Arlington tourist information

Once part of Fairfax County in the Virginia Colony, Arlington County was ceded to the U.S. government to form the District of Columbia, and later retroceded to Virginia — a distinction it shares with a portion of the independent City of Alexandria, Virginia. Several stones marking the former boundary line of the District of Columbia still exist today.

Arlington was part of the original ten-mile square created as the District of Columbia in 1790 pursuant to Article I, Section 8, of the United States Constitution. The portion of the District created from territory ceded by Virginia was termed Alexandria County of the District of Columbia. It included the present-day Arlington County plus most of what is now the independent city of Alexandria, Virginia.

Over time, a movement grew to separate Alexandria from the District of Columbia. As competition grew with the port of Georgetown, D.C., and the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal favored the north side of the Potomac, the city's economy stagnated. Many in Alexandria had hoped to benefit from land sales and increased business from the federal government, but Washington, D.C., had no need for the land south of the river. In addition, Alexandrians had lost representation and the right to vote at any level of government.

Perhaps most important in its quest for self-rule, Alexandria was also an important port and market in the slave trade. There was increasing talk of abolition of slavery in the national capital, and the local economy would suffer greatly if slavery was outlawed. At the same time, there was an active abolition movement in Virginia, and the state's General Assembly was closely divided on the question of slavery (partially resulting in the formation of West Virginia eighteen years later by the most anti-slavery counties). The City of Alexandria and Alexandria County would provide two new pro-slavery representatives. After a referendum, voters petitioned the United States Congress and the Virginia legislature to allow the return the area to Virginia. The area was retroceded to Virginia on July 9, 1846.

In 1852, the City of Alexandria was incorporated from a portion of Alexandria County, and the a movement to rename the county arose from the resulting confusion caused by the two entities sharing the same name; this is similar to the problem which currently occurs with Virginia's capital city of Richmond being confused with Richmond County, Virginia which are separate areas more than 85 kilometers (53 miles) distant from each other. In 1920, the name Arlington County was adopted, after Arlington House, the former home of American Civil War General Robert E. Lee which stands on the grounds of what is now Arlington National Cemetery.

Sixty years to the day after construction workers broke ground for the Pentagon, the building was seriously damaged by a terrorist attack on September 11, 2001. It was one of three major buildings hit by airliners hijacked by members of Al-Qaeda, a militant terrorist organization.

American Airlines Flight 77 crashed into the western side of the Pentagon at 9:37 a.m. EDT, killing all of its 58 passengers and six crew. The airplane hit a Pentagon "wedge" that was recently renovated and still consisted mainly of new, unoccupied offices. The crash and subsequent fire destroyed the outermost ring of the wedge and penetrated two more rings, leading to their collapse and the deaths of 125 people in the Pentagon. The efforts of Arlington County Fire Department and EMS personnel, among those of other jurisdictions, helped limit the loss of life and property damage. Pictures and graphics of the damage are available from the Department of Defense