Editing Dale City, Virginia (section)

== History ==
Dale City was the idea of a real estate developer, Cecil Don Hylton, who chose the term because it aptly describes the "hills and dales" of the rolling [[Piedmont region of Virginia|Virginia Piedmont]],<ref name="dalecity"/> where he developed the community. Hylton began his career as a "huckster", a young man who sold farm goods and produce at the farmers' market in Washington, DC. He later began a sod business after several requests from his regular clients. He ran several dozen trucks and pioneered new technologies in the industry. After the post-war housing boom, he moved into homebuilding. Throughout his career, he constructed apartments, commercial shopping centers, and over 22,000 homes. Along the way, he began his own sewer company, Dale Service Company, as well as the first cable television companies in Prince William County.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1984/04/02/the-quiet-tycoon-of-prince-william-county/d3d936f0-cca8-43ee-b7dc-e32e18da27ea/|title=The Quiet Tycoon of Prince William County|date=1984-04-02|work=washingtonpost.com|access-date=2023-08-07}}</ref>

His company, Hylton Enterprises, began Dale City in 1960 approximately 1 mile east of Interstate 95 and continued to build west towards Hoadly Road (State Route 642). By 1969, the first six communities were completed.  Many more were added in the 1970s and 1980s.<ref name="dalecity">{{cite web|url=https://dalecitycivic.org/pages/about.html|title=Date City Civic Association|access-date=2023-08-07}}</ref>

Several places in Dale City are named after Hylton, such as [[C.D. Hylton High School]] and the Hylton Memorial Chapel. More recently, the Hylton Foundation underwrote a major new addition to Potomac Hospital in nearby [[Woodbridge, Virginia|Woodbridge]].  Hylton's companies have branched into new markets, especially real estate of existing houses.  Hylton Realty now sells property in and near Dale City. Hylton Enterprises manages commercial properties still controlled by the Hylton family, including several shopping centers, as well as several oddly-shaped parcels of unimproved land. These parcels were land that could not be built on or were proffered to the county; Andrew Leitch Park is one such parcel that has been given to the local Park Authority.

Because Dale City was built before most of eastern Prince William County was developed, it has its own water and sewer systems, separate from the ones in Occoquan, Woodbridge, Dumfries, Triangle, and Lake Ridge. Water service is provided by [[American Water (company)|Virginia-American Water Company]], and since 2013, Virginia-American also provides sewer service to Dale City through their purchase of the Dale Service Corporation.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.insidenova.com/news/local/dale_city/virginia-american-water-to-buy-dale-service-corp/article_a5eb6456-b39e-11e2-83c4-001a4bcf887a.html|title=Virginia American water to buy Dale Service Corp.|publisher=INSIDENOVA.COM|date=2 May 2014|access-date=21 November 2015}}</ref><ref>{{Cite press release|date=November 14, 2013|title=American Water Completes Purchase of Dale Service Corporation|url=http://pr.amwater.com/common/download/download.cfm?CompanyID=AMERPR&FileID=707017&FileKey=8375F550-A071-4888-9257-E9D0CC490FB5&filename=AWK_News_2013_11_14_Corporate.pdf|publisher=[[American Water (company)|American Water]]|access-date=21 November 2015}}{{Dead link|date=March 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

[[Russell House and Store]] is a historic early 19th century building, located on Minnieville Road.