Fairlington, Virginia - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Fairlington is an unincorporated

Unincorporated area

In law, an unincorporated area is a region of land that is not a part of any municipality.To "incorporate" in this context means to form a municipal corporation, a city, town, or village with its own government. An unincorporated community is usually not subject to or taxed by a municipal government...

neighborhood in Arlington County

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...

, Virginia

Virginia

The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, located adjacent to Shirlington

Shirlington, Virginia

Shirlington is an unincorporated urban area, officially called an "urban village", in the southern part of Arlington County, Virginia, United States, adjacent to the Fairlington area...

in the southernmost part of the county on the boundary with the City of Alexandria

Alexandria, Virginia

Alexandria is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of 2009, the city had a total population of 139,966. Located along the Western bank of the Potomac River, Alexandria is approximately six miles south of downtown Washington, D.C.Like the rest of northern Virginia, as well as...

. The main thoroughfares are Interstate 395

Interstate 395 (District of Columbia-Virginia)

Interstate 395 in Washington, D.C., and Virginia is a 13 mile long spur route that begins at a junction with Interstate 95 in Springfield, Virginia and ends in northwest Washington, D.C. It passes underneath the National Mall near the United States Capitol and ends at a junction with U.S...

(Shirley Highway) which divides the neighborhood into North and South Fairlington, State Route 7 (King Street

King Street, Alexandria, Virginia

King Street is a major road in Alexandria, Virginia, USA and historic Old Town Alexandria. It extends westward from the Potomac River waterfront near the Torpedo Factory Art Center and nearby bustling tourist gift shops and restaurants, passing City Hall...

) and State Route 402 (Quaker Lane).

The neighborhood consists almost entirely of townhouse

Terraced house

In architecture and city planning, a terrace house, terrace, row house, linked house or townhouse is a style of medium-density housing that originated in Great Britain in the late 17th century, where a row of identical or mirror-image houses share side walls...

-type condominium

Condominium

A condominium, or condo, is the form of housing tenure and other real property where a specified part of a piece of real estate is individually owned while use of and access to common facilities in the piece such as hallways, heating system, elevators, exterior areas is executed under legal rights...

apartment

Apartment

An apartment or flat is a self-contained housing unit that occupies only part of a building...

s built in the 1940s as the largest housing project financed by the Defense Homes Corporation

Defense Homes Corporation

The Defense Homes Corporation was created October 23, 1940 to finance housing for war industry workers.- History :The Defense Homes Corporation was incorporated pursuant to a letter of President Roosevelt to the Secretary of the Treasury on October 18, 1940 to finance housing for war industries...

during World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

. Fairlington is listed on both the National Register of Historic Places

National Register of Historic Places

The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...

and on the Virginia Landmarks Register

Virginia Landmarks Register

The Virginia Landmarks Register is a list of historic properties in the state of Virginia. The state's official list of important historic sites, it was created in 1966. The Register serves the same purpose as the National Register of Historic Places...

Name, boundaries, and geography

Fairlington was originally called Seminary Heights but it was changed due to confusion with other nearby geographical features named for Alexandria's Virginia Theological Seminary

Virginia Theological Seminary

Virginia Theological Seminary , formally called the Protestant Episcopal Theological Seminary in Virginia, is the largest accredited Episcopal seminary in the United States. Founded in 1818, VTS is situated on an campus in Alexandria, Virginia, just a few miles from downtown Washington, DC. VTS...

including Seminary Drive, Seminary Road, and Seminary View, among others. A new name, Fairlington, was chosen combining the two counties in which the neighborhood was then located: Fairfax

Fairfax County, Virginia

Fairfax County is a county in Virginia, in the United States. Per the 2010 Census, the population of the county is 1,081,726, making it the most populous jurisdiction in the Commonwealth of Virginia, with 13.5% of Virginia's population...

and Arlington. (The former Fairfax County section is now part of the City of Alexandria.)

The neighborhood is wooded and sits on heights overlooking the Four Mile Run

Four Mile Run

Four Mile Run is a stream in northern Virginia that starts near Interstate 66, at Gordon Avenue in Fairfax County and proceeds southeast through Falls Church to Arlington County in the U.S. state of Virginia...

valley. It is bisected by I-395 into North and South Fairlington connected by the Fairlington Bridge (South Abingdon Street).

Early history

Upon the arrival of Europeans in the New World, the area that is now Fairlington was near a Necostin Indian

Native Americans in the United States

Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...

village in the 17th century. In the early 18th century, a 534 acres (216.1 ha) tract including Fairlington and extending to nearby Four Mile Run

Four Mile Run

was granted

Land grant

A land grant is a gift of real estate – land or its privileges – made by a government or other authority as a reward for services to an individual, especially in return for military service...

under the headright system

Headright

A headright system is a legal grant of land to settlers who lived in Jamestown, Virginia. Headrights are most notable for their role in the expansion of the thirteen British colonies in North America; the Virginia Company of London gave headrights to settlers, and the Plymouth Company followed suit...

to William Struttfield, one of 48 original landowners in what is now Arlington County. By 1756, the land was owned by John Carlyle

John Carlyle (merchant)

John Carlyle was a Scottish merchant who immigrated to British Colony of Virginia and became a leading landowner and social and political figure in Northern Virginia...

, a friend of future U.S. President

President of the United States

The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....

George Washington

George Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...

, who was also the builder of Carlyle House

Carlyle House

Carlyle House is a historic mansion in Alexandria, Virginia, United States, built by Scottish merchant John Carlyle in 1751-53. It is situated in the city’s Old Town on North Fairfax Street between Cameron and King Streets....

in Alexandria

Alexandria, Virginia

. Carlyle and his heirs would possess the area of Fairlington for 150 years. Around 1770, Caryle began construction of a plantation

Plantation (settlement or colony)

Plantation was an early method of colonization in which settlers were "planted" abroad in order to establish a permanent or semi-permanent colonial base. Such plantations were also frequently intended to promote Western culture and Christianity among nearby indigenous peoples, as can be seen in the...

and summer house near the current intersection of 30th Street South and South Columbus Street. The house was first called Torthorwald and later changed to Morven and stood until 1942. Carlyle used his plantation as a stud farm

Stud farm

A stud farm or stud in animal husbandry, is an establishment for selective breeding of livestock. The word "stud" comes from the Old English stod meaning "herd of horses, place where horses are kept for breeding" Historically, documentation of the breedings that occur on a stud farm leads to the...

and operated a grist mill downstream from Fairlington above what is now Arlandria. Following John Carlyle's death in 1780, the house passed to his nephew, Carlyle Fairfax Whiting. George Washington himself owned a portion of the land in what would become Fairlington, near the Abingdon Elementary School and South 28th Street after he bought two of the 48 Arlington land grants.

Following the American Revolution

American Revolution

The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...

, new federal district governed by Congress

United States Congress

The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....

was created in 1790 and the area that is now Fairlington (except for part of the section now within Alexandria) was included within the original boundaries of the new District of Columbia, forming part of Alexandria County, D.C.

Alexandria County, D.C.

Alexandria County was part of the original 100-mile square created as the District of Columbia in 1791 pursuant to Article I, Section 8, paragraph 17, of the United States Constitution...

. Congressional control began in 1801 and the area was no longer under Virginian jurisdiction. However, in 1846, the entire county was retroceded to Virginia

Retrocession (District of Columbia)

District of Columbia retrocession is the process of returning the land that was given to the federal government for the original purpose of creating the national capital. The District of Columbia was formed in 1791 from of land ceded by the states of Maryland and Virginia in accordance with the...

and became Alexandria County, VA.

From Union occupation to World War II

With the secession

Ordinance of Secession

The Ordinance of Secession was the document drafted and ratified in 1860 and 1861 by the states officially seceding from the United States of America...

of Virginia from the United States on 17 April 1861, Northern Virginia

Northern Virginia

Northern Virginia consists of several counties and independent cities in the Commonwealth of Virginia, in a widespread region generally radiating southerly and westward from Washington, D.C...

was quickly overrun by Union soldiers. A line of redoubt

Redoubt

A redoubt is a fort or fort system usually consisting of an enclosed defensive emplacement outside a larger fort, usually relying on earthworks, though others are constructed of stone or brick. It is meant to protect soldiers outside the main defensive line and can be a permanent structure or a...

s and breastworks

Breastwork (fortification)

A breastwork is a fortification. The term is usually applied to temporary fortifications, often an earthwork thrown up to breast height to provide protection to defenders firing over it from a standing position...

above Four Mile Run was constructed to defend of the main base of the occupying Army of the Potomac

Army of the Potomac

The Army of the Potomac was the major Union Army in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War.-History:The Army of the Potomac was created in 1861, but was then only the size of a corps . Its nucleus was called the Army of Northeastern Virginia, under Brig. Gen...

in Alexandria and the Fairlington area was the site of two of these. Fort Reynolds

Fort Reynolds (Virginia)

Fort Reynolds was a Union Army redoubt built as part of the defenses of Washington, D.C., in the American Civil War.The fort was located in Fairlington, Arlington County, Virginia. It was constructed in September 1861 to command the approach to Alexandria by the Four Mile Run valley and was itself...

, a redoubt, was constructed in September 1861 to command the approach to Alexandria by way of the Four Mile Run valley. It had a perimeter of 360 yards (329 m) and emplacements for 12 guns and was located just northeast of what is now 31st Street South at South Woodrow Street. Battery Garesche

Battery Garesche

Battery Garesche or Battery Garesché was a Union Army artillery battery built as part of the defenses of Washington, D.C. in the American Civil War at what is now Abingdon Street at South 30th Road in Fairlington, Arlington County, Virginia...

at what is now South Abingdon Street at South 30th Road and was constructed late in 1861 to control the higher ground dominating Fort Reynolds, 200 yards (183 m) to the southeast. It had a perimeter of 166 yards (152 m) and emplacements for 8 guns. The area was never liberated by Confederate

Confederate States of America

The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...

forces and remained under US military occupation until 1870.

Despite the military use of what is now Fairlington, the area retained a rural character; mostly wooded, with some small farms, into the 20th century. In 1879, the area of Fairlington was consolidated under Hawkins Smith who remodeled Morven and renamed it Hampton. His son, Hawkins Smith II, made Hampton a leading horse farm but sold it in 1926. It was subdivided with some of the land rented by sharecroppers

Sharecropping

Sharecropping is a system of agriculture in which a landowner allows a tenant to use the land in return for a share of the crop produced on the land . This should not be confused with a crop fixed rent contract, in which a landowner allows a tenant to use the land in return for a fixed amount of...

. One cleared area in South Fairlington served as an airfield

Airport

An airport is a location where aircraft such as fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and blimps take off and land. Aircraft may be stored or maintained at an airport...

until the mid-1930s.

In 1920, Alexandria County was renamed Arlington County to distinguish it from the neighboring independent City

Independent city

An independent city is a city that does not form part of another general-purpose local government entity. These type of cities should not be confused with city-states , which are fully sovereign cities that are not part of any other sovereign state.-Historical precursors:In the Holy Roman Empire,...

of Alexandria and in 1929, Alexandria annexed all of Arlington County south of Four Mile Run to the current boundary along Quaker Lane.

The creation of Fairlington

At the time of the United States entry into World War II

World War II

in December 1941, the Defense Homes Corporation

Defense Homes Corporation

(a component of the Federal Housing Administration

Federal Housing Administration

The Federal Housing Administration is a United States government agency created as part of the National Housing Act of 1934. It insured loans made by banks and other private lenders for home building and home buying...

) had purchased most of the area. The corporation was created by President Franklin D. Roosevelt

Franklin D. Roosevelt

Franklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...

in 1940 through the allocation of emergency funding and, by February 1942, it had assembled 322 acres (130.3 ha) for construction of housing for civilian

Civilian

A civilian under international humanitarian law is a person who is not a member of his or her country's armed forces or other militia. Civilians are distinct from combatants. They are afforded a degree of legal protection from the effects of war and military occupation...

and military

Military

A military is an organization authorized by its greater society to use lethal force, usually including use of weapons, in defending its country by combating actual or perceived threats. The military may have additional functions of use to its greater society, such as advancing a political agenda e.g...

defense personnel to be called Seminary Heights. The site was only 2½ miles (4 km) from the Pentagon

The Pentagon

The Pentagon is the headquarters of the United States Department of Defense, located in Arlington County, Virginia. As a symbol of the U.S. military, "the Pentagon" is often used metonymically to refer to the Department of Defense rather than the building itself.Designed by the American architect...

which had begun construction in August 1941. As with nearby Parkfairfax

Parkfairfax, Virginia

Parkfairfax is a neighborhood in Alexandria, Virginia, United States, located in the northwestern part of the city near the boundary with Arlington County...

, Alexandria, and several other sites throughout metropolitan Washington, the Corporation endeavored to quickly satisfy increased wartime demand for housing and, by the end of 1943, by which time the project was renamed Fairlington, there almost 2,415 housing units complete. By 1945, there were 3,439 units when the project was completed at a cost of $

United States dollar

The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....

35 million ($368 million in dollars).

In 1947, the Defense Homes Corporation

Defense Homes Corporation

sold the property to Fairmac Realty Corporation, which operated Fairlington as rental apartment

Apartment

An apartment or flat is a self-contained housing unit that occupies only part of a building...

s. The area surrounding Fairlington also began to urbanize with nearby Shirlington Shopping Center opening in 1945 and Bradlee Shopping Center in the 1950s.

In 1952, the independent City of Alexandria annexed

Annexation

Annexation is the de jure incorporation of some territory into another geo-political entity . Usually, it is implied that the territory and population being annexed is the smaller, more peripheral, and weaker of the two merging entities, barring physical size...

the small Fairfax County portion of Fairlington, rendering the name an anachronism

Anachronism

An anachronism—from the Greek ανά and χρόνος — is an inconsistency in some chronological arrangement, especially a chronological misplacing of persons, events, objects, or customs in regard to each other...

. In 1966, a mutual agreement between Arlington and Alexandria adjusted the city-county boundary through North Fairlington that had followed the original District of Columbia-Virginia line. The new boundary followed the north and east sides of State Route 7 (King Street), 30th Street South, South Columbus Street, and 28th Street South. In 1954, the well-preserved Fort Reynolds was leveled to construct the Park Shirlington apartments.

In 1967, as part of the conversion of Shirley Highway to interstate

Interstate Highway System

The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, , is a network of limited-access roads including freeways, highways, and expressways forming part of the National Highway System of the United States of America...

standards, a bridge connecting South Abingdon Street in North Fairlington and 34th Street South in South Fairlington was opened, directly connecting the two sections for the first time.

Fairlington as condominiums

By the late 1960s, Fairlington's owners, now Hartford Insurance

The Hartford

The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. , usually known as The Hartford, is a Fortune 500 company and one of America’s largest investment and insurance companies...

, considered razing the apartments and constructing high-rise apartment buildings. Instead, it decided to convert the existing structures to condominium

Condominium

apartments in 1972. Virginia had only permitted condominium development since 1962 and Fairlington was the largest scale project ever undertaken to that date. Fairlington was sold to Chicago Bridge and Iron and operated by CBI-Fairmac and a five-year project to physically modify the apartments for their new use commenced. Common basement

Basement

__FORCETOC__A basement is one or more floors of a building that are either completely or partially below the ground floor. Basements are typically used as a utility space for a building where such items as the furnace, water heater, breaker panel or fuse box, car park, and air-conditioning system...

areas were divided between apartments and boiler

Hydronics

Hydronics is the use of water as the heat-transfer medium in heating and cooling systems.Some of the oldest and most common examples are steam and hot-water radiators. Historically, in large-scale commercial buildings such as high-rise and campus facilities, a hydronic system may include both a...

houses were removed and replaced with recreation facilities. Beginning in South Fairlington, CBI-Fairmac converted the area into seven legal entities under the Virginia Horizontal Property Act. Six of the condominiums were in South Fairlington and the entirety of North Fairlington formed one condominium. The initial offerings sold for $19,000-$45,500 ($86,000-$203,000 in dollars) in 1972 and prices were increased for later sales with the final units sold in 1978.

In 1979, Fairlington Elementary School was closed and the building became the Fairlington Community Center. In 1996, the value of Fairlington was assessed at $423,701,600 ($514,299,241 in dollars). Fairlington as a whole was listed on the Virginia Landmarks Register

Virginia Landmarks Register

in December 1998 and the National Register of Historic Places

National Register of Historic Places

The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...

in March 1999.

Historical marker

An Arlington County Office of Historic Preservation historical marker installed at the corner of Quaker Lane and South 32nd Street reads:

"Designed in the Colonial Revival style by Kenneth Franzheim and Alan B. Mills and constructed between 1942 and 1944, Fairlington is an early example of successful community planning and large-scale, publicly financed rental housing built for defense workers and their families during World War II. With 3,439 garden apartments, Fairlington was the largest project financed by Defense Homes Corporation (a component of the National Housing Agency) and the nation’s largest apartment complex at that time. The units were renovated and sold as condominiums between 1972 and 1977. The name Fairlington combines Fairfax and Arlington, the counties in which the project was located."

Civic organization

Fairlington is organized into seven, independent condominium

Condominium

associations sometimes called village

Village

A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...

s including Fairlington Arbor, Fairlington Commons, Fairlington Glen, Fairlington Green, Fairlington Meadows, and Fairlington Mews, all in South Fairlington, and Fairlington Villages in North Fairlington. There is a single civic association, the Fairlington Citizens Association, representing the community in local affairs and the Fairlington Historical Society promotes historical preservation.

Layout

Fairlington's streets are all of two lanes and they are neither on a grid with uniform city block

City block

A city block, urban block or simply block is a central element of urban planning and urban design. A city block is the smallest area that is surrounded by streets. City blocks are the space for buildings within the street pattern of a city, they form the basic unit of a city's urban fabric...

s nor in the suburban cul-de-sac

Cul-de-sac

A cul-de-sac is a word of French origin referring to a dead end, close, no through road or court meaning dead-end street with only one inlet/outlet...

style found in most American suburbs but are slightly winding and usually separated by the equivalent of two or more city blocks. Fairlington's apartment units are grouped in "courts," usually three or four separate buildings of around 40-50 total units facing a parking lot (carpark). Most units are three levels (upstairs, ground level and basement) with front and back doors. Some units are two or three story walk-ups with units on a single floor. Prior to the condominium conversions, back doors opened to common areas with connecting sidewalks leading to back porches. Post-conversions, most units have a small courtyard off the back door, surrounded by a wooden fence. The common areas between the courts contain open areas for recreation. Originally the common areas included playgrounds and wading pools. The latter consisted of flat concrete squares with short concrete sides and a sprinkler in the center. These provided cooling and recreation in the summer when air conditioning was not widely available. With the conversion to condominiums, tennis

Tennis court

A tennis court is where the game of tennis is played. It is a firm rectangular surface with a low net stretched across the center. The same surface can be used to play both doubles and singles.-Dimensions:...

, basketball court

Basketball court

In basketball, the basketball court is the playing surface, consisting of a rectangular floor with tiles at either end. In professional or organized basketball, especially when played indoors, it is usually made out of a wood, often maple, and highly polished...

s, playground

Playground

A playground or play area is a place with a specific design for children be able to play there. It may be indoors but is typically outdoors...

s, and swimming facilities

Swimming pool

A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, or simply a pool, is a container filled with water intended for swimming or water-based recreation. There are many standard sizes; the largest is the Olympic-size swimming pool...

replaced the original playgrounds and wading pools. Prior to the condominium conversions, each building had a common basement area, which could be reached from the basement of apartments which had basements, or from a stairway in buildings containing single-floor apartments. The common basement contained trashrooms and laundry facilities. Buildings with single-floor apartments also had storage units in the common basements. With the condominium conversions, the common areas were divided to become part of the basement areas of individual condominiums. Sidewalk

Sidewalk

A sidewalk, or pavement, footpath, footway, and sometimes platform, is a path along the side of a road. A sidewalk may accommodate moderate changes in grade and is normally separated from the vehicular section by a curb...

s (pavements) along the streets and in the common areas connect the neighborhood. Each condominium association in South Fairlington consists of around 15 courts.

Architecture

Fairlington's nomination to the National Register of Historic Places identifies 1024 historical buildings in Fairlington and 30 residential unit types and describes North and South Fairlington as follows:

In terms of style, materials and detailing, the two sections are very similar. All buildings are of the Colonial Revival style

Colonial Revival architecture

The Colonial Revival was a nationalistic architectural style, garden design, and interior design movement in the United States which sought to revive elements of Georgian architecture, part of a broader Colonial Revival Movement in the arts. In the early 1890s Americans began to value their own...

. Building heights range from 1½ to three stories. Gable

Gable

A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of a sloping roof. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system being used and aesthetic concerns. Thus the type of roof enclosing the volume dictates the shape of the gable...

roof

Roof

A roof is the covering on the uppermost part of a building. A roof protects the building and its contents from the effects of weather. Structures that require roofs range from a letter box to a cathedral or stadium, dwellings being the most numerous....

s predominate, followed by hipped roof

Tented roof

A tented roof is a type of roof widely used in 16th and 17th century Russian architecture for churches. It is like a polygonal spire but differs in purpose in that it is typically used to roof the main internal space of a church, rather than an auxiliary structure...

s, flat roof

Flat roof

A flat roof is a type of covering of a building. In contrast to the sloped form of a roof, a flat roof is horizontal or nearly horizontal. Materials that cover flat roofs typically allow the water to run off freely from a very slight inclination....

s, gambrel roofs

Gambrel

A gambrel is a usually-symmetrical two-sided roof with two slopes on each side. The upper slope is positioned at a shallow angle, while the lower slope is steep. This design provides the advantages of a sloped roof while maximizing headroom on the building's upper level...

, and a handful of mansard roofs. Most are slate

Slate

Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. The result is a foliated rock in which the foliation may not correspond to the original sedimentary layering...

. Walls primarily are brick

Brick

A brick is a block of ceramic material used in masonry construction, usually laid using various kinds of mortar. It has been regarded as one of the longest lasting and strongest building materials used throughout history.-History:...

, laid in five- or six-course American bond, although a few of the 1½-story buildings with steeply pitched

Roof pitch

In building construction, roof pitch is a numerical measure of the steepness of a roof, and a pitched roof is a roof that is steep.The roof's pitch is the measured vertical rise divided by the measured horizontal span, the same thing as what is called "slope" in geometry. Roof pitch is typically...

gable roofs are of cut stone

Rock (geology)

In geology, rock or stone is a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals and/or mineraloids.The Earth's outer solid layer, the lithosphere, is made of rock. In general rocks are of three types, namely, igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic...

. Windows are six-over-six double-hung sash

Sash window

A sash window or hung sash window is made of one or more movable panels or "sashes" that form a frame to hold panes of glass, which are often separated from other panes by narrow muntins...

. Exterior doors are paneled, with or without lights. Front entrances are sheltered by porch

Porch

A porch is external to the walls of the main building proper, but may be enclosed by screen, latticework, broad windows, or other light frame walls extending from the main structure.There are various styles of porches, all of which depend on the architectural tradition of its location...

es or stoops

Urban stoop

In urban architecture, a stoop is a small staircase ending in a platform and leading to the entrance of an apartment building or other building.-Etymology:...

. All of the one-story, one-bay

Bay (architecture)

A bay is a unit of form in architecture. This unit is defined as the zone between the outer edges of an engaged column, pilaster, or post; or within a window frame, doorframe, or vertical 'bas relief' wall form.-Defining elements:...

porches feature hipped, shed

Shed

A shed is typically a simple, single-storey structure in a back garden or on an allotment that is used for storage, hobbies, or as a workshop....

or gable roofs supported by wooden Tuscan

Tuscan order

Among canon of classical orders of classical architecture, the Tuscan order's place is due to the influence of the Italian Sebastiano Serlio, who meticulously described the five orders including a "Tuscan order", "the solidest and least ornate", in his fourth book of Regole generalii di...

or Doric

Doric order

The Doric order was one of the three orders or organizational systems of ancient Greek or classical architecture; the other two canonical orders were the Ionic and the Corinthian.-History:...

column

Column

A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a vertical structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. For the purpose of wind or earthquake engineering, columns may be designed to resist lateral forces...

s, square or turned wooden posts or brick piers

Pier (architecture)

In architecture, a pier is an upright support for a superstructure, such as an arch or bridge. Sections of wall between openings function as piers. The simplest cross section of the pier is square, or rectangular, although other shapes are also common, such as the richly articulated piers of Donato...

. Front entrance stoops often are sheltered by bracketed

Bracket (architecture)

A bracket is an architectural member made of wood, stone, or metal that overhangs a wall to support or carry weight. It may also support a statue, the spring of an arch, a beam, or a shelf. Brackets are often in the form of scrolls, and can be carved, cast, or molded. They can be entirely...

canopies. Many buildings have nonfunctioning brick chimney

Chimney

A chimney is a structure for venting hot flue gases or smoke from a boiler, stove, furnace or fireplace to the outside atmosphere. Chimneys are typically vertical, or as near as possible to vertical, to ensure that the gases flow smoothly, drawing air into the combustion in what is known as the...

s. Typical details include dentil

Dentil

In classical architecture a dentil is a small block used as a repeating ornament in the bedmould of a cornice.The Roman architect Vitruvius In classical architecture a dentil (from Lat. dens, a tooth) is a small block used as a repeating ornament in the bedmould of a cornice.The Roman architect...

s and other decorative wood molding

Molding (decorative)

Molding or moulding is a strip of material with various profiles used to cover transitions between surfaces or for decoration. It is traditionally made from solid milled wood or plaster but may be made from plastic or reformed wood...

, stone window and door lintels, pilaster

Pilaster

A pilaster is a slightly-projecting column built into or applied to the face of a wall. Most commonly flattened or rectangular in form, pilasters can also take a half-round form or the shape of any type of column, including tortile....

s, sidelights, wheel and round windows, belt course

Belt course

A belt course is a continuous row or layer of stones, tile, brick, shingles, etc. in a wall. The Romanesque style of architecture is notable for the use of belt courses. Similar to a belt course is an entablature which runs along the top of a row columns instead of along a wall....

s and inoperative shutter

Shutter

Shutter may refer to:Windows:*Window shutter, a solid window covering used to block light and winds*Plantation Shutters/Jigsaw Shutters, interior wooden louvred shutters to control heat, light and privacy...

In journalist

Journalist

A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...

David Brinkley

David McClure Brinkley was an American newscaster for NBC and ABC in a career lasting from 1943 to 1997....

's 1988 Washington Goes to War, he mentions the area, describing life there in the summer of 1943 noting its lack of shopping and transportation options. However, "Fairlington at least had sturdy, well-designed housing (most of it still standing today and now expensive townhouses and condominiums)." Fairlington is listed on the Virginia Landmarks Register

Virginia Landmarks Register

and the National Register of Historic Places

National Register of Historic Places

The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...

and, in 2002, the neighborhood was presented the "Test of Time" award by the Virginia Society of the American Institute of Architects

American Institute of Architects

The American Institute of Architects is a professional organization for architects in the United States. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach to support the architecture profession and improve its public image...

, for the lasting value of its architectural design. Such listings and awards do not impose restrictions on property use which is the under the purview of the condominiums. Fairlington was the first large-scale apartment community to be considered for such designation and the campaign for listing was largely a volunteer effort.

Arboriculture

Fairlington's streets and common areas are heavily treed with oak

Oak

An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus Quercus , of which about 600 species exist. "Oak" may also appear in the names of species in related genera, notably Lithocarpus...

s, maple

Maple

Acer is a genus of trees or shrubs commonly known as maple.Maples are variously classified in a family of their own, the Aceraceae, or together with the Hippocastanaceae included in the family Sapindaceae. Modern classifications, including the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group system, favour inclusion in...

s, elm

Elm

Elms are deciduous and semi-deciduous trees comprising the genus Ulmus in the plant family Ulmaceae. The dozens of species are found in temperate and tropical-montane regions of North America and Eurasia, ranging southward into Indonesia. Elms are components of many kinds of natural forests...

s, and sycamores

Platanus

Platanus is a small genus of trees native to the Northern Hemisphere. They are the sole living members of the family Platanaceae....

(planes). A Fairlington Notable Tree Walk http://www.fairlington.org/Smtown.htm showcases some of the more unusual trees in the area.

Roads

The controlled access

Controlled-access highway

A controlled-access highway is a highway designed exclusively for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow and ingress/egress regulated...

Interstate 395

Interstate 395 (District of Columbia-Virginia)

(Shirley Highway

Henry G. Shirley Memorial Highway

The Henry G. Shirley Memorial Highway consists of a portion of Interstates 95 and 395 in the U.S. state of Virginia. Shirley Highway was the first limited-access freeway in Virginia...

) divides Fairlington and is bridged by South Abingdon Street within the neighborhood but provides no direct access. State Route 7 (King Street

King Street, Alexandria, Virginia

) and State Route 402 (Quaker Lane) bound the neighborhood on the southwest and east respectively but are largely separated from it by chain link fencing

Chain link fencing

A chain-link fence is a type of woven fence usually made from galvanized or LLDPE-coated steel wire...

with access only at street entrances.

Although Fairlington's street names and addresses follow the rules of the grid

Grid plan

The grid plan, grid street plan or gridiron plan is a type of city plan in which streets run at right angles to each other, forming a grid...

-style Arlington County's street-naming system

Arlington County, Virginia, street-naming system

This article details the street-naming system of Arlington County, Virginia in the United States.Although the streets of Arlington County are not laid out on a grid plan, its local streets follow sequential numbered or alphabetic patterns that are both rational and provide address numbering...

, the streets do not follow a grid but are also not the suburban cul-de-sac

Cul-de-sac

A cul-de-sac is a word of French origin referring to a dead end, close, no through road or court meaning dead-end street with only one inlet/outlet...

style found in most American suburbs. Intersections

Intersection (road)

An intersection is a road junction where two or more roads either meet or cross at grade . An intersection may be 3-way - a T junction or fork, 4-way - a crossroads, or 5-way or more...

consist of both four-way stops

Stop sign

A Stop sign is a traffic sign to notify drivers that they must stop before proceeding.-Specifications:The Vienna Convention on Road Signs and Signals proposed standard stop sign diameters of 0.6, 0.9 or 1.2 metres. UK and New Zealand stop signs are 750, 900 or 1200 mm, according to sign...

and modern roundabouts

Roundabout

A roundabout is the name for a road junction in which traffic moves in one direction around a central island. The word dates from the early 20th century. Roundabouts are common in many countries around the world...

(traffic circles).

Within Fairlington there are both bicycle lanes and an on-street bicycle route.

Buses

Several Metrobus

Metrobus (Washington, D.C.)

Metrobus is a bus service operated by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority . Its fleet consists of 1,480 buses covering an area of in Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia. There are over 300 bus routes serving 12,216 stops, including 2,398 bus shelters. In fiscal year 2009,...

routes traverse the neighborhood and adjacent roads provide additional Metrobus and Alexandria’s DASH

Driving Alexandrians Safely Home

Driving Alexandrians Safely Home is the public bus system for the city of Alexandria, Virginia, operated by the Alexandria Transit Company, a non-profit organization wholly owned by the city.-History:...

bus service.

Rail

Several 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...

stations are within 3–4 miles (5–6 km) of Fairlington and Metrobus and DASH directly connect the neighborhood with the King Street – Old Town Metro station in Alexandria and the Pentagon Metro station in Arlington.

Alexandria Union Station

Union Station (Alexandria)

Alexandria Union Station is a historic train station in Alexandria, Virginia south of Washington, D.C. To avoid confusion with nearby Washington Union Station it is usually referred to locally as simply Alexandria Station. Its Amtrak code is ALX....

provides Amtrak

Amtrak

The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak , is a government-owned corporation that was organized on May 1, 1971, to provide intercity passenger train service in the United States. "Amtrak" is a portmanteau of the words "America" and "track". It is headquartered at Union...

and Virginia Railway Express

Virginia Railway Express

The Virginia Railway Express is a regional/ commuter rail service that connects the Northern Virginia suburbs to Union Station in Washington, D.C., via two lines: the Fredericksburg Line from Fredericksburg, Virginia, and the Manassas Line from Broad Run/Airport station in Bristow,...

service to the area and is accessible by DASH from Fairlington.

Airports

Fairlington is located 5 miles (8 km) from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport

Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport

Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport is a public airport located south of downtown Washington, D.C., in Arlington County, Virginia. It is the commercial airport nearest to Washington, D.C. For many decades, it was called Washington National Airport, but this airport was renamed in 1998 to...

in Arlington County and 25 miles (40 km) from Washington Dulles International Airport

Washington Dulles International Airport

Washington Dulles International Airport is a public airport in Dulles, Virginia, 26 miles west of downtown Washington, D.C. The airport serves the Baltimore-Washington-Northern Virginia metropolitan area centered on the District of Columbia. It is named after John Foster Dulles, Secretary of...

in Sterling, Virginia

Sterling, Virginia

Sterling, Virginia is a census-designated place in Loudoun County, Virginia. The population as of the 2010 Census was 27,822.It is located northwest of Herndon, east of Ashburn, and west of Great Falls, and includes part of Dulles International Airport and the former AOL corporate headquarters...

Recreation and commerce

The Fairlington Community Center, which was once an elementary school, is located at the northeast corner of 34th Street South and South Stafford Streets in South Fairlington. It provides space for a number of community and recreational activities. Utah Field Park and Abingdon Elementary School also have space for public recreation. Each condominium association within Fairlington also maintains its own system of swimming pool

Swimming pool

s and tennis

Tennis court

and basketball court

Basketball court

s for its own residents.

The Village at Shirlington

The Village at Shirlington

The Village at Shirlington opened as Shirlington Shopping Center in 1944, and was the first large shopping center to open in the Washington, D.C. suburbs and one of the earliest in the United States. It is located along Campbell Avenue at the intersection of Shirley Highway and Quaker Lane /...

provides restaurants, stores (shops), bars (pubs), a theater (theatre), a cinema, and the Washington & Old Dominion Railroad Trail

Washington & Old Dominion Railroad Regional Park

The Washington & Old Dominion Railroad Regional Park is a popular and unusually-shaped regional park in Northern Virginia. The park's primary feature is the Washington & Old Dominion Railroad Trail , an asphalt-surfaced paved rail trail that runs through densely populated urban and suburban...

trailhead within walking distance for North Fairlington residents. South Fairlington residents are connected to Shirlington by a pedestrian walkway that crosses the Shirlington Circle interchange with I-395.

The Fort Ward Museum and Historic Site

Fort Ward (Virginia)

Fort Ward is a former Union Army installation now located in the city of Alexandria in the U.S. state of Virginia. It was the fifth largest fort built to defend Washington, D.C. in the American Civil War...

, the Virginia Theological Seminary

Virginia Theological Seminary

, both in Alexandria, are a short distance from South Fairlington. Alexandria’s Bradlee and Fairlington shopping centers are adjacent to South Fairlington.

Education

The public Abingdon Elementary School is on South 30th Road in North Fairlington and serves all of Fairlington as do Gunston Middle School and Wakefield High School

Wakefield High School (Arlington County, Virginia)

Wakefield High School is one of three public high schools located in Arlington, Virginia, and is just one block away from Alexandria. There are 140 teachers and 1364 students as of March 2008. It is a fully accredited high school based on Virginia's Standards of Learning examinations...

.

The Arlington County Department of Parks, Recreation & Cultural Resources provides continuing education

Continuing education

Continuing education is an all-encompassing term within a broad spectrum of post-secondary learning activities and programs. The term is used mainly in the United States and Canada...

at the Fairlington Community Center.

County and state services

Fairlington is in the 3rd District of the Arlington County Police Department

Arlington County Police Department (Virginia)

The Arlington County Police Department is the primary law enforcement agency servicing 207,627 people within of jurisdiction within Arlington County, VA.-History:...

which cooperates with the Fairlington Citizens Association. Arlington Fire Station

Fire station

A fire station is a structure or other area set aside for storage of firefighting apparatus , personal protective equipment, fire hose, fire extinguishers, and other fire extinguishing equipment...

No. 7 of the Arlington County Fire Department

Arlington County Fire Department

The Arlington County Fire Department provides essential fire, emergency medical, and allied public safety services for Arlington County and the City of Falls Church in Virginia, USA. It is highly regarded within the profession as an innovator and leader in enhancing the industry...

housing Engine 107, located at is located on South Abingdon Street in North Fairlington. The Arlington County office of the Virginia Cooperative Extension Service

Cooperative extension service

The Cooperative Extension Service, also known as the Extension Service of the USDA, is a non-formal educational program implemented in the United States designed to help people use research-based knowledge to improve their lives. The service is provided by the state's designated land-grant...

is located in the Fairlington Community Center.

All of Fairlington, including the Alexandria portion, is in the 22206 Zip Code

ZIP Code

ZIP codes are a system of postal codes used by the United States Postal Service since 1963. The term ZIP, an acronym for Zone Improvement Plan, is properly written in capital letters and was chosen to suggest that the mail travels more efficiently, and therefore more quickly, when senders use the...

area and is served by the United States Postal Service

United States Postal Service

The United States Postal Service is an independent agency of the United States government responsible for providing postal service in the United States...

's Shirlington Annex Post Office although the Parkfairfax Post Office in Alexandria is closer to most of Fairlington.

External links

Community Discussion Board hosted at Yahoogroups; 200+ members
"Complex Analysis: Not-So-Secret Garden-Style Units of Fairlington, Parkfairfax Grow in Popularity and Price" from the Washington Post
Map of Arlington County Police Districts (including Fairlington in the extreme south)
Fairlington News - a local community site about what's going on in Fairlington

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

Name, boundaries, and geography

Early history

From Union occupation to World War II

The creation of Fairlington

Fairlington as condominiums

Historical marker

Civic organization

Layout

Architecture

Arboriculture

Roads

Buses

Rail

Airports

Recreation and commerce

Education

County and state services

See also

External links