Who’s In, Who’s Out?
We draw the borders of the 51st state.
Published Saturday, November 01, 2008
The 15 jurisdictions of Virginia that are part of the federally designated Washington metropolitan area are generally thought of as Northern Virginia. But those include Warren, Clarke, and Spotsylvania counties as well as the city of Fredericksburg—places that culturally and politically belong more with the Old Dominion. A more natural southern border would be the Rappahannock River, which forms the western border of Fauquier County and flows southeast to Fredericksburg. The river has long been the de facto dividing line between Northern Virginia and the rest of the state. Historian and author Tony Horwitz tells of driving south from Washington and reaching the first state visitors center—not at the Virginia border but at the Rappahannock. “It’s a small but telling bit of symbolism: an internal border post, guarding the state’s heartland from the breakaway region of Northern Virginia. . . .” he wrote in State by State: A Panoramic Portrait of America. Most of Virginia above the Rappahannock River was occupied by Union troops during the Civil War, he noted, “and in the view of many state residents, it remains so today.” This article first appeared in the November 2008 issue of The Washingtonian. For more articles like it, click here.
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Comments
Screw this! It makes it seem as if Richmond is ungrateful to NOVA! But then again....if those NOVA people hate Richmond, then that is completely their goddamn problem.
Posted by: Bryan, Jun 26, 2011 11:04:41 PM
Washington DC is so ludicrious that no sane person would want to be part of it. Than again, maybe Marion Barry could be the first governor of Northern Virginia...
Posted by: JMACSr, Aug 07, 2009 03:21:32 AM
Can’t D.C. annex the Northern Counties & Cities of Virginia (and southern maryland).
Plus, Richmond has more Fortune 500-1000 companies than any other region in Va(14), including NoVa(12). Just wanted to point that out; the author made it sound like having 8 Fortune 500 companies make the region a powerhouse. What makes NoVa so strong is the Federal Gov’t spending. Let’s face it, even though most people in NoVa don’t work for the Gov’t, the Gov’t is their employer’s major client (by a stretch ).
That was my 2 cents
Posted by: JASON, Nov 18, 2008 09:45:50 AM
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