A History of
The Boundaries of
Arlington County, Virginia
It is one of those paradoxes so characteristic of Arlington that the area composing the County did not exist as a separate entity until it was ceded by Virginia to form part of the District of Columbia. The Act by which the Congress of the United States took jurisdiction over this area directed that that portion of the District which had been ceded by Virginia was to be known as the county of Alexandria.[1] ] (It was not until 1920 that it received the name of Arlington.)[2] ]
The present boundaries of Arlington may be described as: Beginning at the intersection of Four Mile Run with the west shore line of the Potomac River, westwardly, in general along the line of Four Mile Run, without regard to its meanders, intersecting the south right-of-way line of the Washington and Old Dominion Railroad, then 1,858.44 feet to where the center line of Shirlington Road intersects the said south right-of-way line; thence south and slightly east to the center line of Quaker Lane, then following the center line of Quaker Lane to a point short of Osage Street in Alexandria where it moves to the north line of Quaker Lane; thence to the east right-of-way line of Leesburg Pike (King Street); thence with this line to the east side of 30th Street, South, in Arlington, northeast on 30th Street, South, to the circle; around said circle to the north side of South Columbus Street, along this line to 28th Street, South, returning for a short distance to Leesburg Pike, jogging east and north to 25th Street, South, and then back to Leesburg Pike; thence along the Pike to the common boundary of Alexandria and Fairfax; thence northeast along the former Alexandria-Fairfax boundary until it intersects the original boundary between Arlington and Fairfax; thence due northwest to a stone and large oak tree approximately 200 feet west of Meridian Avenue (North Arizona Street); thence due northeast to the shore of the Potomac; thence along the mean high water mark of the shore of the Potomac River, back to the point of beginning. This line encloses roughly 16,520 acres, or approximately 25.7 square miles, thus making Arlington the third smallest county in the United States in respect to area.[3] ]
The boundaries of this area have been changed many times since it was first sighted by Captain John Smith on his voyage up the Potomac in 1608—the year which can be said to mark the beginning of Arlington's history.
1608-1789
The circumstances which placed Arlington in Virginia began to take shape even earlier than 1608. The two companies organized to colonize Virginia were granted their first charter by James I of England on April 10, 1606.[4] ] This was styled "Letters Patent to Sir Thomas Gates, Sir George Somers, and others, for two several Colonies and Plantations, to be made in Virginia, and other parts and Territories of America." The patentees were authorized "… to make habitation, plantation, and to deduce a colony of sundry of our people into that part of America, commonly called Virginia …" between 34° north latitude and 45° north and within 100 miles of the coast. Within this area the spheres of operation of the two companies (which came to be known as the London and Plymouth Companies because their principal backers hailed from one or the other of these English towns) were delineated. To the former was given the right to plant a colony within the area from north latitude 34° to 41°, and to the latter within the area from 38° to 45° inclusive. The overlapping area from 38° to 41° was open to settlement by either company, though neither might establish a settlement within 100 miles of territory occupied by the other. The actual jurisdiction of each company was limited to 50 miles in each direction from the first seat of plantation. This last restriction was not carried over into the second charter. (Map I.)
