Courthouse, Virginia
Encyclopedia
Transit-oriented development
A transit-oriented development is a mixed-use residential or commercial area designed to maximize access to public transport, and often incorporates features to encourage transit ridership...
neighborhood in Arlington County, Virginia
Arlington County, Virginia
Arlington County is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The land that became Arlington was originally donated by Virginia to the United States government to form part of the new federal capital district. On February 27, 1801, the United States Congress organized the area as a subdivision of...
. It is home to the Court House stop
Court House (Washington Metro)
Court House is an island platformed Washington Metro station in the Courthouse neighborhood of Arlington, Virginia, United States. The station was opened on December 1, 1979, and is operated by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority . Weekday ridership is approximately 14,000 passengers...
on the Orange Line
Orange Line (Washington Metro)
The Orange Line of the Washington Metro consists of 26 rapid transit stations from Vienna to New Carrollton. It has stations in Fairfax County and Arlington, Virginia, the District of Columbia, and Prince George's County, Maryland. Half of the line's stations are shared with the Blue Line, and over...
of the Washington Metro
Washington Metro
The Washington Metro, commonly called Metro, and unofficially Metrorail, is the rapid transit system in Washington, D.C., United States, and its surrounding suburbs. It is administered by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority , which also operates Metrobus service under the Metro name...
.
Although Arlington is so geographically small that it does not have component towns or cities, the Courthouse neighborhood is sometimes referred to as county seat
County seat
A county seat is an administrative center, or seat of government, for a county or civil parish. The term is primarily used in the United States....
, as it is home to the primary county government administrative complex as well as a justice center consisting of a jail, courthouse and police HQ. Indeed, the neighborhood gets its name from the governmental uses that call it home.
The neighborhoods consists of high-rise residential and business buildings including offices of Verizon and an 8-screen AMC
AMC Theatres
AMC Theatres , officially known as AMC Entertainment, Inc., is the second largest movie theater chain in North America with 5,325 screens, second only to Regal Entertainment Group, and one of the United States's four national cinema chains AMC Theatres (American Multi-Cinema), officially known as...
movie theater. It is home to more than 25 bars and restaurants, ranging from informal lunch take-out spots, to a venue for local bands, to upscale Latin and Thai evening establishments.
Courthouse also features one of the first garden-style apartments complexes built in the United States. Built in the 1930s, Colonial Village consists of private condos, co-op housing, and apartments for rent and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Fort Woodbury
Fort Woodbury
Fort Woodbury was part of the Arlington Line, an extensive network of fortifications erected in present-day Arlington County, Virginia to protect Washington, D.C. from Confederate attack during the American Civil War...
once stood near the site of the current Arlington County Courthouse (14th St. N. at N. Court House Rd.), atop one of the highest hills in Arlington. It was part of the "Arlington Line" of fortifications built after the Union seized the area in May 1861, at the beginning of the Civil War. The fort was named for Major D.P. Woodbury, the engineer who designed and constructed the Arlington Line. Woodbury Heights, a high-rise condominium that sits on the Fort Woodbury site, was constructed in the 1980s and is named in honor of the fort.
As with many neighborhoods in central Arlington, the exact boundaries of the Courthouse neighborhood are unclear. Arlington County's Courthouse Sector Plan includes the area bounded by Wilson Boulevard, Cleveland Street, Fairfax Drive, Arlington Boulevard and Courthouse Road. The Clarendon-Courthouse Civic Association has similar boundaries. However, an argument can be made to extend the Courthouse neighborhood to lie between the midpoint of the locations of the Courthouse and Clarendon Metro stations and the midpoint of the Courthouse and Rosslyn Stations -- which would be Danville and Rhodes Streets, respectively.