Awesome Arlington Fun Facts

By
Real Estate Agent with Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage

 

Awesome Arlington

 

I know, I know I’m a bit prejudice.  I have lived in Arlington, Virginia most of my life.  When my son Travis was born, I  knew that Arlington was the place to raise him and his sister to follow.  Travis  (now IRT pro ranked 10th) will tell you that it was the best preparation for life in general, mostly because we have such a diverse population, great schools, and most of all opportunities here that other locations don’t have.  I just saw this  you tube video done by stayarlington.  Take the time to see it if you are new to the area or want to see a nice piece on Arlington in general.

 

 

Arlington Fun Facts part 1

in no particular order, just for fun

 

Arlington County was originally part of the ten-mile square parcel of land surveyed in 1791 to be part of Washington, DC. The U.S. Congress returned that portion of the land to the "Commonwealth of Virginia."

 

Arlington is the smallest self-governing county in the United States.  According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 26 square miles, of which about 4.6 miles are federal property. Two counties are smaller (but don't govern themselves): Kalawao, Hawaii (13.2 square miles) and Bristol, Rhode Island (24.7 square miles).


The NHL’s Washington Capital’s practice at Arlington’s own Ballston Common Mall at the Kettler Capitals Iceplex.   Drive up to the top level of the public parking garage to enter.    The facility is open for community use year-round.  It is the first indoor ice rink inside the Capitol Beltway in Virginia.

 

 The Wright Brothers were here.  In 1908 they circled the parade ground of Fort Myer 57 times.

 

Arlington is the birthplace of the internet (no coincidence that Al Gore’s family once owned a home in Arlington)  Defense Department Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) built the Interface Message Processor (IMP) to carry data to and from different specialized computers mostly in the U.S. university community. DARPA created ARPANET, which was the fore runner to the internet as we know it today.


A person standing on Memorial Bridge in Arlington is exactly as far from the Cumberland Gap, Virginia's western extreme point, as they are from downtown Boston, Massachusetts  394 miles (636 km).

 

The Pentagon building in Arlington, Virginia is the largest office building in the world. The Pentagon has 6 zip codes.  To walk around the outside takes an average 15-20 minutes.  It is designed to get from any one office to another in 7 minutes.

 

National Cemetery, which was built on land seized by the Union during the Civil War. The land was originally owned by the family of the famous Confederate General Robert E. Lee.

 

Arlington has 11 metro stations! The systems has a very helpful website.

This is the Clarendon Metro station, bordering on Lyon Village.

Clarendon Metro station

 

lwoodbury@cbmove.com.  Look for part 2 in the near future.

www.LauraWoodbury.com

www.cbmove.com/laura.woodbury

 

 

Comments (2)

Craig Richardson
National Realty - McLean, VA

Very interesting information about my neighboring town.  One other pearl, drive very carefully through Arlington since they have one of the most efficient revenue-raising police forces around!

Nov 18, 2009 11:30 PM