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121-515: In 1933, local businessman Robert Marlowe purchased a Falls Church dairy farm. Over the years, the property and businesses expanded to include funeral, bereavement, cremation and burial services, as well as a pet cemetery. The funeral home, cemetery and related services are available to people of all faiths, cultures and backgrounds. In 2009, The Washington Post reported that the facility was storing naked bodies in various stages of decomposition. As many as 200 bodies were stored on "makeshift gurneys in

242-473: 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 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. In 1870,

363-425: A 145-year-old forest that stood within the property boundaries of a historic district that a National Register of Historic Places nomination form for Arlington House had described in 1966. About 491 trees would be removed from an area of trees that was approximately 105 years old. Approximately 203 trees with ages of 50 to 145 years would be removed from a former picnic area. At a public hearing on July 11, 2013,

484-610: 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 I-66 , which would have mainly benefited 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

605-831: A cash contribution, in order to obtain the highest allowable amounts of increased building density in new development projects, most of which are planned near Metrorail station areas. A number of the county's residential neighborhoods and larger garden-style apartment complexes are listed in the National Register of Historic Places and/or designated under the County government's zoning ordinance as local historic preservation districts . These include Arlington Village, Arlington Forest, Ashton Heights, Buckingham, Cherrydale, Claremont, Colonial Village, Fairlington , Lyon Park, Lyon Village, Maywood, Nauck , Penrose, Waverly Hills and Westover. Many of Arlington County's neighborhoods participate in

726-581: A component of the Department of the Interior, informed the National Capital Planning Commission that it wanted to transfer only 4 acres (1.6 ha) to the cemetery, rather than the 12 acres (4.9 ha) that the 1995 agreement had described. In response, Metzler stated: "I was surprised. But we will continue to work with the Department of Interior and see what happens." On July 12, 1999,

847-463: A decedent's favorite song, pastime, family, or ethnic traditions. Memorial park covers 168 acres, including ponds, sculptures, greenery, and various floral arrangements. Designed as a walkable area, the cemetery contains walking paths and trees to provide shade and cover. The cemetery offers various options for internment, including ground burial sites, a mausoleum, cremation niches and benches, and private and semiprivate estates. A prominent feature of

968-636: 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. The Arlington County Central Library's collections include written materials as well as accounts in its Oral History Project of

1089-628: A lawsuit alleging that the colonel's remains had been mishandled. In January 2001, approximately 174 bodies were transferred to National Memorial Park cemetery from the nearby Abbey Mausoleum , which was being closed and demolished following years of disrepair and vandalism. The complex is the centralized embalming and dressing station for other local funeral homes, sometimes including Arlington National Cemetery The site partners with veterans service organizations to offer specialized services to veterans and their families. The site designs custom funeral services. Examples include memorials that incorporate

1210-403: A limitation on mass media access to funerals, which also proved controversial. Until 2005, the cemetery's administration gave free access, with the family's permission, to the press to cover funerals at the cemetery. In July 2008, The Washington Post reported that cemetery had imposed gradually increasing restrictions on media coverage of funerals beginning three years earlier, in 2005. After

1331-503: 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 and Pentagon City. Property values along

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1452-416: A model revitalization for older suburbs. 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

1573-612: A representative tree was 258 years old. The Interment Zone was also determined to contain significant archeological and cultural landscape resources, in addition to those in the Preservation Zone. The EA described four alternative courses of action. In contrast to the National Park Service's March 1998 statement to the National Capital Planning Commission, the 1999 environmental assessment stated that

1694-545: A square, measuring 10 miles (16 km) on each side, totaling 100 square miles (260 km ). In 1791 and 1792, Andrew Ellicott and several assistants placed boundary stones at every mile point. Fourteen of these markers were in Virginia, and many of the stones are still standing. When Congress arrived in the new capital from Philadelphia , one of their first acts was to pass the Organic Act of 1801 , officially organizing

1815-469: A surplus at the end of the Christmas holiday season. Recalling a boyhood trip to Arlington National Cemetery, company founder Morrill Worcester donated 5,000 wreaths to the cemetery to honor the cemetery's dead with the help of volunteers and a local trucking company. In 2005, after 13 years of similar donations, a photo of snowy gravestones covered with wreaths at the cemetery received widespread circulation on

1936-504: 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 Blacks from owning or domiciling property. 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. In the 1940s, the federal government evicted black neighborhoods to build

2057-639: A white-collar transplant population mostly of Northern stock. 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. The transformation of Clarendon

2178-540: Is now Dorothy Hamm Middle School, with the admission of black pupils Donald Deskins, Michael Jones, Lance Newman, and Gloria Thompson. The U.S. Supreme Court 's ruling in 1954, Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka , Kansas had struck down the previous ruling on racial segregation Plessy v. Ferguson that held that facilities could be racially "separate but equal". Brown v. Board of Education ruled that "racially separate educational facilities were inherently unequal". The elected Arlington County School Board presumed that

2299-457: 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 . 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

2420-669: Is the Four Chaplains Memorial, a sculpture representing a flying white bird. Created by abstract artist Constantino Nivol, the memorial honors the 4 United States Army chaplains who gave their lives to save civilian and military personnel when the World War II -era SS Dorchester sank on February 3, 1943. The complex includes Noah's Ark Pet Cemetery, housing rows of neatly configured graves for dogs, cats, horses and other animals. Carl Milles ’s Fountain of Faith includes sculpted bronze figures depicting men, women and children in

2541-482: Is the geographically smallest self-governing county in the nation. Arlington County is home to the Pentagon , the world's second-largest office structure, which houses the headquarters of the U.S. Department of Defense . Other notable locations are DARPA , the Drug Enforcement Administration 's headquarters, Reagan National Airport , and Arlington National Cemetery . Colleges and universities in

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2662-603: Is water. It is the smallest county by area in Virginia and is the smallest self-governing county in the United States. About 4.6 square miles (11.9 km ) (17.6%) of the county is federal property. The county courthouse and most government offices are located in the Courthouse neighborhood. Since the late 20th century, the county government has pursued a development strategy of concentrating much of its new development near transit facilities, such as Metrorail stations and

2783-651: Is within the National Cemetery, the National Park Service presently administers the House and its grounds as a memorial to Robert E. Lee. Confederate incursions from Falls Church , Minor's Hill and Upton's Hill , then securely in Confederate hands, occurred as far east as the present-day Ballston . On August 17, 1861, 600 Confederate soldiers engaged the 23rd New York Infantry Regiment near Ballston, killing

2904-481: The 56th United States Congress appropriated $ 75,000 (equivalent to $ 2,746,800 in 2023) to settle the U.S. government's debts to them. With limited space but large numbers of KIAs from World War II , Korean War , Vietnam War , along with natural deaths from high-ranking military officials, the need for additional burial space at Arlington Cemetery became a challenge and priority to the U.S. government. On May 30, 1929, U.S. President Herbert Hoover conducted

3025-731: The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal in Georgetown , which was farther inland and on the northern side of the Potomac River next to Washington, D.C. Members of Congress from other areas of Virginia used their influence to prohibit funding for projects, including the Alexandria Canal , which would have increased competition with their home districts. Congress also prohibited the federal government from establishing any offices in Alexandria, which made

3146-539: The City of Alexandria was legally separated from Alexandria County by an amendment to the Virginia Constitution that made all Virginia incorporated cities (though not incorporated towns ) 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

3267-669: The 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 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

3388-840: The Military Women's Memorial , and Arlington Memorial Bridge , was listed on the National Register of Historic Places . In 1802, George Washington Parke Custis , the grandson of George Washington 's wife Martha through her first marriage, began building Arlington House at the present-day Arlington National Cemetery on land that he inherited from John Parke Custis , his natural father, following his death. Custis went to live at Mount Vernon where George Washington and Martha raised him as their own son. In 1804, Custis married Mary Lee Fitzhugh . They had four children, but only one, Mary Anna Randolph Custis , survived into adulthood. On June 30, 1831, she married future Confederate States Army general Robert E. Lee . In 1818, Arlington House

3509-608: The National Park Service -controlled Arlington House and 2001, 37 acres (15 ha) of land in 1999 from the DoD that was the site of the Navy Annex building, 8 acres (3.2 ha) of land in 1999 from the Department of the Army that was part of Fort Myer , 4 acres (1.6 ha) of land from Arlington County's Southgate Road right-of-way in 2004, and just under 10 acres (4.0 ha) of land from Fort Myer in 2005. On September 23, 1996,

3630-689: The Rosslyn neighborhood, was completed. At the time of completion, the Turnberry Tower was the tallest residential building in the Washington metropolitan area . In 2017, Nestlé USA chose 1812 N Moore in Rosslyn as their U.S. headquarters. In 2018, Amazon.com, Inc. announced that it would build its co-headquarters in the Crystal City neighborhood, anchoring a broader area of Arlington and Alexandria that

3751-659: The United States National Cemetery System , one of two maintained by the United States Army . Over 400,000 people are buried in its 639 acres (259 ha) in Arlington County, Virginia . Arlington National Cemetery was established on May 13, 1864, during the American Civil War after Arlington Estate, the land on which the cemetery was built, was confiscated by the U.S. federal government from

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3872-603: The United States Soldiers' and Airmen's Home National Cemetery ) signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the Arlington County Board and the Department of the Army to expand the cemetery even further. Under the tentative plan, Arlington County would give up the easement for Southgate Road (which lies between the Navy Annex property and the cemetery's 2012 boundary), and obtain a narrow easement along

3993-635: The hairpin turn in Columbia Pike straightened, to provide a safer, more natural exit from S. Washington Blvd. onto Columbia Pike. Although exact acreages were not specified and the plan depended upon the Commonwealth of Virginia's cooperation, the MOU if implemented would have created a more contiguous plot of land for the cemetery. On March 12, 2013, the Corps of Engineers released a revised environmental assessment for

4114-625: The Arlington Cemetery grounds. On December 9, 1882, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5–4 in Lee's favor in United States v. Lee , concluding that the U.S. government seized Arlington Cemetery and its surrounding grounds without affording Lee due process. Following the U.S. Supreme Court decision, Congress abided by the Supreme Court ruling, and returned the estate to Lee. By this time, however, Lee

4235-511: The Arlington County government's Neighborhood Conservation Program (NCP). Each of these neighborhoods has a Neighborhood Conservation Plan that describes the neighborhood's characteristics, history and recommendations for capital improvement projects that the County government funds through the NCP. Arlington is often spoken of as divided between North Arlington and South Arlington, which designate

4356-612: The Army could find a successor. In December 2016, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017 (Public Law 114–328) authorized the Secretary of the Army to expand the cemetery by acquiring from Arlington County and the Commonwealth of Virginia by condemnation and other means properties near the cemetery that contain the Southgate Road, South Joyce Street and Washington Boulevard right-of-ways, including

4477-571: The Civil War ended, the Abingdon estate's heir, Alexander Hunter , filed a federal lawsuit to recover the property. James A. Garfield , a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives who was a brigadier general in the Union Army during the Civil War and later became the 20th President of the United States , was an attorney on Hunter's legal team. In 1870, the U.S. Supreme Court found that

4598-495: The Civil War still ongoing, the Union acquired Arlington Cemetery for $ 26,800, equivalent to $ 522,087 in 2023, after the property was placed for tax sale. Mrs. Lee did not appear in person for the tax sale, but sent an agent, who attempted to pay the $ 92.07 allegedly owed in property taxes, equivalent to $ 1,794 in 2023, which had been assessed on the estate. The Union government, however, turned her agent away, and refused to accept

4719-528: The Civil War, the U.S. federal government confiscated the 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 . The government then sold the property at auction, and the purchaser leased the property to a third party. In 1865, after

4840-572: The Custis-Lee Mansion, was passed on to her eldest grandson, George Washington Custis Lee . In April 1861, following the Confederate States Army bombing of Fort Sumter in the Battle of Fort Sumter and the Union Army 's subsequent surrender of the fort, the American Civil War was launched, and Virginia promptly seceded from the Union . On April 15, realizing that Fort Sumter's fall left

4961-612: The District of Columbia and placing the entire federal territory, including present-day Washington, D.C., Georgetown , and Alexandria under the exclusive control of Congress. The territory in the District was organized into two counties: the 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. The Act established

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5082-461: The DoD $ 84 million to plan, design and construct the Millennium Project. The legislation additionally appropriated to the DoD $ 19 million to study, plan and design a future expansion of the cemetery's burial space. On June 5, 2013, after reviewing 100 public comments that it had received on the revised environmental assessment, the Corps of Engineers released a final EA and a signed FONSI for

5203-679: The Fountain of Faith so that they might give citizens better directions to visit it. Milles also created 3 15-foot statues titled "The Sun Singer." One is in Stockholm, 1 is in Monticello, Illinois, and 1 is in National Memorial Park. The statue depicts the Greek god Apollo and his winged horse Pegasus . Arlington National Cemetery Arlington National Cemetery is the largest cemetery in

5324-442: 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

5445-418: The Millennium Project. The revised environmental assessment included copies of a number of public comments on the draft that criticized the project and parts of the assessment while proposing alternative locations for new military burials near the cemetery and elsewhere. However, the Department of Forestry of the Commonwealth of Virginia found that, based on information in the draft environmental assessment,

5566-450: The Millennium Project. The Final EA and the FONSI retained Alternative E as the preferred alternative. The final environmental assessment stated that, of the 905 trees to be removed, 771 trees were healthy native trees that had diameters between six and 41 inches. The project involved removing approximately 211 trees from a less than 2.63 acres (1.06 ha) area containing a portion of

5687-404: The National Capital Planning Commission approved the site and building plans for the Millennium Project. In August 2015, the U.S. Army removed Lechner as superintendent of the cemetery after a performance review "called into question his ability to serve successfully as a senior leader". The Army declined to elaborate further and appointed Hallinan to be the temporary Cemetery superintendent until

5808-587: The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1997 (Public Law 104–201) authorized the Secretary of the Interior to transfer to the Secretary of the Army all of the land in Section 29 that was within an "Arlington National Cemetery Interment Zone" and some of the land in the Section that was within a "Robert E. Lee Memorial Preservation Zone". On March 5, 1998, the National Park Service,

5929-504: The National Park Service published a Federal Register notice, announcing the availability of an environmental assessment for the transfer. The EA stated that the Interment Zone contained the oldest and largest tract of climax eastern hardwood forest in Arlington County. This forest was the same type that once covered the Arlington estate, and had regenerated from trees that were present historically. A forestry study determined that

6050-528: The Pentagon and make room for highway construction. In 1908, 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

6171-511: The Secretary of the Interior to transfer to the Secretary of the Army jurisdiction over the Interment Zone, which is the plan in Alternative 3. Adoption of any of the other alternatives would require legislative action to amend the existing law." In 1998, a Congressional proposal to expand the cemetery onto land that the Navy Annex and Fort Myer then occupied led to concerns that Arlington County officials had not been properly consulted, leading to

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6292-437: The Secretary of the Interior to transfer to the Secretary of the Army within 30 days the approximately 12 acres (4.9 ha) Interment Zone. The transfer therefore involved the entire 12 acres (4.9 ha) of NPS land that the 1995 agreement and Alternative 3 in the 1999 EA had described. The 2001 legislation required the Secretary of the Army to use the Interment Zone for in-ground burial sites and columbarium . In addition,

6413-474: The Superintendent of Arlington National Cemetery, asked the U.S. Army's Quartermaster General to close the village on the grounds that people living in it had been taking trees at night from the cemetery for use as firewood. The Quartermaster General and the Secretary of War then approved Commerford's request. In 1874, George Washington Custis Lee sued the U.S. federal government , claiming ownership of

6534-612: The Supply Division of the Joint Chiefs of Staff , overseeing the equipping security forces in Iraq and Afghanistan . Since 2010, he served as executive officer and deputy superintendent of the cemetery under Hallinan. In September 2008, environmentalists expressed concerns that the agreement would result in the partial destruction of the 24-acre (9.7 ha) remnant of a historically important stand of native trees. A historical marker near

6655-462: The U.S. Army a part of Arlington Woods, which was located in Section 29 of the National Park Service at Arlington National Cemetery between Arlington House and Fort Myer . The property transfer, which involved 12 acres (4.9 ha) of NPS land, was intended to permit Metzler to start expanding the cemetery beyond its existing boundaries. In September 1996, Arlington Cemetery received the authority to transfer 12 acres (4.9 ha) of woodland from

6776-426: The U.S. federal government had illegally confiscated the property and ordered that it be returned to Hunter. The property included the former residence of Confederate General Robert E. Lee 's family at and around 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 ,

6897-508: The Union from Arlington and neighboring Alexandria . On May 7, 1861, however, the Confederate-aligned Virginia militia captured Arlington and Arlington House. With Confederate forces occupying the high ground of Arlington, the neighboring national capital in Washington, D.C. was left vulnerable to Confederate Army attack. Despite not wanting to leave Arlington House, Mary Lee believed her estate would soon be recaptured by Union soldiers. On May 14, she buried many of her family treasures on

7018-545: The Union. On May 13, 1864, William Henry Christman was buried at Arlington Cemetery, close to what is now the northeast gate in Section 27, even though Meigs did not formally authorize establishment of burials until the following month, on June 15, 1864. Consistent with the practices of many cemeteries in the late 19th century, Arlington Cemetery maintained segregated burial practices. On July 26, 1948, however, U.S. president Harry S. Truman issued Executive Order 9981, which formally reversed this practice. In 1864, with

7139-568: 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 . The Henry G. Shirley Highway, also known as Interstate 395 , was constructed during World War II , along with adjacent developments such as Shirlington , Fairlington , and Parkfairfax . In February 1959, Arlington Public Schools desegregated racially at Stratford Junior High School, which

7260-422: The Virginia Native Plant Society recognized the woodland as being one of the best examples of old growth terraced gravel forest remaining in Virginia. On December 12, 2012, the United States Army Corps of Engineers asked for comments on a draft environmental assessment that described a further expansion of Arlington National Cemetery as part of the Millennium Project. The 2012 draft environmental assessment

7381-439: The Virginia legislature to approve such a transfer, known as retrocession . On February 3, 1846, the Virginia General Assembly agreed to accept the retrocession of Alexandria if Congress approved. Following additional lobbying by Alexandrians, 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

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7502-435: The Washington Boulevard-Columbia Pike interchange. The Army then informed the Arlington County government in June 2017 that the Army would no longer pursue a land exchange with the county. The Army told the County that the Army would use the entire Navy Annex site to expand the cemetery and would acquire for the cemetery about 5 acres (2.0 ha) of public land that Arlington County then owned. The Army would also acquire for

7623-464: The afterlife. The Fountain has been considered the culmination of the Swedish sculptor's distinguished career. The 1952 dedication event attracted an estimated 24,000 attendees. The Fountain has been covered in national publications such as Time magazine and the Washington Post , which noted that during his time on the Supreme Court , Chief Justice Warren Burger wrote to Arlington, Virginia officials to ask that their police become more familiar with

7744-460: The borders of the area that eventually became Arlington, but the citizens in Washington, D.C., were no longer considered residents of Maryland or Virginia, which represented the end of their federal representation in Congress. Prior to retrocession, residents of 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

7865-424: The cemetery expansion about 7 acres (2.8 ha) of land located between Columbia Pike and Interstate 395 that the Commonwealth of Virginia then owned. Arlington County, Virginia Arlington County , or simply Arlington , is a county in the U.S. state of Virginia . The county is located in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from Washington, D.C. ,

7986-408: The cemetery grounds into burial space in 2006 and 2007 to allow an additional 26,000 graves and 5,000 inurnments . The Millennium Project expanded the cemetery's physical boundaries for the first time since the 1960s, and was the largest expansion of burial space at the site since the U.S. Civil War. Several environmental and historical preservation groups criticized Metzler's plans, as did the NPS and

8107-421: The cemetery is the Living Cross, a 1,000-foot garden that includes the Fountain of Faith, designed by Swedish sculptor Carl Milles . The site also includes white marble sculptures of Christ's Last Supper , as well as a genizah located in its King David Memorial Gardens. The cemetery has several areas commemorating national events and tragedies, such as the attacks of September 11, 2001. Most prominent among these

8228-511: The cemetery's management controversy began to end, the Army appointed Patrick K. Hallinan the acting superintendent of the cemetery in June 2010. He was promoted permanently to the position in October 2010. Hallinan had previously worked for the Office of Field Programs in the National Cemetery Administration, an agency of the United States Department of Veterans' Affairs . In that capacity, Hallinan had oversight of 131 national cemeteries, national cemetery policy, procedures, and operations. Hallinan

8349-420: The county include Marymount University and George Mason University 's Antonin Scalia Law School , School of Business , the Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution , and Schar School of Policy and Government . Graduate programs, research, and non-traditional student education centers affiliated with the University of Virginia and Virginia Tech are also located in the county. Corporations based in

8470-438: The county include the co-headquarters of Amazon , several consulting firms , and the global headquarters of Boeing , Raytheon Technologies and BAE Systems Platforms & Services . Present-day Arlington County was part of Fairfax County in the Colony of Virginia during the colonial era . Land grants from the British Crown were awarded to prominent Englishmen in exchange for political favors and efforts as part of

8591-403: The county less important to the functioning of the national government. Alexandria was a center for the slave trade ; Franklin and Armfield Office in Alexandria was once an office used in slave trading. Rumors circulated that 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. At

8712-462: The county's early development. One of the grantees was Thomas Fairfax for whom both Fairfax County and the City of Fairfax are named. The county's name was derived from Henry Bennet , the Earl of Arlington , which was a plantation along the Potomac River , and Arlington House , the family residence on that property. George Washington Parke Custis , grandson of First Lady Martha Washington , acquired

8833-474: 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. Arlington County is located in Northern Virginia and is surrounded by Fairfax County and Falls Church to the west, the city of Alexandria to

8954-740: The desegregation struggle in the county. 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. 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

9075-664: The duration of the Civil War, the 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 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. In 1864, during

9196-457: The estate and receiving schooling and occupational training, both during the Civil War and after its end. In May 1864, the Union Army suffered large fatalities in the Battle of the Wilderness . Quartermaster General Montgomery C. Meigs ordered a review of eligible sites for the establishment of a large and new national military cemetery. Within weeks, his staff reported that Arlington Estate

9317-570: The evaluation of environmental impacts....., no significant impacts would be expected from the Proposed Action; therefore, an Environmental Impact Statement will not be prepared and a Finding of No Significant Impact will be prepared and signed." In January 2013, the county manager of Arlington County, Virginia, and the executive director of the Army National Military Cemeteries (consisting of Arlington National Cemetery and

9438-582: The first national Memorial Day ceremony in Arlington National Cemetery. In October 1991, John C. Metzler Jr. , Arlington Cemetery's superintendent, implemented a $ 1.4 million plan to clear a former 13-acre (5.3 ha) parking lot to create additional space that would accommodate approximately 9,000 additional grave sites. In 1992, the Worcester Wreath company in Harrington, Maine , had

9559-820: The following year, on June 1, 1862, Lee was appointed commander of the Army of Northern Virginia , the Confederate Army's primary military force. When the Civil War commenced, American military personnel who died in battle near Washington, D.C. , were buried at the United States Soldiers' Cemetery in Washington, D.C., or Alexandria Cemetery in Alexandria, Virginia . By late 1863, however, both cemeteries were nearly full. On May 3, 1861, General Winfield Scott ordered Brigadier General Irvin McDowell to clear all troops not loyal to

9680-429: The formation of West Virginia as a state, which comprised what then 51 counties in the northwest part of the state that favored abolitionism. 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

9801-482: The garage" and "at least half a dozen veterans destined for the hallowed ground at Arlington National Cemetery were left in their coffins on a garage rack." Family members of an Army veteran whose remains were stored in an unrefrigerated garage asked the Fairfax County Commonwealth's Attorney to investigate the actions of the funeral home. The family of retired U.S. Army Colonel Andrew DeGraff filed

9922-421: The grounds, and then left for her sister's estate at Ravensworth in present-day Fairfax County, Virginia . Some of the personal property she buried included family portraits that were stolen by Union soldiers. McDowell occupied Arlington without opposition on May 24. On July 16, 1862, the U.S. Congress passed legislation authorizing the U.S. federal government to purchase land for national cemeteries for

10043-643: The high-volume bus lines of Columbia Pike . Within the transit areas, the government has a policy of encouraging mixed-use and pedestrian- and transit-oriented development . Some of these " urban village " communities include: In 2002, Arlington received the EPA 's National Award for Smart Growth Achievement for "Overall Excellence in Smart Growth ." In 2005, the County implemented an affordable housing ordinance that requires most developers to contribute significant affordable housing resources, either in units or through

10164-441: The internet. Thousands of people called Worcester Wreath Company, wanting to replicate the wreath-laying service at their own veteran cemeteries. In 2014, volunteers were able to place wreaths in all sections of the cemetery for the first time. On February 22, 1995, officials of the U.S. Department of Interior and the U.S. Department of the Army signed an agreement to transfer from Arlington House, The Robert E. Lee Memorial, to

10285-473: The investigation commenced. In March 2011, as a result of the problems discovered, Kathryn Condon, the recently appointed executive director of the Army National Military Cemeteries, announced that the cemetery's staff had been increased from 102 to 159. She added that the cemetery was also acquiring additional equipment because, "They didn't have the proper equipment to do the job really to the standard they needed to do." The mismanagement controversy included

10406-505: The land in 1802. The estate was later passed down to Mary Anna Custis Lee , wife of Robert E. Lee , a Confederate general during the American Civil War , and then later seized by the U.S. federal government in a tax sale. The property later became the Arlington National Cemetery . Present-day Arlington County and most of present-day Alexandria were ceded to the new federal government by Virginia . On July 16, 1790,

10527-544: The legislation required the Secretary of the Interior to manage the remainder of Section 29 "in perpetuity to provide a natural setting and visual buffer for Arlington House, the Robert E. Lee Memorial." In 2007, Metzler implemented the Millennium Project, a $ 35 million expansion plan to begin utilizing the Arlington woodland, Fort Myer, and Navy Annex land. The project also included converting 40 acres (16 ha) of unused space and 4 acres (16,000 m ) of maintenance property on

10648-429: 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

10769-895: The manager of Arlington House. On June 9, 2010, United States Secretary of the Army John M. McHugh reprimanded the cemetery's superintendent, John C. Metzler, Jr., and his deputy, Thurman Higgenbotham, after a DOD inspector general 's report revealed that cemetery officials had placed the wrong headstones on tombs, buried coffins in shallow graves, and buried bodies on top of one another. Metzler, who had already announced his intention to retire on July 2, 2010, admitted some mistakes had been made but denied allegations of widespread or serious mismanagement. The investigation also found that cemetery employees were burdened in their day-to-day work by "dysfunctional management, lack of established policy and procedures, and an overall unhealthy organizational climate." Both Metzler and Higgenbotham retired soon after

10890-500: The national capital of Washington, D.C. highly vulnerable to Confederate attack and occupation, President Lincoln called for 75,000 volunteers from around the Union to help defend it. Five days after Lincoln's call for 75,000 volunteers to defend the national capital, on April 20, Robert E. Lee , embracing the cause of Virginia's separation from the Union , resigned his U.S. Army commission to lead Virginia's separatist armed forces;

11011-449: The national capital. Arlington County is coextensive with the U.S. Census Bureau 's census-designated place of Arlington. Arlington County is the eighth-most populous county in the Washington metropolitan area with a population of 238,643 as of the 2020 census . If Arlington County were incorporated as a city, it would rank as the third-most populous city in the state. With a land area of 26 square miles (67 km ), Arlington County

11132-482: 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. As a result of the 1862 law, the U.S. federal government confiscated the property, and transformed it into a military cemetery. 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

11253-456: The political boundaries of Alexandria County. During the American Civil War , Virginia seceded from the Union following a statewide referendum on May 23, 1861; the voters from Alexandria County approved secession by a vote of 958–48. The vote indicates the degree to which its only town, Alexandria, was pro-secession and pro-Confederate. Rural county residents outside Alexandria were largely Union loyalists and voted against secession. For

11374-440: The preferred alternative (Alternative 1) would transfer to the cemetery approximately 9.6 acres (3.9 ha), comprising most of the Interment Zone and the northern tip of the Preservation Zone. Another alternative (Alternative 3) would transfer to the cemetery the 12 acres (4.9 ha) Interment Zone, while keeping the 12.5 acres (5.1 ha) Preservation Zone under NPS jurisdiction. The EA concluded: "Public Law 104-201 directed

11495-444: The private ownership of Confederate States Army General Robert E. Lee 's family following a tax dispute over the property. The cemetery is managed by the U.S. Department of the Army . As of 2024, it conducts approximately 27 to 30 funerals each weekday and between six and eight services on Saturday. In April 2014, Arlington National Cemetery Historic District, including Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington House , Memorial Drive,

11616-516: The project would not have a significant adverse impact on the Commonwealth's forest resources. The revised EA did not change the preferred alternative (Alternative E) or the Army's plans to prepare and sign the Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) that the draft EA had described. On March 26, 2013, the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2013 ( Public Law 113–6) appropriated to

11737-464: The property for use as part of the cemetery, while requiring the Secretary of the Army to incorporate the Annex property into the cemetery. On December 28, 2001, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2002 (Public Law 107-107) repealed the "obsolete" part of Public Law 104-201 that had authorized the transfer of portions of Section 29 to the Secretary of the Army. The new legislation required

11858-423: The property. In December 1882, the U.S. Supreme Court found that the U.S. federal government illegally confiscated the property without due process, and the property was returned to Custis Lee. 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

11979-444: The purpose of burying military dead, and placed the U.S. Army Quartermaster General in charge of this program. Beginning in 1863, the federal government used the southern portion of the land now occupied by the cemetery as a settlement for freed slaves, giving the land the name "Freedman's Village". The government constructed rental houses that 1,100 to 3,000 freed slaves eventually occupied while farming 1,100 acres (450 ha) of

12100-545: 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. 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

12221-469: 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

12342-465: The sections of the county that lie north and south of Arlington Boulevard . Places in Arlington are often identified by their location in one or the other. Much consideration is given to socioeconomic and demographic differences between these two portions of the county and the respective amounts of attention they receive in the way of public services. Arlington ranks fourth in the nation, immediately after Washington, D.C. , for park access and quality in

12463-484: The south of the old county line that had not been a part of the District of Columbia. On September 11, 2001 , five al-Qaeda 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. In 2009, Turnberry Tower, located in

12584-564: The southeast in order to include the existing town of Alexandria. In 1791, Congress , at Washington's request, amended the Residence Act to approve the new site, including the territory ceded by Virginia. The amendment to the Residence Act prohibited the "erection of the public buildings otherwise than on the Maryland side of the River Potomac." The initial shape of the federal district was

12705-432: The southeast, and the national capital of Washington, D.C. to the northeast across the Potomac River , which forms the county's northern border. Minor's Hill and Upton's Hill represent the county's western borders. According to the U.S. Census Bureau , the county has a total area of 26.1 square miles (67.6 km ), 26.0 square miles (67.3 km ) of which is land and 0.1 square miles (0.3 km ) (0.4%) of which

12826-655: The southwest border of the Navy Annex site for a new Southgate Road. In exchange, the Department of Defense would give the Navy Annex parking lot to the county. The Army would also transfer land west of South Joyce Street to Columbia Pike to Arlington County. Additionally, the Commonwealth of Virginia would convey to the cemetery roughly the northern half of the Virginia Department of Transportation land bounded by South Joyce Street, Columbia Pike, and South Washington Boulevard . The cloverleaf interchange between Columbia Pike and S. Washington Blvd. would be eliminated, and

12947-627: 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

13068-504: The tendered payment. The Washington Chronicle described the Freedmen's Village at Arlington in an article published in September 1864 and recorded at that time, "This cemetery is at present divided into the upper yard and the lower yard. The upper yard contains fourteen hundred graves, and the lower twelve hundred. These graves are marked with wooden slabs, with the exception of one marble slab in

13189-475: The upper and one in the lower yard. As we passed by it, a cortege of five ambulances, containing nine coffins, moved by. Some of the coffins were draped with our colors. The cemetery is as yet enclosed with a wooden fence." In 1866, The Old Bell Church , led by Rev. Robert S. Laws , was founded. After Freedman's Village became part of a military reservation, the government asked the villagers to leave. In 1887, however, some still remained, and John A. Commerford,

13310-428: The withdrawal of the proposal. However, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2000 (Public Law 106–65), which was enacted into law during October 1999, subsequently required the Secretary of Defense to transfer administrative jurisdiction of the 36 acres (15 ha) Navy Annex property to the Secretary of the Army. The Act required the Secretary of Defense to demolish the Annex's buildings and prepare

13431-534: The woodland notes that, while visiting Arlington House in 1825, Marquis de Lafayette , the French volunteer to the Continental Army who ultimately became one of George Washington 's long-standing friends, warned Mary Lee Fitzhugh Custis , wife of George Washington Parke Custis , "Cherish these forest trees around your mansion. Recollect how much easier it is to cut a tree than to make one grow." The marker notes that

13552-493: Was built from Washington, D.C. through Ballston ; Northern Virginia trolleys were a significant factor in the county's growth. In 1920, the trolley was named Arlington County , named after Arlington House , the home of the American Civil War Confederate general Robert E. Lee later seized by the Union in a tax sale, is located on the grounds of Arlington National Cemetery . In 1900, Blacks were more than

13673-418: Was completed. Custis initially intended the house to serve as a home and memorial to George Washington , his foster father, but Washington died on December 14, 1799. Custis' will granted a life inheritance of the house to his wife, allowing her to live at and run Arlington House for the rest of her life but prohibiting her from selling any portion of it. Following his wife's death, Arlington House, then known as

13794-554: 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

13915-547: 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 created an extension center in the county named Northern Virginia University Center of

14036-518: 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

14157-473: Was intended to implement conversion into burial space of the 17 acres (6.9 ha) of Fort Myer grounds and 10 acres (4.0 ha) of Section 29 woodland. The draft described seven alternatives. The preferred alternative (Alternative E) called for the removal of about one-half of the 1,700 trees with a diameter of 6 inches (15 cm) or greater on the site. About 640 of the trees were within a 135-year-old portion of Arlington Woods. The draft concluded, "Based on

14278-405: Was less interested in obtaining the property than in receiving cash compensation for it. On March 3, 1883, Custis Lee sold it back to the U.S. government for $ 150,000 (equivalent to $ 4,161,818 in 2023) at a signing ceremony with then Secretary of War Robert Todd Lincoln . The land then became a U.S. military reservation. In 1900, the last remaining residents of the village departed after

14399-502: Was promoted to executive director of the Army National Military Cemeteries upon the retirement of Kathryn Condon in spring 2014. In May 2014, Hallinan stepped down and was replaced by Jack E. Lechner, Jr. as superintendent of the cemetery. Lechner had been a funeral director for 10 years in the private sector before joining the U.S. Army. He rose to the rank of colonel, and retired in November 2011 after having spent 2008 to 2010 as chief of

14520-482: Was simultaneously rebranded as National Landing . By 2020, single-family detached homes accounted for nearly 75% of zoned property in Arlington. In 2023, the Arlington County city council unanimously approved a modest zoning change to permit sixplexes (so-called " 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

14641-481: Was the most suitable property in the area. The property was located at a relatively high elevation and was typically free from floods capable of unearthing graves, and it was aesthetically pleasing. An additional factor in its selection was likely that it was the residence of Robert E. Lee, a leader in the Confederate States Army, and denying Lee use of his home during and following the war was advantageous to

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