"The experience of more than forty years seems to have demonstrated that the cession of the county and town of Alexandria was unnecessary for any of the purposes of a seat of government, mischievous to the interests of the State at large, and especially injurious to the people of that portion which was ceded by Virginia."[29] ]
Accordingly, a bill was introduced to turn back to Virginia the area ceded by it in 1789. After considerable debate as to its constitutionality, the bill was enacted on July 9, 1846. It stipulated that the retrocession should be contingent upon a referendum among the people of the area in question. The referendum was held[30] ] and the vote was 763 for and 222 against retrocession.
On September 7, 1846, President Polk announced the results of the referendum and called "upon all and singular the persons whom it doth or may concern to take notice that the act aforesaid [of July 9, 1846] 'is in full force and effect.'"[31] ] It was not until the next year, however, that Virginia got around to extending its jurisdiction over the "county of Alexandria." On March 13, 1847, "An Act to extend the jurisdiction of the Commonwealth of Virginia over the county of Alexandria" was passed. It stated:
"… The territory comprising the county of Alexandria in the District of Columbia heretofore ceded by this Commonwealth to the United States and by an Act of Congress of July 9, 1846, retroceded to Virginia and by it accepted shall be an integral portion of the Commonwealth."
The Act provided that after March 20, 1847, the laws of Virginia were to be in force in this territory, and went on:
"That the territory so retroceded and accepted, comprising the county of Alexandria, shall constitute a new county, retaining the name of the county of Alexandria, the court- house whereof shall be in the Town of Alexandria where the courts now sit...."[32] ]
Tentative efforts have been made from time to time to re- annex this area to the District of Columbia. It was on one such occasion, in 1865, that a "Remonstrance of the Mayor and Citizens of Alexandria against the Bill to annex the city and county of Alexandria to the District of Columbia" concluded that "Annexation to the District at this time is repugnant to the feelings and wishes and would be ruinous to the interests of the people of Alexandria."
Arlington's Boundary with the City of Alexandria
Until 1870, Alexandria, first as a Town and, after 1852 as a City, was geographically part of the County of Alexandria. However, its boundaries must be considered from the beginning because all Acts extending the area of the Town were made in reference to the pre-existing limits. It is impossible to comprehend the effect of any given change without tracing the boundaries back to—or forward from—the beginning. (Map III.)