Arlington County, Virginia
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 Hello
and welcome to the Genealogy Trails website for Arlington County,
Virginia. Our goal is to help
you track your ancestors through time by transcribing genealogical and
historical data and placing it online for the free use of all
researchers.
This is a continuation of our original, and highly successful, Genealogy Trails Illinois History and Genealogy Project and we are excited about this opportunity to expand into other states. We welcome your feedback and comments, and of course, your data contributions. If you have data that you would like to have posted on this website, please contact me. We're looking for folks who share our dedication to putting data online and are interested in helping this project be as successful as our Illinois websites are. If you think you might be interested in joining our group, view our Volunteer Page for further information and instructions on signing up.. If you would like to be kept informed of our state and county website updates, subscribe to our mailing lists You are welcome to browse the information on these pages and at the many links provided to garner the data needed to continue your research into your family history. However, Please remember that this information, in many cases, represents years of painstaking research on the part of myself, or the many generous volunteers who have donated their information to this site. You can show your respect for these efforts by not taking things to use on other websites and/or to claim as your own. I thank you in advance for your consideration. |
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Arlington County was within the very large area defined in several
early British land grants in the colonial period in the Colony of
Virginia (1607-1776) which was known as the Northern Neck of Virginia
(not to be confused with a smaller eastern portion of it still known by
that name in modern times). Land Grants, generally to prominent
Englishemen, were various combinations of political favors and efforts
at development. Perhaps the best known of the grantees was Thomas
Fairfax, 6th Lord Fairfax of Cameron (Lord Fairfax), whose name is seen
in many places in what is now known as Northern Virginia, notably
Fairfax County and the independnt city of Fairfax. Also notable
among the land grants was one in 1673 from King Charles ll to Thomas
Colepepper, 2nd Baron Colepepper (Lord Culpepper) and Henry Bennett,
1st Earl of Arlington (Earl of Arlington) whose names eventually were
applied to several community features, and were the original source of
the naming of Culpepper County and Arlington County. The current
Arlington County as it is now known in Virginia was the result of a
renaming in 1920. However, the name of the 17th century Earl of
Arlington had been applied much earlier to a plantation on teh Potomac
River which became the Arlington National Cemetery as a result of the
American Civil War. Once part of Fairfax County in the Colony in the Colony of Virginia, the area that contains Arlington County was ceded to the new U.S. government by the Commonwealth of Virginia. In 1791, the U.S. Congress formally established the limits of the federal territory that would be the nation's capital as a square of 10 miles on a side, the maximum area permitted by Article l, Section 8,of the United States Constitution. however, the legislation that established these limits contained a clause that prohibited the federal government from locating any offices within the portion of the territory that Virginia had ceded. During 1791 and 1792, Andrew Ellicott led a team of surveyors that determined the boundaries of the federal territory. The team placed along the boundaries forty markers that were approximately one mile from each other. Fourteen of these markers were in Virginia. When Congress moved to the new District of Columbia in 1801, it enacted legislation that divided the District into two counties: The County of Washington, which lay on the east side of the Potomac River, and The County of Alexandria, which lay on the west side of the River. Alexandria County contained the present area of Arlington County, then mostly rural, and the settled town of Alexandria (now "Old Town" Alexandria), a port located on the Potomac River in the southeastern part of the area of the present City of Alexandria. Residents of Alexandria County had expected the federal capital's location would result in land sales and the growth of commerce. Instead the county found itsself struggling to compete with the town of Georgetown, a port located in Washington County adjacent to the capital city (Washington City). Once part of Fairfax County in the Colony of Virginia, the area that contains Arlington County was ceded to the new U.S. government by the Commonwealth of Virginia. In 1791, the U.S. Congress formally established the limits of the federal territory that would be the nation's capital as a square of 10 miles (16 km) on a side, the maximum area permitted by Article I, Section 8, of the United States Constitution. However, the legislation that established these limits contained a clause that prohibited the federal government from locating any offices within the portion of the territory that Virginia had ceded. During 1791 and 1792, Andrew Ellicott led a team of surveyors that determined the boundaries of the federal territory. The team placed along the boundaries forty markers that were approximately one mile from each other. Fourteen of these markers were in Virginia. When Congress moved to the new
District of Columbia in 1801, it enacted legislation that divided the
District into two counties: (1) the county of Washington, which lay on
the east side of the Potomac River, and (2) the county of Alexandria,
which lay on the west side of the River.
Alexandria County contained the present area of Arlington County, then
mostly rural, and the settled town of Alexandria (now "Old Town"
Alexandria), a port located on the Potomac River in the southeastern
part of the area of the present City of Alexandria. At the same time, there arose in Virginia an active abolitionist movement that created a division on the question of slavery in Virginia's General Assembly (subsequently, during the Civil War, Virginia's division on the slavery issue led to the formation of the state of West Virginia by the most anti-slavery counties). Pro-slavery Virginians recognized that Alexandria County could provide two new representatives who favored slavery in the General Assembly if the County returned to the Commonwealth. As a result, a movement grew to separate Alexandria County from the District of Columbia. After a referendum, the county's residents petitioned the U.S. Congress and the Virginia legislature to permit the County to return to Virginia. The area was retroceded to Virginia on July 9, 1846. In 1852, the independent city of Alexandria was incorporated from a portion of Alexandria County. This led to occasional confusion, as the adjacent county and municipal entities continued to share the name of "Alexandria". Alexandria County renamed itself in 1920 as Arlington County. The new name was borrowed from Arlington National Cemetery. |
| ARLINGTON
COUNTY - Official Site - NOTE: Not a Genealogy Site |
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