What’s in a name? In Arlington’s case, quite a bit of drama, as the county hasn’t always been known as such — and its history contains more twists and turns than an episode of “The Real Housewives of Potomac.”
Here’s the timeline of Arlington’s origin story.
1801: Present-day Arlington and a portion of the City of Alexandria are known as Alexandria County, District of Columbia.
1847: Alexandria County is given back to Virginia.
1870: Alexandria County and the City of Alexandria formally separate — no divorce lawyer needed.
1920: Alexandria County is renamed Arlington County to eliminate confusion between the city and the county. The name “Arlington” is chosen because Civil War Confederate General Robert E. Lee’s home of that name is located in the county.
1922: The Virginia Supreme Court holds that Arlington “is a continuous, contiguous and homogeneous entity which cannot be subdivided nor can any portion be annexed by neighboring jurisdictions.” To put it simply, Arlington County contains no cities or towns, and its government exercises both city and county functions — making it one of the few urban unitary governments in the US.
1932: Arlington becomes the first county in the US to choose the County Manager plan as its form of government.
Know a fun fact about Arlington’s history or name that we missed? Name drop us a line.
