VA USGenWeb Archives

Arlington County was originally part of Fairfax County, Virginia. It was part of the state of Virginia that was given to the formation of the nation's capital, Washington, DC. It held the name Alexandria County for its tenure within Washington, DC. Alexandria County was retroceded back to Virginia in 1846. In 1852, the City of Alexandria incorporated into an independent city. Name confusion between the city and the county led to the renaming of Alexandria County to Arlington County in 1920. Therefore, although it has only been called Arlington County since 1920, the county has had the same approximate political boundaries since 1852.

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