Editing Arlington County, Virginia (section)

==History==
===Colonial Virginia===
{{Further|Colony of Virginia}}
Present-day Arlington County was part of [[Fairfax County, Virginia|Fairfax County]] in the [[Colony of Virginia]] during the [[Colonial history of the United States|colonial era]]. Land grants from the [[British Crown]] were awarded to prominent [[English people|Englishmen]] in exchange for political favors and efforts as part of the county's early development. One of the grantees was [[Thomas Fairfax, 6th Lord Fairfax of Cameron|Thomas Fairfax]] for whom both Fairfax County and the [[Fairfax, Virginia|City of Fairfax]] are named. The county's name was derived from [[Arlington Archeological Site|Arlington Mansion]] in [[Northampton County, Virginia]].  Some sources state that the name of the Northampton County property derived from [[Henry Bennet, 1st Earl of Arlington|Henry Bennet]]<ref>{{Cite web|date=February 16, 2012|title=Why Is It Named Arlington?|url=https://ghostsofdc.org/2012/02/16/why-is-it-named-arlington/|access-date=January 2, 2022|website=Ghosts of DC|language=en-US}}</ref> while other sources state that it was named after [[Arlington, Gloucestershire]], the birthplace and early home of Henry Custis, the father of [[John Custis Sr.]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Custis Tombs/ Arlington Plantation |url=https://www.co.northampton.va.us/visitors/tourism/free_things_to_see_and_do/free_history_lessons/custis_tomb__arlington_plantation |website=Welcome to Northampton County |access-date=22 March 2025}}</ref> The estate was later passed down to [[Mary Anna Custis Lee]], wife of [[Robert E. Lee]], a [[Confederate States Army|Confederate]] general during the [[American Civil War]], and then later seized by the [[Federal government of the United States|U.S. federal government]] in a tax sale.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nathanielturner.com/willofgeorgewashingtonparkecustis.htm |title=Will of George Washington Parke Custis |publisher=Nathanielturner.com |date=June 29, 2008 |access-date=November 4, 2011}}</ref> The property later became the [[Arlington National Cemetery]].

===Residence Act===
{{Main|Residence Act}}
[[File:Map of the District of Columbia, 1835.jpg|thumb|An 1835 map of the [[Washington, D.C.|District of Columbia]], prior to the [[District of Columbia retrocession|retrocession]] of [[Alexandria County, Virginia|Alexandria County]]]]
Present-day Arlington County and most of present-day [[Alexandria, Virginia|Alexandria]] were ceded to the new [[Federal government of the United States|federal government]] by [[Virginia]]. On July 16, 1790, the [[United States Congress|Congress]] passed the [[Residence Act]], which authorized the relocation of the capital from [[Philadelphia]] to a location to be selected on the [[Potomac River]] by [[President of the United States|U.S. President]] [[George Washington]]. The Residence Act originally only allowed the President to select a location in [[Maryland]] as far east as the [[Anacostia River]]. President Washington, however, shifted the federal territory's borders to the southeast in order to include the existing town of Alexandria.

In 1791, [[United States Congress|Congress]], at Washington's request, amended the Residence Act to approve the new site, including the territory ceded by Virginia.<ref>{{cite book |last=Crew |first=Harvey W. |author2=William Bensing Webb|author3=John Wooldridge |title=Centennial History of the City of Washington, D. C. |publisher=United Brethren Publishing House |year=1892 |location=[[Dayton, Ohio]] |url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_5Q81AAAAIAAJ |pages=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_5Q81AAAAIAAJ/page/n96 89]–92 }}</ref> The amendment to the Residence Act prohibited the "erection of the public buildings otherwise than on the Maryland side of the River Potomac."<ref>(1) [[s:United States Statutes at Large/Volume 1/1st Congress/3rd Session/Chapter 17|United States Statutes at Large: Volume 1: 1st Congress: 3rd Session; Chapter 17> XVII.—An Act to amend "An act for establishing the temporary and permanent seat of the government of the United States"]]<br />(2) {{cite web|url=https://www.loc.gov/resource/rbpe.2170010p/|title=An ACT to amend "An act for establishing the TEMPORARY and PERMANENT SEAT of the GOVERNMENT of the United States.|work= Congress of the United States: at the third session, begun and held at the city of Philadelphia, on Monday the sixth of December, one thousand seven hundred and ninety|date=March 3, 1791|location=Philadelphia|publisher=Printed by Francis Childs and Johnn Swaine (1791)|access-date=October 16, 2020|quote=Provided, That nothing herein contained, shall authorize the erection of the public buildings otherwise than on the Maryland side of the river Potomac, as required by the aforesaid act.|via=[[Library of Congress]]}}</ref>

The initial shape of the federal district was a square, measuring {{convert|10|mi|km|}} on each side, totaling {{convert|100|sqmi|km2|}}. In 1791 and 1792, [[Andrew Ellicott]] and several assistants placed [[boundary markers of the original District of Columbia|boundary stones]] at every mile point. Fourteen of these markers were in Virginia, and many of the stones are still standing.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.boundarystones.org/ |title=Boundary Stones of Washington, D.C. |publisher=BoundaryStones.org |access-date=May 27, 2008 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080515194639/http://www.boundarystones.org/| archive-date= May 15, 2008 | url-status= live}}</ref>

When [[United States Congress|Congress]] arrived in the new capital from [[Philadelphia]], one of their first acts was to pass the [[District of Columbia Organic Act of 1801|Organic Act of 1801]], officially organizing the District of Columbia and placing the entire federal territory, including present-day Washington, D.C., [[Georgetown (Washington, D.C.)|Georgetown]], and [[Alexandria, Virginia|Alexandria]] under the exclusive control of Congress. The territory in the District was organized into two counties: the [[Washington County, D.C.|County of Washington]] to the east of the Potomac River and the County of Alexandria to the west. It included almost all of present-day Arlington County and part of present-day Alexandria.<ref>{{cite book |last=Crew |first=Harvey W. |author2=William Bensing Webb|author3=John Wooldridge |title=Centennial History of the City of Washington, D. C.|chapter=IV. Permanent Capital Site Selected|publisher=United Brethren Publishing House |year=1892 |location=[[Dayton, Ohio]] |url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_5Q81AAAAIAAJ |page=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_5Q81AAAAIAAJ/page/n110 103] }}</ref>

The Act established the borders of the area that eventually became Arlington, but the citizens in the District were no longer considered residents of Maryland or Virginia, which represented the end of their federal representation in Congress.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.abanet.org/poladv/letters/electionlaw/060914testimony_dcvoting.pdf |title=Statement on the subject of The District of Columbia Fair and Equal Voting Rights Act |access-date=July 10, 2008 |date=September 14, 2006 |publisher=[[American Bar Association]] | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080725102618/http://www.abanet.org/poladv/letters/electionlaw/060914testimony_dcvoting.pdf| archive-date= July 25, 2008 | url-status= live}}</ref>

===Retrocession===
{{main|District of Columbia retrocession}}
[[File:12-07-15-arlington-friedfhof-RalfR-026.jpg|thumb|[[Arlington National Cemetery]], located on land confiscated by the [[Union (American Civil War)|Union]] from [[Confederate States Army|Confederate]] General [[Robert E. Lee]] during the [[American Civil War]]]]
Prior to retrocession, residents of [[Alexandria County, Virginia|Alexandria County]] expected the proximity of the federal capital to result in higher land prices and the growth of regional commerce. The county instead found itself struggling to compete with the [[Chesapeake and Ohio Canal]] in [[Georgetown (Washington, D.C.)|Georgetown]], which was farther inland and on the northern side of the [[Potomac River]] next to [[Washington, D.C.]]<ref>{{cite web|title=Frequently Asked Questions About Washington, D.C. |url=http://www.historydc.org/aboutdc.aspx |publisher=[[Historical Society of Washington, D.C.]] |access-date=October 3, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100918042009/http://www.historydc.org/aboutdc.aspx |archive-date=September 18, 2010 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Members of [[United States Congress|Congress]] from other areas of Virginia used their influence to prohibit funding for projects, including the [[Alexandria Canal (Virginia)|Alexandria Canal]], which would have increased competition with their home districts. Congress also prohibited the [[Federal government of the United States|federal government]] from establishing any offices in Alexandria, which made the county less important to the functioning of the national government.<ref name="debates">{{cite journal|last=Richards |first=Mark David |date=Spring–Summer 2004 |title=The Debates over the Retrocession of the District of Columbia, 1801–2004 |journal=Washington History |publisher=www.dcvote.org |pages=54–82 |url=http://www.dcvote.org/pdfs/mdrretro062004.pdf |access-date=January 16, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090118053203/http://www.dcvote.org/pdfs/mdrretro062004.pdf |archive-date=January 18, 2009 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Alexandria was a center for the [[Slavery in the United States|slave trade]]; [[Franklin and Armfield Office]] in Alexandria was once an office used in slave trading. Rumors circulated that [[Abolitionism in the United States|abolitionists]] in Congress were attempting to end slavery in the District, an act that, at the time, would have further depressed Alexandria's slavery-based economy.<ref>{{cite book |last=Greeley |first=Horace |title=The American Conflict: A History of the Great Rebellion in the United States|publisher=G. & C.W. Sherwood |year=1864 |location=Chicago |url=https://archive.org/details/americanconflic06greegoog |pages=[https://archive.org/details/americanconflic06greegoog/page/n154 142]–144}}</ref> 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 Virginia, it could provide two new representatives who favored slavery in the state legislature. Some time after retrocession, during the [[American Civil War]], this division led to the formation of [[West Virginia]] as a state, which comprised the 51 counties then in the northwest part of the state that favored abolitionism.<ref name="richards">{{cite journal|last=Richards |first=Mark David |date=Spring–Summer 2004 |title=The Debates over the Retrocession of the District of Columbia, 1801–2004 |journal=Washington History |publisher=Historical Society of Washington, D.C. |pages=54–82 |url=http://www.dcvote.org/pdfs/mdrretro062004.pdf |access-date=January 16, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090118053203/http://www.dcvote.org/pdfs/mdrretro062004.pdf |archive-date=January 18, 2009 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

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 such a transfer, known as [[District of Columbia retrocession|retrocession]]. On February 3, 1846, the Virginia General Assembly agreed to accept the retrocession of Alexandria if Congress approved. Following additional lobbying by Alexandrians, [[List of United States federal legislation, 1789–1901#1841 to 1851|Congress passed legislation on July 9, 1846]], to return all the District's territory south of the Potomac River back to Virginia, pursuant to a referendum, and President [[James K. Polk]] signed the legislation the next day. A referendum on retrocession was held on September 1 and 2, 1846, and the voters in Alexandria voted in favor of the retrocession by a margin of 734 to 116, while those in the rest of Alexandria County voted against retrocession 106 to 29. Pursuant to the referendum, President Polk 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 Alexandria County residents had not been properly included in the retrocession proceedings. After months of debate, on March 13, 1847, the Virginia General Assembly voted to formally accept the retrocession legislation.<ref name=debates />

In 1852, the Virginia legislature voted to incorporate a portion of Alexandria County as the City of Alexandria, which until then had been administered only as an unincorporated town within the political boundaries of Alexandria County.<ref name="Incorporation_of_Alexandria">{{cite web| url= http://alexandriava.gov/city/about-alexandria/about.html#history| title= Alexandria's History| access-date= August 30, 2006| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20060829220638/http://alexandriava.gov/city/about-alexandria/about.html#history| archive-date= August 29, 2006| url-status= dead| df= mdy-all}}</ref>

===Civil War===
{{Further|Virginia in the American Civil War}}
[[File:Arlington House.jpg|thumb|The façade of [[Arlington House, The Robert E. Lee Memorial|Arlington House]] (background), once the residence of [[Confederate States Army|Confederate Army]] General [[Robert E. Lee]], appears on Arlington's seal, flag, and logo.]]
During the [[American Civil War]], [[Virginia in the American Civil War|Virginia]] seceded from the [[Union (American Civil War)|Union]] following a statewide referendum on May 23, 1861; the voters from [[Alexandria County, Virginia|Alexandria County]] approved [[Secession in the United States|secession]] by a vote of 958–48, indicating the degree to which its only town, Alexandria, was pro-secession and pro-[[Confederate States of America|Confederate]]. Rural county residents outside Alexandria were largely Union loyalists and voted against secession.<ref>{{cite book |author=Bradley E. Gernand |title=A Virginia Village Goes to War: Falls Church During the Civil War |location= Virginia Beach |publisher= Donning Co Pub |year= 2002 |page=23 |isbn=978-1578641864}}</ref>

For the duration of the Civil War, the [[Confederate States of America|Confederacy]] claimed the whole of antebellum Virginia, including the more staunchly Union-supporting northwestern counties that eventually broke away and were later admitted to the Union in 1863 as [[West Virginia]]. However, the Confederacy never fully controlled all of  present-day [[Northern Virginia]]. In 1862, the [[United States Congress|U.S. Congress]] passed a law that required that obligated owners of property in districts where active Confederate insurrections were occurring to pay their real estate taxes in person.<ref name=Hunter>(1) [[s: Bennett v. Hunter]]<br />(2) {{cite journal |last=Wallace|first=John William|author-link=John William Wallace|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QL0GAAAAYAAJ|title=Bennett v. Hunter|journal=Cases Argued and Adjudged in the Supreme Court of the United States, December Term, 1869|volume=9|location=Washington, D.C.|publisher=William H. Morrison|year=1870|pages=326–338|access-date=August 22, 2011}}</ref>

In 1864, during the Civil War, the [[Federal government of the United States|U.S. federal government]] confiscated the [[Abingdon (plantation)|Abingdon]] estate, which was located on and near the present [[Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport]], when its owner failed to pay the estate's property tax in person because he was serving in the [[Confederate States Army]].<ref name=Hunter/> The government then sold the property at auction, and the purchaser leased the property to a third party.<ref name=Hunter/>

In 1865, after the end of the Civil War, the Abingdon estate's heir, [[Alexander Hunter (novelist)|Alexander Hunter]], filed a federal lawsuit to recover the property. [[James A. Garfield]], a [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] member of the [[United States House of Representatives|U.S. House of Representatives]] who was a [[Brigadier general (United States)|brigadier general]] in the [[Union Army]] during the Civil War and later became the [[List of Presidents of the United States|20th President of the United States]], was an attorney on Hunter's legal team.<ref name=Hunter/> In 1870, the [[United States Supreme Court|U.S. Supreme Court]] found that the U.S. federal government had illegally confiscated the property and ordered that it be returned to Hunter.<ref name=Hunter/>

The property included the former residence of Confederate General [[Robert E. Lee]]'s family at and around [[Arlington House, The Robert E. Lee Memorial|Arlington House]], which had been subjected to an appraisal of $26,810, on which a real estate tax of $92.07 was assessed. Likely fearing an encounter with Union officials, Lee's wife, [[Mary Anna Custis Lee]], the owner of the property, chose not pay the tax in person. She instead sent an agent on her behalf, but Union officials refused to accept it.<ref name="tax">{{cite web|access-date=September 30, 2011|url=http://www.arlingtoncemetery.org/historical_information/arlington_house.html|title=Arlington House|work=History of Arlington National Cemetery|publisher=[[Arlington National Cemetery]]|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100913093837/http://www.arlingtoncemetery.org/historical_information/arlington_house.html|archive-date=September 13, 2010}}</ref><ref name=Kaufman>(1) [[s: United States v. Lee Kaufman]]<br />(2) {{cite journal|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9U03AAAAIAAJ|title=United States v. Lee; Kaufman and another v. Same, December 4, 1882 (106 U.S. 196)|journal=Supreme Court Reporter. Cases Argued and Determined in the United States Supreme Court, October Term, 1882: October, 1882-February, 1883|volume=1|pages=240–286|editor=Desty, Robert|location=Saint Paul, MN|publisher=West Publishing Company|year=1883|access-date=August 22, 2011}}</ref> As a result of the 1862 law, the U.S. federal government confiscated the property, and transformed it into a military cemetery.<ref name=tax/>

After the Civil War ended and his parents died, [[George Washington Custis Lee]], the Lees' eldest son, initiated a federal legal action in an attempt to recover the property.<ref name=tax/> In December 1882, the [[United States Supreme Court|U.S. Supreme Court]] found that the [[Federal government of the United States|U.S. federal government]] illegally confiscated the property without due process, and the property was returned to Custis Lee.<ref name=tax/><ref name=Kaufman/> In 1883, the U.S. Congress purchased the property from Lee for its fair market value of $150,000, whereupon the property became a military reservation and eventually [[Arlington National Cemetery]]. Although Arlington House is within the National Cemetery, the [[National Park Service]] presently administers the House and its grounds as a memorial to Robert E. Lee.<ref name=tax/>

Confederate incursions from [[Falls Church, Virginia|Falls Church]], [[Minor's Hill]] and [[Upton's Hill]], then securely in Confederate hands, occurred as far east as the present-day [[Ballston, Virginia|Ballston]]. On August 17, 1861, 600 [[Confederate States Army|Confederate]] soldiers engaged the [[23rd New York Infantry Regiment]] near Ballston, killing a [[Union Army]] soldier. Later that month, on August 27, another large incursion of 600 to 800 Confederate soldiers clashed with Union soldiers at Ball's Crossroads, Hall's Hill, and at the present-day border between the [[Falls Church, Virginia|Falls Church]] and Arlington. A number of soldiers on both sides were killed. However, the territory in present-day Arlington never fell under Confederate control and was not attacked.<ref>Gernand, ''A Virginia Village Goes to War'', pp. 73–74, 89.</ref>

===Separation from Alexandria===
{{anchor|Secession of Alexandria}}
[[File:1878 Alexandria County Virginia.jpg|thumb|An 1878 map of Alexandria County reflecting the 1870 removal of [[Alexandria, Virginia|Alexandria]]]]
In 1870, the [[Alexandria, Virginia|City of Alexandria]] was legally separated from [[Alexandria County, Virginia|Alexandria County]] by an amendment to the Virginia Constitution that made all Virginia [[incorporated cities]] (though not [[incorporated towns]]) [[Independent city (Virginia)|independent]] of the counties with which they had previously been a part. Confusion between the city and the county of Alexandria having the same name led to a movement to rename Alexandria County.

In 1896, an electric trolley line was built from [[Washington, D.C.]] through [[Ballston, Virginia|Ballston]]; [[Northern Virginia trolleys]] were a significant factor in the county's growth. In 1920, the county was named ''Arlington County'', after [[Arlington House, The Robert E. Lee Memorial|Arlington House]], the home of the [[American Civil War]] Confederate general [[Robert E. Lee]] later seized by the Union in a tax sale, located on the grounds of [[Arlington National Cemetery]].

===20th century===
[[File:Seal of Arlington County, Virginia (1983–2007).svg|thumb|The former Arlington County seal used from June 1983 to May 2007]]
[[File:Looking W at Netherlands Carillon - GW Memorial Parkway - Arlington VA USA - between 1980 and 2006.jpg|thumb|[[Netherlands Carillon]]]]
[[File:US Navy 061013-F-3500C-443 View over the U.S. Navy Annex, showing the completed U.S. Air Force memorial.jpg|thumb|The former [[Navy Annex]] and [[United States Air Force Memorial|Air Force Memorial]]]]
In 1900, [[African Americans|Black]] people constituted more than a third of Arlington County's population. Over the course of the century, the Black population dwindled. Neighborhoods in Arlington set up racial covenants and forbade Black people from owning or domiciling property.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |date=October 8, 2020 |title=New Video Tackles Arlington's History of Race and Housing {{!}} ARLnow.com |url=https://www.arlnow.com/2020/10/08/new-video-tackles-arlingtons-history-of-race-and-housing/ |access-date=September 10, 2023 |website=ARLnow.com {{!}} Arlington, Va. local news |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=September 8, 2023 |title=A restrictive covenant used to block a duplex also barred non-white people from buying or renting it {{!}} ARLnow.com |url=https://www.arlnow.com/2023/09/08/a-restrictive-covenant-used-to-block-a-duplex-also-barred-non-white-people-from-buying-or-renting-it/ |access-date=September 10, 2023 |website=ARLnow.com {{!}} Arlington, Va. local news |language=en}}</ref> In 1938, Arlington banned row houses, a type of housing that was heavily used by Black residents. By October 1942, not a single rental unit was available in the county.<ref>''Arlington Sun Gazette'', October 15, 2009, "Arlington history", page 6, quoting from the ''Northern Virginia Sun''</ref> In the 1940s, the federal government evicted black neighborhoods to build the Pentagon and make room for highway construction.<ref name=":2" />

In 1908, [[Potomac, Virginia|Potomac]] was incorporated as a town in Alexandria County, and was annexed by Alexandria in 1930.

In 1920, the Virginia legislature renamed the area Arlington County to avoid confusion with the City of Alexandria which had become an [[independent city]] in 1870 under the new Virginia Constitution adopted after the Civil War.

In the 1930s, [[Hoover Field]] was established on the present site of the Pentagon; in that decade, Buckingham, Colonial Village, 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 1949, the [[University of Virginia]] in [[Charlottesville, Virginia|Charlottesville]] created an extension center in the county named Northern Virginia University Center of the University of Virginia. This campus was subsequently renamed University College, then the Northern Virginia Branch of the University of Virginia, then George Mason College of the University of Virginia, and finally to its present name, [[George Mason University]].<ref>October 1, 1949: {{Hanging indent | {{Cite book| last = Finley| first = John Norville Gibson| title = Progress Report of the Northern Virginia University Center| date = July 1, 1952| url = http://digilib.gmu.edu/jspui/bitstream/handle/1920/2698/Mann_53_1_1_v.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y| archive-date = February 20, 2017| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170220225740/http://digilib.gmu.edu/jspui/bitstream/handle/1920/2698/Mann_53_1_1_v.pdf| quote = "The report that follows is a progress report on the Northern Virginia University Center since its beginnings in 1949 by its Local Director, Professor J. N. G. Finley." George B. Zehmer, Director Extension Division University of Virginia}}}} Northern Virginia University Center of the University of Virginia: {{Hanging indent | {{cite book|last1=Mann|first1=C. Harrison|title=C. Harrison Mann, Jr. papers|date=1832–1979|publisher=George Mason University. Libraries. Special Collections Research Center|location=Arlington, Virginia|url=http://sca.gmu.edu/finding_aids/mann.html|access-date=February 23, 2017}}}} University College, the Northern Virginia branch of the University of Virginia: {{Hanging indent | {{cite book|last1=Mann|first1=C. Harrison Jr.|title=House Joint Resolution 5|date=February 24, 1956|publisher=Virginia General Assembly|location=Richmond|page=1|url=http://ahistoryofmason.gmu.edu/archive/files/8e80e948d96eba1ccf790954fb595bc5.jpg|access-date=April 30, 2017|archive-date=March 31, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220331072721/http://ahistoryofmason.gmu.edu/archive/files/8e80e948d96eba1ccf790954fb595bc5.jpg|url-status=dead}}}} George Mason College of the University of Virginia: {{Hanging indent | {{cite book|last1=McFarlane|first1=William Hugh|title=William Hugh McFarlane George Mason University history collection|date=1949–1977|publisher=George Mason University Special Collections and Archives|location=Fairfax, VA|url=http://ead.lib.virginia.edu/vivaxtf/view?docId=gmu/vifgm00002.xml|access-date=February 23, 2017}}}} George Mason University: {{Hanging indent | {{cite book| publisher = Fairfax County Board of Supervisors| isbn = 978-0-9601630-1-4| last = Netherton| first = Nan| title = Fairfax County, Virginia: A History| date = January 1, 1978}}{{rp|588}}}}</ref> The Henry G. Shirley Highway, also known as [[Interstate 395 (Virginia–District of Columbia)|Interstate 395]], was constructed during [[World War II]], along with adjacent developments such as [[Shirlington, Arlington, Virginia|Shirlington]], [[Fairlington, Arlington, Virginia|Fairlington]], and [[Parkfairfax, Virginia|Parkfairfax]].

In February 1959, due to the 1954 [[Supreme Court of the United States|U.S. Supreme Court]] ruling ''[[Brown v. Board of Education]]'' striking down the previous ''[[Plessy v. Ferguson]]'', [[Arlington Public Schools]] [[desegregated]] racially at Stratford Junior High School, which is now Dorothy Hamm Middle School, with the admission of black pupils Donald Deskins, Michael Jones, Lance Newman, and Gloria Thompson. The elected Arlington County School Board presumed that the state would defer to localities, and in January 1956 announced plans to integrate Arlington schools.

The state responded by suspending the county's right to an elected school board. The [[Arlington County Board]], the ruling body for the county, appointed segregationists to the school board and blocked plans for desegregation. Lawyers for the local chapter of the [[National Association for the Advancement of Colored People]] (NAACP) filed suit on behalf of a group of parents of both white and black students to end segregation. Black pupils were still denied admission to white schools, but the lawsuit went before the U.S. District Court, which ruled that Arlington schools were to be desegregated by the 1958–59 academic year. In January 1959 both the U.S. District Court and the Virginia Supreme Court had ruled against Virginia's [[massive resistance]] movement, which opposed racial integration.<ref>Les Shaver, "Crossing the Divide: The Desegregation of Stratford Junior High", ''Arlington Magazine'' November/December 2013, pp. 62–71</ref> The Arlington County Central Library's collections include written materials as well as accounts in its Oral History Project of the desegregation struggle in the county.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://library.arlingtonva.us/center-for-local-history/virginiana-collection/ |title=Virginiana Collection |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220706005712/https://library.arlingtonva.us/center-for-local-history/virginiana-collection/ |archive-date=July 6, 2022 |url-status=dead |publisher=Arlington Public Library |access-date=August 29, 2022}}</ref>

During the 1960s, Arlington experienced challenges related to a large influx of newcomers during the 1950s. [[M.T. Broyhill & Sons Corporation]] was at the forefront of building the new communities for these newcomers, which would lead to the election of [[Joel Broyhill]] as the representative of [[Virginia's 10th congressional district]] for 11 terms.<ref name="broyhill">{{cite news|last1=Clark|first1=Charlie|title=Our Man in Arlington|url=https://fcnp.com/2013/01/30/our-man-in-arlington-12/|access-date=January 27, 2018|work=fncp.com|publisher=Falls Church News-Press Online|date=January 30, 2013}}</ref> The old commercial districts did not have ample off-street parking and many shoppers were taking their business to new commercial centers, such as Parkington and Seven Corners. Suburbs further out in Virginia and Maryland were expanding, and Arlington's main commercial center in Clarendon was declining, similar to what happened in other downtown centers. With the growth of these other suburbs, some planners and politicians pushed for highway expansion. The Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956 would have enabled that expansion in Arlington. The administrator of the National Capital Transportation Agency, economist C. Darwin Stolzenbach, saw the benefits of rapid transit for the region and oversaw plans for a below ground rapid transit system, now the [[Washington Metro]], which included two lines in Arlington. Initial plans called for what became the Orange Line to parallel [[Interstate 66 in Virginia|I-66]], which would have mainly benefited [[Fairfax County, Virginia|Fairfax County]].

Arlington County officials called for the stations in Arlington to be placed along the decaying commercial corridor between Rosslyn and Ballston that included Clarendon. A new regional transportation planning entity was formed, the Washington Metropolitan Transit Authority. Arlington officials renewed their push for a route that benefited the commercial corridor along Wilson Boulevard, which prevailed. There were neighborhood concerns that there would be high-density development along the corridor that would disrupt the character of old neighborhoods.

With the population in the county declining, political leaders saw economic development as a long-range benefit. Citizen input and county planners came up with a workable compromise, with some limits on development. The two lines in Arlington were inaugurated in 1977. The Orange Line's creation was more problematic than the Blue Line's. The Blue Line served the Pentagon and National Airport and boosted the commercial development of [[Crystal City, Virginia|Crystal City]] and Pentagon City. Property values along the Metro lines increased significantly for both residential and commercial property. The ensuing gentrification caused the mostly working and lower middle class white Southern residents to either be priced out of rent or in some cases sell their homes. This permanently changed the character of the city, and ultimately resulted in the virtual eradication of this group over the coming 30 years, being replaced with an increasing presence of a white-collar transplant population mostly of Northern stock.{{citation needed|date=February 2025}}

While a population of white-collar government transplant workers had always been present in the county, particularly in its far northern areas and in Lyon Village, the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s saw the complete dominance of this group over the majority of Arlington's residential neighborhoods, and mostly economically eliminated the former working-class residents of areas such as Cherrydale, Lyon Park, Rosslyn, Virginia Square, Claremont, and Arlington Forest, among other neighborhoods.{{citation needed|date=February 2025}} The transformation of Clarendon is particularly striking. This neighborhood, a downtown shopping area, fell into decay. It became home to a vibrant Vietnamese business community in the 1970s and 1980s known as [[Little Saigon, Arlington, Virginia|Little Saigon]]. It has now been significantly gentrified. Its Vietnamese population is now barely visible, except for several holdout businesses. Arlington's careful planning for the Metro has transformed the county and has become a model revitalization for older suburbs.<ref>Kevin Craft, "When Metro Came to Town: How the fight for mass transit was won. And how its arrival left Arlington Forever Changed", ''Arlington Magazine'', November/December 2013, pp. 72–85.</ref><ref>Zachary Schrag, ''The Great Society Subway: A History of the Washington Metro'', Johns Hopkins University Press, 2006.</ref>

In 1965, after years of negotiations, Arlington swapped some land in the south end with Alexandria, though less than originally planned. The land was located along King Street and Four Mile Run. The exchange allowed the two jurisdictions to straighten out the boundary and helped highway and sewer projects to go forward. It moved into Arlington several acres of land to the south of the old county line that had not been a part of the District of Columbia.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Cheek III |first1=Leslie |title=Arlington Approves Alexandria Land Swap |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=April 11, 1965}}</ref>

===21st century===
{{Further|American Airlines Flight 77}}
[[File:9-11 Pentagon Exterior 09.jpg|thumb|Smoke rising from [[the Pentagon]] following the [[September 11 attacks]]]]
[[File:ArlingtonCoNatGateway.jpg|thumb|Arlington County National Gateway]]
[[File:ArlingtonCounty-PotomacYard.jpg|thumb|Arlington County IDA Potomac Yard]]
[[File:ArlingtonCoAquaticCenter.jpg|thumb|Arlington County Aquatic and Fitness Center]]
[[File:ArlingtonCoVaTechInnovativeCampus.jpg|thumb|Arlington County Virginia Tech Innovative Campus Project]]

On [[September 11 attacks|September 11, 2001]], five [[al-Qaeda]] [[Aircraft hijacking|hijackers]] deliberately crashed [[American Airlines Flight 77]] into [[the Pentagon]], killing 115 Pentagon employees and 10 contractors in the building, and all 53 passengers, six crew members, and five hijackers on board the aircraft. The coordinated attacks were the most deadly terrorist attack in world history.<ref>[https://www.statista.com/statistics/1330395/deadliest-terrorist-attacks-worldwide-fatalities/ "Deadliest terrorist attacks worldwide from 1970 to January 2024, by number of fatalities and perpetrator"], Statista</ref>

In 2009, Turnberry Tower, located in the [[Rosslyn, Virginia|Rosslyn]] neighborhood, was completed. At the time of completion, Turnberry Tower was the tallest residential building in the [[Washington metropolitan area]].<ref>{{cite news |title=House of the Week {{!}} Arlington penthouse for $3.975M |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/where-we-live/wp/2014/11/07/house-of-the-week-arlington-penthouse-for-3-975m/}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Coming to Rosslyn, The Height of Luxury Condo Market Is Ready, Resort Developer Says |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/realestate/2006/03/04/coming-to-rosslyn-the-height-of-luxury-span-classbankheadcondo-market-is-ready-resort-developer-saysspan/0c7c0937-3a6e-4856-b564-71785f82f02b/}}</ref>

In 2017, [[Nestlé]] USA chose [[1812 N Moore]] in Rosslyn as their U.S. headquarters.<ref>{{cite news |title=Nestlé to move U.S. headquarters to Arlington, bringing 750 jobs |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/capitalbusiness/nestle-to-move-us-headquarters-to-arlington-bringing-750-jobs-to-the-region/2017/02/01/0ff6ec34-e40c-11e6-a547-5fb9411d332c_story.html}}</ref>

In 2018, [[Amazon (company)|Amazon.com, Inc.]] announced that it would build its co-headquarters in the [[Crystal City, Virginia|Crystal City]] neighborhood, anchoring a broader area of Arlington and Alexandria that was simultaneously rebranded as [[National Landing]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/nation-now/2018/11/13/where-amazon-hq-2-national-landing-long-island-city/1987015002/|title=National Landing? Long Island City? This is where Amazon's headquarters are located|work=USA Today|access-date=November 20, 2018|language=en}}</ref>

By 2020, single-family detached homes accounted for nearly 75% of zoned property in Arlington.<ref name=":2" />

In 2023, the Arlington County city council unanimously approved a modest zoning change to permit sixplexes, so-called "[[Missing middle housing|missing middle]]" housing, on lots previously zoned exclusively for single-family homes. The change reversed exclusionary zoning laws that were initially erected to keep low-income people and minorities out of the county. In 2024, Arlington County circuit court judge David Schell overturned this zoning change after a small group of [[NIMBY]] homeowners filed a lawsuit against the county. Schell ruled that Arlington County did not study the potential impacts adequately.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Armus |first=Teo |date=2024-09-27 |title=Circuit judge strikes down Arlington's 'missing middle' housing plan |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2024/09/27/missing-middle-ruling-lawsuit-housing-arlington/ |newspaper=Washington Post |language=en-US |issn=0190-8286}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Britschgi |first=Christian |date=2024-10-01 |title=America's trial courts have a NIMBY problem |url=https://reason.com/2024/10/01/americas-trial-courts-have-a-nimby-problem/ |access-date=2024-10-01 |website=Reason.com |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-09-27 |title=BREAKING: Judge overturns Missing Middle zoning changes |url=https://www.arlnow.com/2024/09/27/breaking-judge-overturns-missing-middle-zoning-changes/?fbclid=IwY2xjawFpT_lleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHWdMdcX1gM49NyB6WA8NPrLmGA9XGO791g_o_2dQPpfOwsmiLj93Yd_Qug_aem_7L4PJAaUN9dfeyjt-xVl0Q |website=www.arlnow.com |language=en-US}}</ref>