What exactly IS Dunn Loring?

[Alltheusernamesaretaken]

Originally Posted by car54

What I found interesting is that Dunn Loring was the site of Camp Alger...built during the Spanish-American War....and that poet Carl Sandburg trained there.

Interesting, thanks!

[statecollege]

Who exactly is Dunn Loring?

[smithy77]

I used to jog on the W&O.D. trail back in the 80's thru Dunn Loring and discovered a really great little neighborhood full of large, late 19th Century Victorian homes about 1/4 mile East of Gallows Road. I was wondering if that was the original location for the Dunn Loring train station since it seems that, at that point, the right of way straddling the original track gets pretty wide, and is currently a small park with parking for the trail.

BTW, the area is named after General William McKee Dunn, who owned the original 600 acres in the area, and Congressman George B. Loring, who developed the land purchased from Dunn in the 1880's.

[Beach-rat]

As stated above, small residential neighborhood just east of Gallows Road between Merrifield & Tysons Corner. Was originally surrounded by farms. The W&OD rail stop gave the farms and neighborhood access to DC.

Also.. where todays 7-11 is located was a trolley line that ran from Fairfax, through Vienna Dunn Loring and Falls Church then to the big city..

The Post Office determines a lot of addressing in unincorporated Fairfax County. As a cost cutting effort the PO has combined smaller POs with larger POs, example, Oakton & Dunn Loring are now part of Vienna.. BUT if you use the Oakton or Dunn Loring zip code you may use either Vienna or Oakton/Dunn Loring on the address line.

Back in the ancient daze when new subdivisions were popping up requiring front door delivery, there were Post Offices that did not hade foot carriers so the new neighborhood was assigned to a neighboring large PO that had foot carriers.. IE: sections of Burke became Springfield or Fairfax, Oakton became Fairfax or Vienna etc.

[Alltheusernamesaretaken]

Originally Posted by Beach-rat

if you use the Oakton or Dunn Loring zip code you may use either Vienna or Oakton/Dunn Loring on the address line.

Really? I had no idea!

[goofy328]

Originally Posted by car54

I don't think it's considered a town anymore...just a blip in the megalopolis of NOVA.

It once was a town with it's own station on the WOD Railroad...in fact, it was the first platted subdivision in Fairfax County. I remember riding my bike to the general store there when I was a kid (circa 1960) to grab a grape NeHi and a Moon Pie. Gallows Rd was a 2-lane road then and the Beltway wasn't built yet

Dunn Loring, Virginia - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

2 sq miles that really is a blip!

[Joke Insurance]

This came up for Dunn Loring via Google Maps:

[SallyField]

Interesting. I'd always called this area Vienna... only called the Metro stop "Dunn Loring." Same with Idylwood in the map above, I've just called that area Vienna, and only knew the street of Idylwood Road. I didn't realize it was a CDP. Does anyone actually say they live in "Idylwood"?

Other than the Towns of Clifton, Herndon, Vienna, and the City of Fairfax, they're all just Census Designated Places in Fairfax County.

[Joke Insurance]

Originally Posted by SallyField

Interesting. I'd always called this area Vienna... only called the Metro stop "Dunn Loring." Same with Idylwood in the map above, I've just called that area Vienna, and only knew the street of Idylwood Road. I didn't realize it was a CDP. Does anyone actually say they live in "Idylwood"?

Other than the Towns of Clifton, Herndon, Vienna, and the City of Fairfax, they're all just Census Designated Places in Fairfax County.

Funny that you mention that. A friend of mine lives off of Huntsman Blvd in Springfield but according to the CDP, she's in Burke.

[Carlingtonian]

Originally Posted by clevispin

There are a few old victorian houses left and the old colored section is still there (Haney Lane behind the fire house).

"Colored section"? Really? What is wrong with you?

Yeah, I realize that's what they called it back THEN, but there are a lot of terms from back in the day that we've dispensed with, and rightfully so.

I mean, you didn't even put it in quotation marks. Scary.