164-750: Interstate 395 ( I-395 ) in Virginia and Washington, D.C. , is a 13.79-mile-long (22.19 km) spur route of I-95 that begins at an interchange with I-95 in Springfield and ends at an interchange with US Route 50 (US 50) in Northwest Washington, D.C. It passes underneath the National Mall near the US Capitol and ends at a junction with US 50 at New York Avenue , roughly one mile (1.6 km) north of
328-489: A charter for a new colony to the Virginia Company of London . The group financed an expedition under Christopher Newport that established a settlement named Jamestown in 1607. Though more settlers soon joined, many were ill-prepared for the dangers of the new settlement. As the colony's president, John Smith secured food for the colonists from nearby tribes, but after he left in 1609, this trade stopped and
492-615: A first language . Spanish is the next most commonly spoken language, with 7.5% (611,831) of Virginia households, though age is a factor; 8.7% (120,560) of Virginians under age eighteen speak Spanish. Of Spanish speakers, 60.6% reported speaking English "very well", but again, of those under age eighteen, 78.7% speak English "very well". Arabic was the third most commonly spoken language with around 0.8% of residents, followed by Chinese languages and Vietnamese each with over 0.7%, and then Korean and Tagalog , just under 0.7% and 0.6% respectively. National Mall The National Mall
656-663: A group of Spanish Jesuits , explored the Chesapeake Bay during the 16th century. To help counter Spain's colonies in the Caribbean , Queen Elizabeth I of England supported Walter Raleigh 's 1584 expedition to the Atlantic coast of North America . The name "Virginia" was used by Captain Arthur Barlowe in the expedition's report, and may have been suggested by Raleigh or Elizabeth (perhaps noting her status as
820-487: A mileage-based numbering system . Washington The 9th Street Expressway and the 12th Street Expressway are a one-way pair of freeway spurs connecting I-395 (Southwest Freeway) with US 1 and US 50 ( Constitution Avenue ) in Washington, D.C. The expressways also provide connections to the L'Enfant Promenade and Independence Avenue . Both highways pass through tunnels under the National Mall and are named for
984-593: A racially segregated society , and in 1902 rewrote the state constitution to include a poll tax and other voter registration measures that effectively disenfranchised most African Americans and many poor whites. New economic forces meanwhile industrialized the Commonwealth. Virginian James Albert Bonsack invented the tobacco cigarette rolling machine in 1880 leading to new large-scale production centered around Richmond. Railroad magnate Collis Potter Huntington founded Newport News Shipbuilding in 1886, which
1148-425: A raid on Harpers Ferry, Virginia , in an attempt to start a slave revolt across the southern states. The polarized national response to his raid, capture, trial, and execution that December marked a tipping point for many who believed slavery would need to be ended by force. Abraham Lincoln 's 1860 election further convinced many southern supporters of slavery that his opposition to its expansion would ultimately mean
1312-402: A series of ambush-style killings between colonists and natives under Chief Powhatan and his brother began, resulting in mass starvation in the colony that winter. By the end of the colony's first fourteen years, over eighty percent of the roughly eight thousand settlers transported there had died. Demand for exported tobacco , however, fueled the need for more workers. Starting in 1618,
1476-687: A US delegate to the Constitutional Convention . Original plans called for I-95 to travel through Washington DC and Prince George's County, Maryland , toward the northeastern portion of the Capital Beltway , from which I-95 presently continues its northbound route. However, neighborhood opposition in DC halted this plan in 1977, diverting planned funding toward construction of the Washington Metro . The only remnant of
1640-722: A bloody Confederate victory. Union General George B. McClellan organized the Army of the Potomac , which landed on the Virginia Peninsula in March 1862 and reached the outskirts of Richmond that June. With Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston wounded in fighting outside the city, command of his Army of Northern Virginia fell to Robert E. Lee . Over the next month, Lee drove the Union army back , and starting that September led
1804-439: A century, at a magnitude of 5.8, struck central Virginia on August 23, 2011 . 35 million years ago, a bolide impacted what is now eastern Virginia. The resulting Chesapeake Bay impact crater may explain what earthquakes and subsidence the region does experience. A meteor impact is also theorized as the source of Lake Drummond , the largest of the two natural lakes in the state . The Commonwealth's carbonate rock
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#17327757056981968-515: A committee of the 104th United States Congress provided no funds for NPS crowd-counting activities in Washington, D.C., when it prepared legislation making 1997 appropriations for the U.S. Department of the Interior . As a result, the NPS has not provided any official crowd size estimates for Mall events since 1995. The absence of such an official estimate fueled a political controversy following
2132-579: A deal in 2010 with Louis Dreyfus Company to construct a 2.1-million-square-foot (200,000 m) mixed-use development in the airspace over the Center Leg Freeway portion of I-395. The $ 425-million (equivalent to $ 580 million in 2023) office, residential, and retail project at the east end of the Judiciary Square neighborhood will also restore the area's original L'Enfant Plan street grid by reconnecting F and G streets over
2296-544: A flyover ramp from northbound I-395 as the Interstate crosses the Francis Case Memorial Bridge . Southbound I-395 also has a ramp to the expressway as part of its ramp to Maine Avenue. The two ramps both have exits for the L'Enfant Promenade, specifically D Street Southwest. The expressway's ramps from both directions of I-395 merge and the highway descends into the 12th Street Tunnel, before which
2460-539: A governor who ignored the assembly and sent him back to England against his will. William Berkeley was named governor in 1642, just as the turmoil of the English Civil War and Interregnum permitted the colony greater autonomy. As a supporter of the king, Berkeley welcomed other Cavaliers who fled to Virginia. He surrendered to Parliamentarians in 1652, but after the 1660 Restoration made him governor again, he blocked assembly elections and exacerbated
2624-629: A hard turn to the due north to follow the 3rd Street Tunnel immediately under Union Square , just to the west of the US Capitol building and underneath its reflecting pool and the Frances Perkins Building . I-395 follows a depressed roadway (the Center Leg Freeway), which was placed underground in 2019, that has three more partial interchanges (exits 8, 9, and 10) with local streets before terminating at New York Avenue / US 50 . The portion of I-395 between
2788-618: A major urban business and shopping center in Tysons , Virginia's largest office market. Neighboring Prince William County , with over 450,000 residents, is Virginia's second-most populous county and home to Marine Corps Base Quantico , the FBI Academy , and Manassas National Battlefield Park . Arlington County is the smallest self-governing county in the U.S. by land area, and local politicians have proposed reorganizing it as an independent city due to its high density. Loudoun County
2952-437: A national park, but is protected by both state and federal legislation and the inter-state Chesapeake Bay Program . Virginia is divided into 95 counties and 38 independent cities , which the U.S. Census Bureau describes as county-equivalents . This general method of treating cities and counties on par with each other is unique to Virginia and stretches back to the influence of Williamsburg and Norfolk in
3116-520: A peak in the 1970s. The NPS has used a number of methods to control this fungal epidemic, including sanitation , pruning , injecting trees with fungicide and replanting with DED-resistant American elm cultivars (see Ulmus americana cultivars ). The NPS cloned one such cultivar ( 'Jefferson' ) from a DED-resistant tree growing near a path on the Mall in front of the Freer Gallery of Art, near
3280-581: A principal axis in the L'Enfant Plan for the city of Washington. However, a 2010 NPS plan for the Mall contains maps that show the Mall's general area to be larger. A document within the plan describes this area as "the grounds of the U.S. Capitol west to the Potomac River, and from the Thomas Jefferson Memorial north to Constitution Avenue". A map within the plan entitled "National Mall Areas" illustrates "The Mall" as being
3444-642: A referendum and went into effect in 1971. In 1989, Douglas Wilder became the first African American elected as governor in the United States, and in 1992, Bobby Scott became the first Black congressman from Virginia since 1888. The expansion of federal government offices into Northern Virginia's suburbs during the Cold War boosted the region's population and economy. The Central Intelligence Agency outgrew their offices in Foggy Bottom during
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#17327757056983608-943: A strategy called " massive resistance ", and the General Assembly passed a package of laws in 1956 that cut off funding to local schools that desegregated , causing some to close. Courts ruled the strategy unconstitutional, and on February 2, 1959, Black students integrated schools in Arlington and Norfolk , where they were known as the Norfolk 17 . County leaders in Prince Edward, however, instead shut their school system in June 1959. The Supreme Court ordered them to reopen and integrate their public schools , which finally happened in September 1964. Federal passage of
3772-619: A strong effect on eastern and southeastern coastal areas, making the climate there warmer but also more constant. Most of Virginia's recorded extremes in temperature and precipitation have occurred in the Blue Ridge Mountains and areas west. Virginia receives an average of 43.47 inches (110 cm) of precipitation annually, with the Shenandoah Valley being the state's driest region. Virginia has around 35–45 days with thunderstorms annually, and storms are common in
3936-726: Is a landscaped park near the downtown area of Washington, D.C. , the capital city of the United States . It contains and borders a number of museums of the Smithsonian Institution , art galleries, cultural institutions, and various memorials, sculptures, and statues. It is administered by the National Park Service (NPS) of the United States Department of the Interior as part of the National Mall and Memorial Parks unit of
4100-728: Is also the site of the region's main seaport and Naval Station Norfolk , the world's largest naval base. Virginia's history begins with several Indigenous groups , including the Powhatan . In 1607, the London Company established the Colony of Virginia as the first permanent English colony in the New World , leading to Virginia's nickname as the Old Dominion . Slaves from Africa and land from displaced native tribes fueled
4264-672: Is called the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia, named after the river of the same name that flows through it. The Cumberland Plateau and Cumberland Mountains are in the southwest corner of Virginia, south of the Allegheny Plateau . In this region, rivers flow northwest into the Ohio River basin. The Virginia Seismic Zone has not had a history of regular earthquake activity. Earthquakes are rarely above 4.5 in magnitude . The Commonwealth's largest earthquake in at least
4428-480: Is filled with more than 4,000 limestone caves , ten of which are open for tourism, including the popular Luray Caverns and Skyline Caverns . Virginia's iconic Natural Bridge is the remaining roof of a collapsed limestone cave. Coal mining takes place in the three mountainous regions. More than 72 million tons of other non-fuel resources, such as slate , kyanite , sand, or gravel, were mined in Virginia in 2020 . The largest known deposits of uranium in
4592-545: Is the fastest-growing county in the state. In western Virginia, Roanoke city and Montgomery County , part of the Blacksburg–Christiansburg metropolitan area , both have surpassed a population of 100,000 since 2018. On the western edge of the Tidewater region is Virginia's capital, Richmond , which has a population of around 230,000 in its city proper and over 1.3 million in its metropolitan area. On
4756-463: Is the oldest building now present on the National Mall (proper). The Washington Monument, whose construction began in 1848 and reached completion in 1888, stands near the planned site of its namesake's equestrian statue. The Jefferson Pier marks the planned site of the statue itself. During the early 1850s, architect and horticulturist Andrew Jackson Downing designed a landscape plan for
4920-641: The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) approved a request by the District of Columbia to eliminate the entirety of I-695 and renumber it as an extension of I-395. I-395's previous route along the 3rd Street Tunnel is to be renumbered as a new I-195. Although the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) also approved the request on April 23, DDOT subsequently delayed updating signage in
5084-717: The Architect of the Capitol the NPS "property which is bounded on the north by Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest, on the east by First Street Northwest and First Street Southwest, on the south by Maryland Avenue Southwest, and on the west by Third Street Southwest and Third Street Northwest". This act removed Union Square (the area containing the Ulysses S. Grant Memorial and the Capitol Reflecting Pool ) from NPS jurisdiction. The National Park Service states that
Interstate 395 (Virginia–District of Columbia) - Misplaced Pages Continue
5248-647: The Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge , which marks the beginning of the Outer Banks . State agencies control about one-third of protected land in the state, and the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation manages over 75,900 acres (307.2 km ) in forty Virginia state parks and 59,222 acres (239.7 km ) in 65 Natural Area Preserves , plus three undeveloped parks. Breaks Interstate Park crosses
5412-699: The Civil Rights Act (1964) and Voting Rights Act (1965), and their later enforcement by the Justice Department , helped end racial segregation in Virginia and overturn Jim Crow laws . In 1967, the Supreme Court struck down the state's ban on interracial marriage with Loving v. Virginia . In 1968, Governor Mills Godwin called a commission to rewrite the state constitution. The new constitution, which banned discrimination and removed articles that now violated federal law, passed in
5576-589: The Commemorative Works Clarification and Revision Act . This Act prohibits the siting of new commemorative works and visitor centers in a designated reserve area within the cross-axis of the Mall. In October 2013, a two-week federal government shutdown closed the National Mall and its museums and monuments. However, when a group of elderly veterans tried to enter the National World War II Memorial during
5740-560: The Committee of Nine . During the post-war Reconstruction era , African Americans were able to unite in communities, particularly around Richmond , Danville , and the Tidewater region , and take a greater role in Virginia society; many achieved some land ownership during the 1870s. Virginia adopted a constitution in 1868 which guaranteed political, civil, and voting rights , and provided for free public schools. However, with many railroad lines and other infrastructure destroyed during
5904-806: The Korean War , and moved to Langley in 1961, in part due to a decision by the National Security Council that the agency relocate outside the District of Columbia. The Pentagon , built in Arlington during World War II as the headquarters of the Department of Defense, was struck by a hijacked plane in the September 11, 2001 attacks . Mass shootings at Virginia Tech in 2007 and in Virginia Beach in 2019 led to passage of gun control measures in 2020. Racial injustice and
6068-626: The National Park System . The park receives approximately 24 million visitors each year. Designed by Pierre L'Enfant , the "Grand Avenue" or Mall was to be a democratic and egalitarian space—unlike palace gardens, such as those at Versailles in France, that were paid for by the people but reserved for the use of a privileged few. The core area of the National Mall extends between the United States Capitol grounds to
6232-479: The Potomac River from Virginia to Washington DC on three parallel four-lane bridges, together known as the 14th Street bridges . Potomac River crossings for the Washington Metro 's Yellow Line and for a major CSX Transportation railroad line are immediately downstream here. This site has long been a major Potomac River crossing, with the first bridge constructed here in 1809. Of the present highway spans,
6396-816: The President 's House (now the White House ) and directly west of the Congress House (see L'Enfant Plan ) on the site of the Washington Monument. The grand avenue was to be flanked by gardens and spacious accommodations for foreign ministers. Mathew Carey 's 1802 map is reported to be the first to name the area west of the United States Capitol as the "Mall". The name is derived from that of The Mall in London , which during
6560-707: The Southwest Mountains around Charlottesville . The Blue Ridge Mountains are a physiographic province of the Appalachian Mountains with the highest points in the Commonwealth, the tallest being Mount Rogers at 5,729 feet (1,746 m). The Ridge-and-Valley region is west of the mountains, carbonate rock based, and includes the Massanutten Mountain ridge and the Great Appalachian Valley , which
6724-723: The Torpedo Factory in Alexandria had over 5,050. High-school student Barbara Rose Johns started a strike in 1951 at her underfunded and segregated school in Prince Edward County . The protests led Spottswood Robinson and Oliver Hill to file a lawsuit against the county . Their case joined Brown v. Board of Education at the Supreme Court, which rejected the doctrine of " separate but equal " in 1954. The segregationist establishment, led by Senator Harry F. Byrd and his Byrd Organization , reacted with
Interstate 395 (Virginia–District of Columbia) - Misplaced Pages Continue
6888-837: The Tutelo , who spoke Siouan , to the west. In response to threats from these other groups to their trade network, thirty or so Virginia Algonquian -speaking tribes consolidated during the 1570s under Wahunsenacawh, known in English as Chief Powhatan . Powhatan controlled more than 150 settlements that had a total population of around 15,000 in 1607. Three-fourths of the native population in Virginia, however, died from smallpox and other Old World diseases during that century, disrupting their oral traditions and complicating research into earlier periods. Additionally, many primary sources, including those that mention Powhatan's daughter, Pocahontas , were created by Europeans, who may have held biases or misunderstood native social structures and customs. Several European expeditions, including
7052-411: The United States between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains . The state's capital is Richmond and its most populous city is Virginia Beach . Its most populous subdivision is Fairfax County , part of Northern Virginia , where slightly over a third of Virginia's population of 8.7 million live. Eastern Virginia is part of the Atlantic Plain , and the Middle Peninsula forms
7216-416: The United States Department of Agriculture in 1862 during the Civil War. Designed by Adolf Cluss and Joseph von Kammerhueber, the United States Department of Agriculture Building (No. 25 on the map), was constructed in 1867–1868 north of B Street SW within a 35-acre site on the Mall. After the Civil War ended, the Department of Agriculture started growing experimental crops and demonstration gardens on
7380-552: The Virginia big-eared bat , the state mammal . The Virginia opossum is the only marsupial native to the United States and Canada, and the native Appalachian cottontail was recognized in 1992 as a distinct species of rabbit, one of three found in the state. Whales, dolphins, and porpoises have been recorded in Virginia's coastal waters, with bottlenose dolphins being the most frequent aquatic mammals . Virginia's bird fauna comprises 422 counted species, of which 359 are regularly occurring and 214 have bred in Virginia, while
7544-500: The breeding of slaves , often through rape, a profitable business. Slaves in the Richmond area were also forced into industrial jobs, including mining and shipbuilding. The failed slave uprisings of Gabriel Prosser in 1800, George Boxley in 1815, and Nat Turner in 1831, however, marked the growing resistance to slavery. Afraid of further uprisings, Virginia's government in the 1830s encouraged free Blacks to migrate to Liberia . On October 16, 1859, abolitionist John Brown led
7708-431: The class divide by disenfranchising and restricting the movement of indentured servants, who made up around eighty percent of the workforce. On the colony's frontier, tribes like the Tutelo and Doeg were being squeezed by Seneca raiders from the north, leading to more confrontations with colonists. In 1676, several hundred working-class followers of Nathaniel Bacon , upset by Berkeley's refusal to retaliate against
7872-549: The headright system tried to solve this by granting colonists farmland for their help attracting indentured servants . Enslaved Africans were first sold in Virginia in 1619. Though other Africans arrived as indentured servants and could be freed after four to seven years, the basis for lifelong slavery was developed in legal cases like those of John Punch in 1640 and John Casor in 1655. Laws passed in Jamestown defined slavery as race-based in 1661, as inherited maternally in 1662, and as enforceable by death in 1669. From
8036-462: The siege of Yorktown . His surrender on October 19, 1781, led to peace negotiations in Paris and secured the independence of the colonies. Virginians were instrumental in writing the United States Constitution : James Madison drafted the Virginia Plan in 1787 and the Bill of Rights in 1789. Virginia ratified the Constitution on June 25, 1788. The three-fifths compromise ensured that Virginia, with its large number of slaves, initially had
8200-446: The state fish . Downhill in the Piedmont, stripeback darter and Roanoke bass become common, as do swampfish , bluespotted sunfish , and pirate perch in the Tidewater . The Chesapeake Bay hosts clams, oysters, and 350 species of saltwater and estuarine fish , including the bay's most abundant finfish, the Bay anchovy , as well as the invasive blue catfish . An estimated 317 million Chesapeake blue crabs live in
8364-497: The "Virgin Queen" or that they viewed the land as being untouched) or related to an Algonquin phrase, Wingandacoa or Windgancon , or leader's name, Wingina , as heard by the expedition. The name initially applied to the entire coastal region from South Carolina in the south to Maine in the north, along with the island of Bermuda . Raleigh's colony failed, but the potential financial and strategic gains still captivated many English policymakers. In 1606, King James I issued
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#17327757056988528-417: The 14th Street bridges. The oldest span, formerly named the Rochambeau , is now named the Arland D. Williams Jr. Memorial Bridge, in honor of a passenger of Flight 90 who survived the crash, escaped from the sinking aircraft, and perished in the Potomac River while saving others from the icy waters. The center span is now called the Rochambeau Bridge and the western span the George Mason Memorial Bridge, after
8692-407: The 1700s was a fashionable promenade near Buckingham Palace upon which the city's elite strolled. The Washington City Canal , completed in 1815 in accordance with the L'Enfant Plan, travelled along the former course of Tiber Creek to the Potomac River along B Street Northwest (NW) (now Constitution Avenue NW) and south along the base of a hill containing the Congress House, thus defining
8856-412: The 1893 map of the Mall) was built at the intersection of B Street SW and 6th Street SW on the Armory Grounds. In 1862, during the American Civil War , the building was converted to a military hospital known as Armory Square Hospital to house Union Army casualties. After the war ended, the Armory building became the home of the United States Fish Commission . The United States Congress established
9020-441: The 1930s to over one million by the 2010s. Native carnivorans include black bears , who have a population of around five to six thousand in the state, as well as bobcats , coyotes , both gray and red foxes , raccoons , weasels and skunks . Rodents include groundhogs , nutria , beavers , both gray squirrels and fox squirrels , chipmunks, and Allegheny woodrats , while the seventeen bat species include brown bats and
9184-416: The 2022–2023 winter season. Climate change in Virginia is leading to higher temperatures year-round as well as more heavy rain and flooding events. Urban heat islands can be found in many Virginia cities and suburbs, particularly in neighborhoods linked to historic redlining . The air in Virginia has statistically improved since 1998. The closure and conversion of coal power plants in Virginia and
9348-405: The 3rd Street Tunnel. Despite its proximity to I-395 in Maryland , the route is unrelated and unconnected. I-395 is known by three different names over its various segments. The Virginia portion is part of the larger Shirley Highway that continues southward on I-95 beyond the terminus of I-395. In the District of Columbia, it is known as the Southwest Freeway from the 14th Street bridges to
9512-408: The 400 feet (120 m) wide "grand avenue" with a 300 feet (91 m) wide vista containing a long and broad expanse of grass. Four rows of American elm trees ( Ulmus americana ) planted fifty feet apart between two paths or streets would line each side of the vista. Buildings housing cultural and educational institutions constructed in the Beaux-Arts style would line each outer path or street, on
9676-530: The 9th Street Tunnel under the National Mall. The 9th Street Expressway emerges from the tunnel just north of L'Enfant Plaza and receives a ramp from Independence Avenue. At the south end of L'Enfant Plaza, ramps for northbound I-395 and southbound I-395 split from the roadway; the southbound I-395 also provides access to Maine Avenue in the direction of the Tidal Basin . The highway continues south beyond I-395 to an intersection with Maine Avenue at The Wharf (Washington, D.C.) . The 12th Street Expressway begins as
9840-427: The Appalachian Mountains can lead to significant snowfalls across the state, such as the January 2016 blizzard , which created the state's highest recorded one-day snowfall of 36.6 inches (93 cm) near Bluemont . On average, cities in Virginia can receive between 5.8–12.3 inches (15–31 cm) of snow annually, but recent winters have seen below-average snowfalls, and much of Virginia had no measurable snow during
10004-678: The Black population was reduced by the Great Migration to northern industrial cities in the first half of the 20th century, since 1965 there has been a reverse migration of Blacks returning south . The Commonwealth has the highest number of Black-white interracial marriages in the US , and 8.2% of Virginians describe themselves as multiracial . More recent immigration since the late 20th century has resulted in new communities of Hispanics and Asians. As of 2020 , 10.5% of Virginia's total population describe themselves as Hispanic or Latino , and 8.8% as Asian . The state's Hispanic population rose by 92% from 2000 to 2010, with two-thirds of Hispanics in
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#173277570569810168-431: The Capitol. Near the tracks, several structures were built over the years. The Baltimore and Potomac Railroad station (B on the map) rose in 1873 on the north side of the Mall at the southwest corner of 6th Street and B Street NW (now the site of the west building of the National Gallery of Art ). In 1881, the Arts and Industries Building (No. 34 on the map), known originally as the National Museum Building, opened on
10332-399: The Census Bureau recognizes several hundred unincorporated communities . Over three million people, 35% of Virginians, live in the twenty jurisdictions collectively defined as Northern Virginia , part of the larger Washington metropolitan area and the Northeast megalopolis . Fairfax County , with more than 1.1 million residents, is Virginia's most populous jurisdiction, and has
10496-469: The Civil War, the Commonwealth was deeply in debt, and in the late 1870s redirected money from public schools to pay bondholders. The Readjuster Party formed in 1877 and won legislative power in 1879 by uniting Black and white Virginians behind a shared opposition to debt payments and the perceived plantation elites . The Readjusters focused on building up schools, like Virginia Tech and Virginia State , and successfully forced West Virginia to share in
10660-429: The DC government, would start with preliminary engineering and the environmental review for the project later that spring, with the preliminary design expected to be completed later that year. Construction is estimated to take two years. Exits in Washington DC were unnumbered until 2008. In 2014, in conjunction with the rebuilding of the 11th Street Bridges and the Southeast Freeway , some exit numbers were converted to
10824-577: The Great Dismal and Nottoway swamps. Other common trees include red spruce, Atlantic white cedar , tulip-poplar , and the flowering dogwood , the state tree and flower . Plants like milkweed , dandelions, daisies, ferns, and Virginia creeper , which is featured on the state flag , are also common. The Thompson Wildlife Area in Fauquier is known for having one of the largest populations of trillium wildflowers in North America. White-tailed deer , one of 75 mammal species found in Virginia, rebounded from an estimated population of as few as 25,000 in
10988-436: The Iroquois, and other allied tribes on both sides. A militia from several British colonies, called the Virginia Regiment , was led by Major George Washington , himself one of the investors in the Ohio Company. In the decade following the French and Indian War , the British Parliament passed new taxes which were deeply unpopular in the colonies, and in the House of Burgesses ; opposition to taxation without representation
11152-404: The Kentucky border and is one of only two inter-state parks in the United States. Sustainable logging is allowed in 26 state forests managed by the Virginia Department of Forestry totaling 71,972 acres (291.3 km ), as is hunting in 44 Wildlife Management Areas run by the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources covering over 205,000 acres (829.6 km ). The Chesapeake Bay is not
11316-415: The Liberty Loan Building, remained standing in 2019 while housing the Treasury Department's Bureau of the Fiscal Service . In 1918, contractors for the United States Navy 's Bureau of Yards and Docks constructed the Main Navy and Munitions Buildings along nearly a third of a mile of the south side of Constitution Avenue (then known as B Street), from 17th Street NW to 21st Street NW. Although
11480-441: The Mall along the east side of the former railroad route on 6th Street. The smokestacks of the buildings' centrally-located power plant were set apart to preserve the view of the Washington Monument from the Capitol building. Soon afterwards, the government constructed Buildings D, E and F to the east and west of the row. Around 1921 (when the United States and Germany signed the U.S.–German Peace Treaty , thus formally ending
11644-417: The Mall. Over the next half century, federal agencies developed several naturalistic parks within the Mall in accordance with Downing's plan. Two such areas were Henry Park and Seaton Park. During that period, the Mall was subdivided into several areas between B Street Northwest (NW) (now Constitution Avenue NW) and B Street Southwest (SW) (now Independence Avenue SW): In 1856, the Armory (No. 27 on
11808-548: The Mall. These gardens extended from the department's building near the south side of the Mall to B Street NW (the northern boundary of the Mall). The building was razed in 1930. In addition, greenhouses belonging to the U.S. Botanical Garden (No. 16 on the map) appeared near the east end of the Mall between the Washington City Canal and the Capitol (later between 1st and 3rd Streets NW and SW). Originating during
11972-534: The Maryland extension is a series of ramp stubs near College Park , which now lead to a park and ride . The portion of I-95 within the beltway became I-395, while the eastern half of the beltway was redesignated I-95 (and, later, cosigned I-95/I-495). I-395 terminates in Washington DC at a traffic signal at US 50 , which is New York Avenue , near Mount Vernon Square . The DC government finalized
12136-681: The May 23 referendum, armed pro-Confederate groups prevented the casting and counting of votes from areas that opposed secession. Representatives from 27 of these northwestern counties instead began the Wheeling Convention , which organized a government loyal to the Union and led to the separation of West Virginia as a new state. The armies of the Union and Confederacy first met on July 21, 1861, in Battle of Bull Run near Manassas, Virginia ,
12300-622: The NPS prepared a National Register nomination form that documented the Mall's boundaries, features and historical significance. From the 1970s to 1994, a fiberglass model of a triceratops named Uncle Beazley stood on the Mall in front of the National Museum of Natural History . The life-size statue, which is now located at the National Zoological Park (the National Zoo) in Northwest Washington, D.C. ,
12464-684: The National Mall Historic District 's boundary to encompass an area bounded by 3rd Street, NW/SW, Independence Avenue, SW, Raoul Wallenberg Place, SW, the CSX Railroad , the Potomac River , Constitution Avenue, NW, 17th Street, NW, the White House Grounds, and 15th Street, NW. The listing's registration form, which contained 232 pages, described and illustrated the history and features of the historic district's proposed expanded area. In combination with
12628-459: The Navy intended the buildings to provide temporary quarters for the United States military during World War I, the reinforced concrete structures remained in place until 1970. After their demolition, much of their former sites became Constitution Gardens , which was dedicated in 1976. During World War II, the government constructed a larger set of temporary buildings on the Mall in the area of
12792-555: The Ohio Valley region has helped cut the amount of particulate matter in Virginia's air in half. Current plans call for 30% of the Commonwealth's electricity to be renewable by 2030 and for all to be carbon-free by 2050. Forests cover 62% of Virginia as of 2021 , of which 80% is considered hardwood forest, meaning that trees are primarily deciduous and broad-leaved . The other 20% is pine, with loblolly and shortleaf pine dominating much of central and eastern Virginia. In
12956-738: The Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, and the interchange with I-95 and the Capital Beltway in Springfield is part of the Henry G. Shirley Memorial Highway, named for the Virginia Highway Commissioner who died on July 16, 1941, just a few weeks after approving work on the new expressway. Originally SR 350 , the full length of the Henry G. Shirley Memorial Highway was opened on September 6, 1949, from south of
13120-480: The Pentagon to Woodbridge, Virginia , along what is now better known as the I-95 corridor. The Henry G. Shirley Memorial Highway featured the nation's first reversible bus lanes, a precursor to today's HOV lanes. During an evening rush-hour snowstorm in 1982, Air Florida Flight 90 crashed on takeoff from what was then known as Washington National Airport , hitting the easternmost of the three highway bridges known as
13284-602: The Smithsonian Institution Building ("The Castle"). The NPS has combated the disease's local insect vector , the smaller European elm bark beetle ( Scolytus multistriatus ), by trapping and by spraying with insecticides . Soil compaction and root damage by crowds and construction projects also adversely affect the elms. On October 15, 1966, the NPS listed the National Mall on the National Register of Historic Places . In 1981,
13448-749: The Southeast Freeway interchange ( I-695 ) and the Center Leg or Center Leg Freeway from the Southeast Freeway interchange to New York Avenue. The intersection where I-395, I-95, and the I-495 ( Capital Beltway ) meet is called the Springfield Interchange . Unofficially, this interchange is referred to as the "Mixing Bowl". This moniker causes confusion, because the intersection of I-395, Washington Boulevard, and State Route 244 (SR 244; Columbia Pike) several miles north
13612-527: The Southeast Freeway, but do not realize that they need to follow the posted "Exit 5" for I-695 to do so. WTOP traffic reporters monitor the area with their own cameras, and note numerous incidents of dangerous weaving, as well as trucks – which may be over-height or prohibited from the tunnel – reversing up the exit ramp to continue on the Southeast Freeway. Additionally, I-395 uses sequential exit numbering while I-695 uses mileage-based numbers, resulting in both roads having exits numbered 1 and 2. In January 2021,
13776-655: The U.S. Census Bureau found that only 0.5% of Virginians were exclusively American Indian or Alaska Native , though 2.1% were in some combination with other ethnicities. The state government has extended recognition to eleven tribes. Seven tribes also have federal recognition. The Pamunkey and Mattaponi have reservations on tributaries of the York River in the Tidewater region . [REDACTED] American Community Survey five-year estimate According to U.S. Census data as of 2022 on Virginia residents aged five and older, 83% (6,805,548) speak English at home as
13940-674: The U.S. are under Coles Hill, Virginia . Despite a challenge that reached the U.S. Supreme Court twice , the state has banned its mining since 1982 due to environmental and public health concerns. Virginia has a humid subtropical climate that transitions to humid continental west of the Blue Ridge Mountains . Seasonal extremes vary from average lows of 25 °F (−4 °C) in January to average highs of 86 °F (30 °C) in July. The Atlantic Ocean and Gulf Stream have
14104-478: The United States as of 2020 . El Salvador is the most common foreign country of birth, with India , Mexico , South Korea , the Philippines , and Vietnam as other common birthplaces. The state's most populous racial group, non-Hispanic whites , has declined as a proportion of the population from 76% in 1990 to 58.6% in 2020. Immigrants from Britain and Ireland settled throughout the Commonwealth during
14268-489: The United States. Virginia has a total area of 42,774.2 square miles (110,784.7 km ), including 3,180.13 square miles (8,236.5 km ) of water, making it the 35th- largest state by area. It is bordered by Maryland and Washington, D.C. to the northeast; by the Atlantic Ocean to the east; by North Carolina to the south; by Tennessee to the southwest; by Kentucky to the west; and by West Virginia to
14432-530: The Virginia General Assembly proposed a new surveying commission in 1871. Representatives from Tennessee preferred to keep the less-straight 1803 line, and in 1893, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled for them against Virginia . One result is how the city of Bristol is divided in two between the states. The Chesapeake Bay separates the contiguous portion of the Commonwealth from the two-county peninsula of Virginia's Eastern Shore . The bay
14596-417: The above map: In its 1981 National Register of Historic Places nomination form, the NPS defined the boundaries of the National Mall (proper) as Constitution and Pennsylvania Avenues on the north, 1st Street NW on the east, Independence and Maryland Avenues on the south, and 14th Street NW on the west, with the exception of the section of land bordered by Jefferson Drive on the north, Independence Avenue on
14760-692: The area held by the Seneca and their larger Iroquois Nation , and in 1748, a group of wealthy speculators, backed by the British monarchy, formed the Ohio Company to start English settlement and trade in the Ohio Country west of the Appalachian Mountains . France, which claimed this area as part of New France , viewed this as a threat, and in 1754 the French and Indian War engulfed England, France,
14924-486: The area. This prompted renewed pressure on DDOT from the FHWA in September 2023, as both printed and digital maps were beginning to show the long-since-approved but still unsigned designations. The FHWA stated at the time they would work with DDOT to start resigning work before the end of 2023. Instead, on March 15, 2024, DDOT submitted a letter to AASHTO asking for rescission of the numbering changes. DDOT admitted that work on
15088-714: The army and revolutionary militias. Virginia was the first colony to ratify the Articles of Confederation in December 1777. In April 1780, the capital was moved to Richmond at the urging of Governor Thomas Jefferson, who feared that Williamsburg's coastal location would make it vulnerable to British attack. British forces landed around Portsmouth in October 1780, and soldiers under Benedict Arnold raided Richmond in January 1781. The British army had over seven thousand soldiers and twenty-five warships stationed in Virginia at
15252-547: The bay as of 2024 . There are 34 native species of crayfish, like the Big Sandy . Amphibians found in Virginia include the Cumberland Plateau salamander and Eastern hellbender , while the northern watersnake is the most common of the 32 snake species. As of 2019 , roughly 16.2% of land in the Commonwealth is protected by federal, state, and local governments and non-profits. Federal lands account for
15416-566: The beginning of 1781, but General Charles Cornwallis and his superiors were indecisive, and maneuvers by the three thousand soldiers under the Marquis de Lafayette and twenty-nine allied French warships together managed to confine the British to a swampy area of the Virginia Peninsula in September. Around sixteen thousand soldiers under George Washington and Comte de Rochambeau quickly converged there and defeated Cornwallis in
15580-528: The colonial period, when roughly three-fourths of immigrants came as indentured servants . The Appalachian mountains and Shenandoah Valley have many settlements that were populated by German and Scotch-Irish immigrants in the 18th and 19th centuries, often following the Great Wagon Road . Over ten percent of Virginians have German ancestry as of 2020 . The largest minority group in Virginia are Blacks and African Americans, about one-fifth of
15744-633: The colonial period. Only three other independent cities exist elsewhere in the US. The differences between counties and cities in Virginia are small and have to do with how each assess new taxes, whether a referendum is necessary to issue bonds, and with the application of Dillon's Rule , which limits the authority of cities and counties to countermand acts expressly allowed by the General Assembly . Counties can also have incorporated towns , and while there are no further administrative subdivisions ,
15908-557: The colony's start, residents agitated for greater local control, and in 1619, certain male colonists began electing representatives to an assembly, later called the House of Burgesses , that negotiated issues with the governing council appointed by the London Company. Unhappy with this arrangement, the monarchy revoked the company's charter and began directly naming governors and Council members in 1624. In 1635, colonists arrested
16072-517: The concentration of independent cities in the Tidewater region is that several rural counties there re-incorporated as cities or consolidated with existing cities to try to hold on to their new suburban neighborhoods that started booming in the 1950s , since cities like Norfolk and Portsmouth were able to annex land from adjoining counties until a moratorium in 1987. Others, like Poquoson , became cities to try to preserve racial segregation during
16236-409: The desegregation era of the 1970s. The 2020 census found the state resident population was 8,631,393, a 7.9% increase since the 2010 census . Another 23,149 Virginians live overseas, giving the state a total population of 8,654,542. Virginia has the fourth-largest overseas population of U.S. states due to its federal employees and military personnel. The fertility rate in Virginia as of 2020
16400-581: The direction of rush-hour traffic. This third roadway was built as a single-lane busway , the first in the US, before being expanded and converted to high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) use. A 2007 survey found that during the morning rush hour, the HOV lanes carry about 65 percent of travelers on I-395 (61,000 commuters), including 32,000 in transit busses and 29,000 in private vehicles with two or more people. The other 33,000 commuters (35 percent of total users) drove alone. I-395 and US 1 cross
16564-598: The early 1800s as a collection of market stalls immediately north of the Washington City Canal and the Mall, the Center Market (No. 19 on the map), which Adolf Cluss also designed, opened in 1872 soon after the canal closed. Located on the north side of Constitution Avenue NW, the National Archives now occupies the Market's site. During that period, railroad tracks crossed the Mall on 6th Street, west of
16728-572: The east and the Washington Monument to the west and is lined to the north and south by several museums and federal office buildings. The term National Mall may also include areas that are also officially part of neighboring West Potomac Park to the south and west and Constitution Gardens to the north, extending to the Lincoln Memorial on the west and Jefferson Memorial to the south. The National Mall proper contains
16892-541: The eastern edge is the Hampton Roads metropolitan area, where over 1.7 million reside across six counties and nine cities, including the Commonwealth's three most populous independent cities: Virginia Beach , Chesapeake , and Norfolk . Neighboring Suffolk , which includes a portion of the Great Dismal Swamp , is the largest city by area at 429.1 square miles (1,111 km ). One reason for
17056-491: The eastern one was built in 1950, the western one in 1962, and the central one in 1972. After crossing the 14th Street bridges, the freeway has a left-side exit allowing access to US 1 (exit 1). The southbound side of I-395 has no access to northbound US 1 here. I-395 crosses East Potomac Park (exit 2) and a second bridge, the Francis Case Memorial Bridge over the Washington Channel . Here,
17220-500: The end of slavery across the country. The seizure of Fort Sumter by Confederate forces on April 14, 1861, prompted Lincoln to call for a federal army of 75,000 men from state militias . The Virginia Secession Convention of 1861 voted on April 17 to secede on the condition it was approved in a referendum the next month. The convention voted to join the Confederacy, which named Richmond its capital on May 20. During
17384-482: The entire scope of this project, spanning eight miles (13 km). Part of the project involved the reconfiguring of the Pentagon interchange to provide greater access to Army Navy Drive, as well as the closing of the onramp—from the southbound HOV lanes to the mainline Interstate southbound—located just west of the Pentagon interchange. All existing HOV interchanges within the project's scope became tolled. Vehicles carrying three or more passengers are still able to use
17548-618: The federal government constructed a number of temporary buildings (tempos) on the Mall, disrupting the area's planned layout. Most of these buildings were in two clusters: one near the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool and the other on the National Mall (proper) in the vicinity of 4th through 7th Streets NW and SW. The United States entered World War I in April 1917. By 1918, a row of tempos designated from north to south as Buildings A, B, and C had stretched across
17712-403: The first of several invasions into Union territory. During the next three years of war, more battles were fought in Virginia than anywhere else, including the battles of Fredericksburg , Chancellorsville , Spotsylvania , and the concluding Battle of Appomattox Court House , where Lee surrendered on April 9, 1865. Virginia was formally restored to the United States in 1870, due to the work of
17876-579: The following landmarks , museums and other features (including opening year): Not marked on the above image: With the exception of the National Gallery of Art , all of the museums on the National Mall proper are part of the Smithsonian Institution. The Smithsonian Gardens maintains a number of gardens and landscapes near its museums. These include: Features east of the National Mall proper include: Not included in
18040-409: The former HOV lanes for free if they have E-ZPass Flex transponders in HOV mode. The express lanes opened on November 17, 2019. The lanes are operated by Transurban . The reversible portion runs toward the District of Columbia in the morning and toward Virginia in the afternoon. In December 2023, VDOT permanently closed Exit 9 for Clark St as part of construction on Boundary Channel Drive. As part of
18204-748: The former World War I tempos, along the south side of Constitution Avenue between 12th and 14th Streets NW, on the west side of the Washington Monument grounds, along the entire length of the south side of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool and between the Reflecting Pool and the Main Navy and Munition buildings on the Pool's north side. Numbers identified new buildings built on the Monument grounds, while letters identified
18368-712: The freeway, creating a better community atmosphere in the eastern edge of downtown. The District Department of Transportation (DDOT) expected the work would take up to four years. In 2015, the commonwealth of Virginia announced that the HOV lanes between the Turkeycock Run bridge and Eads Street (at the Pentagon) would be converted to toll lanes as part of the I-395 Express Lanes Extension project. The existing HOV lanes, which ran in both directions in some areas, became reversible HOT lanes for
18532-402: The freeway. The project was awaiting final regulatory approval and expected to be complete by 2016. In 2015, work began on I-395 in conjunction with Capitol Crossing , a major real-estate project in DC, part of which lies on top of the highway. The work involves adding a $ 200-million (equivalent to $ 251 million in 2023) concrete platform that connects neighborhoods that have been severed by
18696-576: The green space bounded on the east by 3rd Street, on the west by 14th Street, on the north by Jefferson Drive, NW, and on the south by Madison Drive, SW. A Central Intelligence Agency map shows the Mall as occupying the space between the Lincoln Memorial and the United States Capitol. In 2011, the 112th United States Congress enacted the Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, 2012, which transferred to
18860-730: The growing plantation economy, but also fueled conflicts both inside and outside the colony. Virginians fought for the independence of the Thirteen Colonies in the American Revolution , and helped establish the new national government. During the American Civil War , the state government in Richmond joined the Confederacy , while many northwestern counties remained loyal to the Union , which led to
19024-595: The highway receives a ramp from Independence Avenue. The 12th Street Expressway passes under the National Mall and then ascends to the west of the National Museum of Natural History to its terminus at the intersection of Constitution Avenue and 12th Street Northwest. Virginia Virginia , officially the Commonwealth of Virginia , is a state in the Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of
19188-578: The land on Virginia's islands, which include Tangier Island in the bay and Chincoteague , one of 23 barrier islands on the Atlantic coast. The Tidewater is a coastal plain between the Atlantic coast and the fall line . It includes the Eastern Shore and major estuaries of Chesapeake Bay. The Piedmont is a series of sedimentary and igneous rock -based foothills east of the mountains. The region, known for its heavy clay soil, includes
19352-466: The largest bloc in the House of Representatives . Together with the Virginia dynasty of presidents, this gave the Commonwealth national importance. Virginia is called the "Mother of States" because of its role in being carved into states such as Kentucky , and for the numbers of American pioneers born in Virginia. Between 1790 and 1860, the number of slaves in Virginia rose from around 290 thousand to over 490 thousand, roughly one-third of
19516-440: The late afternoon and evenings between April and September. These months are also the most common for tornadoes , eight of which touched down in the Commonwealth in 2023. Hurricanes and tropical storms can occur from August to October. The deadliest natural disaster in Virginia was Hurricane Camille , which killed over 150 people in 1969 mainly in inland Nelson County . Between December and March, cold-air damming caused by
19680-873: The majority, with thirty National Park Service units, such as Great Falls Park and the Appalachian Trail , and one national park, Shenandoah . Almost forty percent of Shenandoah's total 199,173 acres (806 km ) area has been designated as wilderness under the National Wilderness Preservation System . The U.S. Forest Service administers the George Washington and Jefferson National Forests , which cover more than 1.6 million acres (6,500 km ) within Virginia's mountains, and continue into West Virginia and Kentucky . The Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge also extends into North Carolina, as does
19844-620: The middle of the 20th century, are the focus of conservation efforts in the state and a reintroduction program in Shenandoah National Park . Virginia has 226 species of freshwater fish from 25 families, a diversity attributable to the area's varied and humid climate, topography, interconnected river system, and lack of Pleistocene glaciers . Common examples on the Cumberland Plateau and higher-elevation regions include Eastern blacknose dace , sculpin , smallmouth bass , redhorse sucker , Kanawha darter , and brook trout ,
20008-546: The mouth of the Chesapeake Bay . Central Virginia lies predominantly in the Piedmont , the foothill region of the Blue Ridge Mountains , which cross the western and southwestern parts of the state. The fertile Shenandoah Valley fosters the state's most productive agricultural counties, while the economy in Northern Virginia is driven by technology companies and U.S. federal government agencies. Hampton Roads
20172-622: The new land, which became West Potomac Park , expanded the Mall southward and westward (see 1893 map above). In 1902, the McMillan Commission 's plan, which was partially inspired by the City Beautiful Movement and which purportedly extended Pierre L'Enfant 's plan, called for a radical redesign of the Mall that would replace its greenhouses, gardens, trees, and commercial/industrial facilities with an open space. The plan differed from L'Enfant's by replacing
20336-474: The north and drifted an additional 3.5 miles by the border's westernmost point . After Tennessee joined the U.S. in 1796, new surveyors worked in 1802 and 1803 to reset their border with Virginia as a line from the summit of White Top Mountain to the top of Tri-State Peak in the Cumberland Mountains . However, deviations in that border were identified when it was re-marked in 1856, and
20500-484: The north side of B Street SW to the east of "The Castle". Designed in 1876 by Adolf Cluss and his associates, the building is the second oldest still standing on the National Mall (proper). In 1887, the Army Medical Museum and Library , which Adolf Cluss designed in 1885, opened on the Mall at northwest corner of B Street SW and 7th Street SW. The Smithsonian Institution's Hirshhorn Museum now occupies
20664-410: The northern and eastern boundaries of the Mall. Being shallow and often obstructed by silt , the canal served only a limited role and became an open sewer that poured sediment and waste into the Potomac River's flats and shipping channel. The portion of the canal that traveled near the Mall was covered over in 1871 for sanitary reasons. Some consider a lockkeeper's house constructed in 1837 near
20828-404: The northwest. That Virginia's boundary with Maryland and Washington, D.C. only extends to the low-water mark of the south shore of the Potomac River has been an issue for water rights over the years. . Virginia's southern border was defined in 1665 as 36°30' north latitude . Surveyors marking the border with North Carolina in the 18th century however started about 3.5 miles (5.6 km) to
20992-638: The opposite side of the path or street from the elms. In subsequent years, the vision of the McMillan plan was generally followed with the planting of American elms and the layout of four boulevards down the Mall, two on either side of a wide lawn . In accordance with a plan that it completed in 1976, the NPS converted the two innermost boulevards (Washington Drive NW and Adams Drive SW) into gravel walking paths. The two outermost boulevards (Madison Drive NW and Jefferson Drive SW)) remain paved and open to vehicular traffic. During World Wars I and II ,
21156-496: The other attractions in the Washington Metropolitan Area , the National Mall makes the nation's capital city one of the most popular tourist destinations in the country. It has several other uses in addition to serving as a tourist focal point. The National Mall's status as a vast, open expanse at the heart of the capital makes it an attractive site for protests and rallies of all types. One notable example
21320-461: The population. Virginia was a major destination of the Atlantic slave trade . The Igbo ethnic group of what is now southern Nigeria were the largest African group among slaves in Virginia. Blacks in Virginia also have more European ancestry than those in other southern states, and DNA analysis shows many have asymmetrical male and female ancestry from before the Civil War, evidence of European fathers and African or Native American mothers. Though
21484-498: The pre-war debt. But in 1883, they were divided by a proposed repeal of anti-miscegenation laws , and days before that year's election, a riot in Danville , involving armed policemen, left four Black men and one white man dead. These events motivated a push by white supremacists to seize political power through voter suppression , and segregationists in the Democratic Party won the legislature that year and maintained control for decades. They passed Jim Crow laws that established
21648-405: The presence of Confederate monuments in Virginia have also led to large demonstrations, including in August 2017, when a white supremacist drove his car into protesters , killing one, and in June 2020, when protests that were part of the larger Black Lives Matter movement brought about the removal of Confederate statues . Virginia is located in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of
21812-447: The project, VDOT is converting Exit 10 to a dumbbell interchange to "improve traffic operations and safety." VDOT is also building new pedestrian and bicycle paths to connect Crystal City to Long Bridge Park , the Mount Vernon Trail , and the Pentagon . Construction is expected to be completed in 2024. I-395's turn-off-to-stay-on movement into the 3rd Street Tunnel causes confusion among drivers who intend to continue straight on
21976-438: The purposes of the National Mall are to: In his 1791 plan for the future city of Washington, D.C. , Pierre (Peter) Charles L'Enfant envisioned a garden-lined "grand avenue" approximately 1 mile (1.6 km) in length and 400 feet (120 m) wide, in an area that would lie between the Congress House (now the United States Capitol ) and an equestrian statue of George Washington . The statue would be placed directly south of
22140-451: The re-signing had not started and would take an estimated two to three years, and sought to reduce the increasing confusion caused by updated third-party maps. AASHTO approved this on May 7, with DDOT stating it would re-apply for the same numbering changes when the work was closer to completion. The FHWA, which is responsible for updating the designations within the National Highway System , as well as producing maps, did not take any action on
22304-469: The remainder. The government also built dormitories, residence halls and facilities for dining and recreation south of the eastern half of the Mall and within the part of West Potomac Park that lay south of the Mall's western half. The government progressively demolished all of the World War II tempos beginning in 1964. After the government removed the Main Navy and Munitions buildings in 1970, much of their former sites became Constitution Gardens , which
22468-456: The request. The agency told WTOP that it had "reviewed and provided comments" and "expects an updated request from the District soon". Plans to rehabilitate the Arland D. Williams Jr. Memorial Bridge , which carries northbound I-395 and US 1 over the Potomac River , have been in the works since inspections between 2005 and 2009 revealed that the bridge was deteriorating. A small $ 27-million (equivalent to $ 36.1 million in 2023) project
22632-469: The rest are mostly winter residents or transients . Water birds include sandpipers, wood ducks, and Virginia rail , while common inland examples include warblers, woodpeckers, and cardinals, the state bird . Birds of prey include osprey, broad-winged hawks , and barred owls . There are no endemic bird species. Audubon recognizes 21 Important Bird Areas in the state. Peregrine falcons , whose numbers dramatically declined due to DDT poisoning in
22796-407: The route bends from a generally northeast direction to a due east direction, interchanging (exit 3) with the 9th and 12th Street Expressways , two tunnels that carry traffic under the National Mall . A series of complex interchanges (numbered 4, 5, 6, and 7) provide partial access to Maine Avenue and C Street Southwest, as well as connections to I-695 . Immediately after I-695, the freeway makes
22960-503: The separation of West Virginia in 1863. Although the state was under one-party rule for nearly a century following the Reconstruction era , both major political parties have been competitive in Virginia since the repeal of Jim Crow laws in the 1970s. Virginia's state legislature is the Virginia General Assembly , which was established in July 1619, making it the oldest current law-making body in North America . Unlike other states, cities and counties in Virginia function as equals, but
23124-406: The shutdown's first day, the memorial's barricades were removed. The NPS subsequently announced that the veterans had a legal right to be in the memorial and would not be barred in the future. During the shutdown's second week, the NPS permitted an immigration rally and concert to take place on the Mall. On December 8, 2016, the NPS listed on the National Register of Historic Places an increase in
23288-430: The site of the building, which was demolished in 1968. Meanwhile, in order to clean up the Potomac Flats and to make the Potomac River more navigable, in 1882 Congress authorized the Army Corps of Engineers to dredge the river. The Corps used the sediment removed from the shipping channel to fill in the flats. The work started in 1882 and continued until 1911, creating the Tidal Basin and 628 new acres of land. Part of
23452-406: The south, and by 12th and 14th Streets respectively on the east and west, which the U.S. Department of Agriculture administers and which contains the Jamie L. Whitten Building (U.S. Department of Agriculture Administration Building) . The 2012–2016 National Park Service index describes the National Mall as being a landscaped park that extends from the Capitol to the Washington Monument, defined as
23616-410: The southwest and Mexico by the end of the period. Palisaded towns began to be built around 1200. The native population in the current boundaries of Virginia reached around 50,000 in the 1500s. Large groups in the area at that time included the Algonquian in the Tidewater region , which they referred to as Tsenacommacah , the Iroquoian -speaking Nottoway and Meherrin to the north and south, and
23780-476: The state government manages most local roads. It is also the only state where governors are prohibited from serving consecutive terms. Nomadic hunters are estimated to have arrived in Virginia around 17,000 years ago. Evidence from Daugherty's Cave shows it was regularly used as a rock shelter by 9,800 years ago. During the late Woodland period (500–1000 CE ), tribes coalesced, and farming, first of corn and squash, began, with beans and tobacco arriving from
23944-564: The state living in Northern Virginia . Northern Virginia also has a significant population of Vietnamese Americans , whose major wave of immigration followed the Vietnam War . Korean Americans have migrated there more recently, while about 45,000 Filipino Americans have settled in the Hampton Roads area. Tribal membership in Virginia is complicated by the legacy of the state's " pencil genocide " of intentionally categorizing Native Americans and Blacks together, and many tribal members do have African or European ancestry, or both. In 2020,
24108-532: The state population, and the number of slave owners rose to over 50 thousand. Both of these numbers represented the most in the U.S. The boom in Southern cotton production using cotton gins increased the amount of labor needed for harvesting raw cotton , but new federal laws prohibited the importation of slaves. Decades of monoculture tobacco farming had also degraded Virginia's agricultural productivity . Virginia plantations increasingly turned to exporting slaves , which broke up countless families and made
24272-421: The state than moving to it in 2021. This is largely credited to high home prices in Northern Virginia, which are driving residents there to relocate south; Raleigh is their top destination. Aside from Virginia, the top birth state for Virginians is New York , with the Northeast accounting for the largest number of domestic migrants into the state by region. About twelve percent of residents were born outside
24436-429: The streets that extend northward from their respective northern termini. The 9th Street Expressway and the 12th Street Expressway run southbound and northbound, respectively, between I-395 and Constitution Avenue. The 9th Street Expressway begins at the intersection of Constitution Avenue and 9th Street Northwest. The highway heads southbound along the east side of the National Museum of Natural History and descends into
24600-432: The tribes, burned Jamestown. Bacon's Rebellion forced the signing of Bacon's Laws , which restored some of the colony's rights and sanctioned both attacks on native tribes and the enslavement of their people. The Treaty of 1677 further reduced the independence of the tribes that signed it, and aided the colony's assimilation of their land in the years that followed. Colonists in the 1700s were pushing westward into
24764-433: The war between the two nations), the government demolished Buildings A and B. The remaining tempos held offices of several agencies belonging to the Agriculture, Commerce , Treasury and War Departments for a number of years after the war ended. The government then slowly dismantled most of the tempos that had remained within the Mall (proper), removing the power plant and nearby buildings by 1936. Among those removed
24928-483: The western and mountainous parts of the Commonwealth, oak and hickory are most common, while lower altitudes are more likely to have small but dense stands of hemlocks and mosses in abundance. Spongy moth infestations in oak trees and the blight in chestnut trees have decreased both of their numbers, leaving more room for hickory and the invasive tree of heaven . In the lowland tidewater and Piedmont , yellow pines tend to dominate, with bald cypress wetland forests in
25092-407: The western end of the Washington City Canal for an eastward extension of the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal to be the oldest building still standing on the National Mall. The structure, which is located near the southwestern corner of 17th Street NW and Constitution Avenue NW, is west of the National Mall (proper). The Smithsonian Institution Building ("The Castle"), constructed from 1847 to 1855,
25256-419: Was 55.8 per 1,000 females between the ages of 15 and 44, and the median age as of 2021 was the same as the national average of 38.8 years old. The geographic center of population is located northwest of Richmond in Hanover County , as of 2020 . Though still growing naturally as births outnumber deaths, Virginia has had a negative net migration rate since 2013, with 8,995 more people leaving
25420-403: Was Building C, which the government demolished between 1933 and 1936. By 1937, the government had removed all of the World War I tempos that had been within the National Mall (proper) except for Building E, thus largely restoring the Mall's central vista. However, another World War I tempo, which the government constructed south of the Mall in 1919 between 14th Street SW and the Tidal Basin as
25584-407: Was dedicated in 1976. The planting of American elm trees ( Ulmus americana ) on the National Mall following the McMillan Plan started in the 1930s between 3rd and 14th Streets at the same time that Dutch Elm Disease (DED) began to appear in the United States. Concern was expressed about the impact that DED could have on these trees. DED first appeared on the Mall during the 1950s and reached
25748-416: Was donated to the Smithsonian Institution by the Sinclair Oil Corporation . The statue, which Louis Paul Jonas created for Sinclair's DinoLand pavilion at the 1964 New York World's Fair , was named after a dinosaur in Oliver Butterworth 's 1956 children's book, The Enormous Egg , and the 1968 televised movie adaptation in which the statue appeared. In 2003, the 108th United States Congress enacted
25912-460: Was done between 2010 and 2011, but a 2014 inspection revealed that the bridge still had problems. However, DDOT pushed the date to fix the problems until 2020 due to the expense and the need to replace or repair several deficient bridges elsewhere in DC. On April 13, 2023, DDOT announced the US Department of Transportation had provided $ 72 million to help fund the rehabilitation project. The $ 90-million project, which will also be funded in part by
26076-400: Was formed from the drowned river valley of the ancient Susquehanna River . Many of Virginia's rivers flow into the Chesapeake Bay, including the Potomac , Rappahannock , York , and James , which create three peninsulas in the bay, traditionally referred to as "necks" named Northern Neck , Middle Peninsula , and the Virginia Peninsula from north to south. Sea level rise has eroded
26240-515: Was historically known by that name and continues to be recognized by the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) as such. I-395 contains a third roadway: reversible, barrier-separated Virginia high-occupancy toll (HOT) lanes with their own entrances and exits, also known locally as the "express lanes", between South Eads Street near the Pentagon in Arlington County and SR 610 (Garrisonville Road) in Stafford County . During morning and evening rush hour, traffic on this roadway flows in
26404-506: Was led by Patrick Henry and Richard Henry Lee , among others. Virginians began to coordinate their actions with other colonies in 1773 and sent delegates to the Continental Congress the following year. After the House of Burgesses was dissolved in 1774 by the royal governor , Virginia's revolutionary leaders continued to govern via the Virginia Conventions . On May 15, 1776, the Convention declared Virginia's independence and adopted George Mason 's Virginia Declaration of Rights , which
26568-636: Was responsible for building 38 warships for the U.S. Navy between 1907 and 1923. During World War I , German submarines attacked ships outside the port, which was a major site for transportation of soldiers and supplies. After the war, a homecoming parade to honor African-American troops was attacked in July 1919 by the city's police as part of a renewed white-supremacy movement, known as Red Summer . The shipyard continued building warships in World War II , and quadrupled its pre-war labor force to 70,000 by 1943. The Radford Arsenal outside Blacksburg also employed 22,000 workers making explosives, while
26732-475: Was the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom , a political rally during the Civil Rights Movement , at which Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his speech " I Have a Dream ". The largest officially recorded rally was the Vietnam War Moratorium Rally on October 15, 1969. However, in 1995, the NPS issued a crowd estimate for the Million Man March with which an organizer of the event, Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan , disagreed. The next year,
26896-402: Was then included in a new constitution that designated Virginia as a commonwealth . Another Virginian, Thomas Jefferson , drew upon Mason's work in drafting the national Declaration of Independence . After the American Revolutionary War began, George Washington was selected by the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia to head the Continental Army , and many Virginians joined
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