of 100 acres each. Most owned slaves, grew tobacco and raised cows.
Unlike most counties, Arlington has no cities within it, and the 26 square miles are simply known as Arlington County. Arlington is well-known for its “smart-growth” plans, that include mixed-use buildings and land centering high-density population around metro stations; the Ballston-Rosslyn Corridor. Arlington is a highly educated, well-paid, liberal county, with a population over 200,000 people.
Lane, Anne Belle. “Boulevard Manor and Spy Hill Subdivision” from “Arlington Historical Magazine” ed. Phyllis w. Johnson. Arlington Historical Society: 1987. Volume 8 no.3 p.14-27
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