Ballston, Virginia
| Ballston, Arlington, Virginia | |
|---|---|
| Neighborhood | |
Western edge of Ballston
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 Ballston, Arlington, Virginia
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| Coordinates: 38°52′55″N 77°06′41″W / 38.881831°N 77.111292°WCoordinates: 38°52′55″N 77°06′41″W / 38.881831°N 77.111292°W | |
| Country |  United States of America |
| State |
 Virginia
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| County |
 Arlington
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| Time zone | EST (UTC-5) |
| • Summer (DST) | EDT (UTC-4) |
| ZIP Codes | 22203 |
| Area code(s) | 703 |
Ballston is a neighborhood in Arlington County, Virginia and is home to the Ballston-MU station on the Orange Line and the Silver Line of the metro system.
Ballston is named after the Ball family, one of whose family cemeteries lies in the neighborhood at N. Stafford Street and Fairfax Drive (Virginia State Route 237). Ballston began as Birch's Crossroads and later became Ball's Crossroads at what is now the intersection of N. Glebe Road (Virginia State Route 120) and Wilson Boulevard.
A historical marker that stands near the southeastern corner of the intersection reads:
This intersection has been a focal point since about 1740, when two roads were developed, one from the future site of Alexandria to the mouth of Pimmit Run, the other from Awbury’s Ferry (at the site of Rosslyn) to The Falls Church. The first came to be known as the Glebe Road because it passed the glebe of Fairfax Parish and in order to distinguish it from other roads to the Falls. The second was eventually named Wilson Boulevard in honor of President Wilson. The intersection became known as Ball’s Crossroads when Ball’s Tavern was established here in the early 1800s.
In 1896, an interurban electric trolley line, the Fairfax line of the Washington, Arlington & Falls Church Railway (WA&FC), began operating north of the crossroads along the present route of Fairfax Drive, whose name derives from that of the trolleys' final destination, Fairfax City. Construction of the trolley line, which branched at Clarendon to serve both Rosslyn and downtown Washington, D.C., temporarily shifted much of the area's development away from the crossroads. A historical marker that stands near the northwestern corner of Fairfax Drive and N. Stafford Street, one block east of the Ballston Metrorail station (which is at the former site of the Ballston trolley station) states:
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Wikipedia