Burke, Virginia
| Burke, Virginia | |
|---|---|
| Census-designated place | |
Houses in Burke, October, 2015
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 Location of Burke in Fairfax County, Virginia |
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 Burke, Virginia
Burke, Virginia
Burke, Virginia
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| Coordinates: 38°46′53″N 77°16′15″W / 38.78139°N 77.27083°WCoordinates: 38°46′53″N 77°16′15″W / 38.78139°N 77.27083°W | |
| Country |  United States of America |
| State |
 Virginia
|
| County |
 Fairfax
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| Area | |
| • Total | 8.7 sq mi (22.6 km2) |
| • Land | 8.6 sq mi (22.3 km2) |
| • Water | 0.1 sq mi (0.3 km2) |
| Elevation | 256 ft (78 m) |
| Population (2010) | |
| • Total | 41,055 |
| • Density | 4,771/sq mi (1,842.1/km2) |
| Time zone | Eastern (EST) (UTC-5) |
| • Summer (DST) | EDT (UTC-4) |
| ZIP codes | 22009, 22015 |
| Area code(s) | 703, 571 |
| FIPS code | 51-11464 |
| GNIS feature ID | 1494192 |
Burke is a census-designated place (CDP) in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. As of the 2000 census, Burke had a total population of 57,737. Between the 2000 and 2010 censuses, the CDP was divided, with a portion of it becoming Burke Centre CDP; the population remaining in the Burke CDP was reported at 41,055 in the 2010 census.
The area of Fairfax County known as Burke is named for Silas Burke (1796–1854), a 19th-century farmer, merchant, and local politician who built a house on a hill overlooking the valley of Pohick Creek in approximately 1824. The house is still standing. When the Orange and Alexandria Railroad was constructed in the late 1840s, the railroad station at the base of that hill was named "Burke's Station" after Burke, who owned the land in the area and donated a right-of-way to the railroad company. The community that grew up around the railroad station acquired a post office branch in 1852. Currently, railroad tracks on the same historical line are owned by the Norfolk Southern Railway and form part of the Manassas line of the Virginia Railway Express commuter rail system, of which two stations lie in the Burke area. The original Burke Station building can still be seen in the community, turned 90 degrees from its historical footprint.
During the Civil War, the railway station was garrisoned by Union troops. The Bog Wallow Ambush occurred in the vicinity in 1861. On December 28, 1862, Confederate cavalry under General J.E.B. Stuart raided the station. Stuart seized supplies from the area, destroyed a nearby bridge, monitored Union messages passing over the telegraph lines, and then famously sent a telegram to Union Quartermaster General Montgomery C. Meigs complaining of the poor quality of the mules he had captured. Further action was seen in the neighborhood in 1863.
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