Editing Bailey's Crossroads, Virginia (section)

==History==
===19th century===
[[Image:Baileys xroads marker.jpg|thumb|A historical marker in Bailey's Crossroads]]
Hachaliah Bailey, the founder of one of America's earliest circuses, which in time evolved into the Bailey component of what became the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, moved to [[Northern Virginia]] in 1837, bought the land surrounding the intersection of Leesburg Pike and Columbia Pike in [[Fairfax County, Virginia]], near Falls Church, Virginia, and gave Bailey's Crossroads his name. The Crossroads then became the winter quarters for his circus.<ref>"Skyline House — The History of Bailey's Crossroads (Adapted from a History by Susan Flinner)". Falls Church, Virginia: SHUOA: Skyline House Unit Owners Association. June 2, 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20160323093719/http://www.shuoa.org/community/historybaileys.html</ref>

====Civil War====
[[File:Frank Leslie's scenes and portraits of the Civil War (1894) (14782912693).jpg|thumb|[[Munson's Hill]] and Bailey's Crossroads during the [[American Civil War]]]]
The opening months of the [[American Civil War]] proved to be a disruptive and unforgettable episode in the history of Bailey's Crossroads.  From the summer of 1861, when the area fell into an uncomfortable and poorly defined "no man's land" between the borders of two warring countries, until late November of that year, when the area hosted a massive troop review, anything akin to normalcy was in short supply.

Virginia voted to secede from the Union on May 23, 1861.  Fairfax County's northern-born residents—many of whom were its most prominent and prosperous citizens—now felt very uncomfortable.  Their southern neighbors looked upon them with suspicion.  In July 1861 the Union Army met with catastrophic defeat during the [[First Battle of Bull Run|First Battle of Manassas.]]  The army retreated all the way to [[Washington, D.C.|Washington]], with the [[Confederate States Army|Confederate Army]] advancing quickly behind it. The Confederates occupied Falls Church and [[Munson's Hill]], overlooking Bailey's Crossroads, and the crossroads' northern-born residents fled for the safety of Washington.<ref>Gernand, ''A Virginia Village Goes to War'', pp. 16-17, 23, 68-69.</ref>

Once Confederates established themselves atop Munson's Hill they built a crude fort there, and from these commanding heights turned Bailey's Crossroads into a "killing field".  Southern sharpshooters killed numerous Union soldiers.  Violence arose whenever Confederate and Union pickets, or scouts, engaged one another in firefights.  It was now impossible to walk the Leesburg Pike without being shot and killed.<ref>Gernand, ''A Virginia Village Goes to War'', p. 83.</ref>

There was a minor engagement between the sides on September 3, 1861, with the Union suffering eight casualties and the Confederates none.

Official reports on the 'War of the Rebellion' indicate that during August 28–30, 1861 a series of skirmishes took place at a location scrawled as "Balley's Cross Roads".

The local balance of power changed completely—and to everyone's surprise—on September 28, 1861, as the Confederate Army silently withdrew its forces from Munson's Hill, [[Upton's Hill]] and Falls Church to Manassas, which they fortified.  Munson's Hill and Falls Church were located too far afield of reliable supply lines, and a concerted Union pincer movement could possibly choke off supplies, the Southern command believed.  At Manassas they were adjacent to Virginia's interior, and had good railroad and road connections to it.<ref>Gernand, ''A Virginia Village Goes to War'', pp. 98-101.</ref>

After Confederate withdrawal the area quickly was reoccupied by Union troops.  A significant troop review took place at Bailey's Crossroads on November 20, 1861.  Thousands of Union troops marched in formation and paraded before President Abraham Lincoln, the northern press, and many onlookers from Washington.  Army commanders selected Bailey's Crossroads as the site because of its nature as a large, unbroken plain.  In order to prepare it for the day's activities the army merely needed to remove the split-rail fencing separating farms and fields.<ref>Gernand, ''A Virginia Village Goes to War'', pp. 169-171.</ref>

Contemporary local historians have confused this review with another, smaller review held on nearby [[Upton's Hill]], where events spurred the composition and publication of the "[[Battle Hymn of the Republic]]".

===20th century===
[[File:Bailey's crossroads windmill.jpg|thumb|Bailey's Crossroads windmill]]
After the Civil War Bailey's Crossroads returned to its pastoral pre-war pursuits.  The area remained a rural farming community until the post-[[World War II]] years, when a massive wave of development occurred.  Leesburg Pike is now a commercial corridor, with apartments and homes to its north and south.  A strip shopping center called [[Culmore, Virginia|Culmore]], in particular, has lent its name to the apartment development behind it, which is now home to several thousand Latino immigrants.  "Culmore" is now an established place name within Bailey's Crossroads.<ref>"Preserving the Public Square--Hispanics Oppose Drug Store Proposal", ''Washington Times'', December 7, 1999; "Falls Church's Image Problem", ''Falls Church News-Press'', July 14, 2005.</ref> Close behind Culmore is Lake Barcroft, whose shore is lined with upscale middle-class homes.

During the 1960s, as Washington's [[wmata|Metro]] system was being conceived, original plans called for a subway line to extend under Columbia Pike to and through Bailey's Crossroads.  As a result of the plan a massive highrise complex was built on the former [[Washington-Virginia Airport]] in the heart of Bailey's Crossroads called Skyline City.  Its location coincided with the planned locations of Metro stations.  Plans for the Metro, however, changed.  The western line was placed along the I-66 corridor instead.<ref name=autogenerated1 />