Editing Seven Corners, Virginia (section)

== History ==
[[File:Seven Corners office towers.jpg|thumb|left|Office towers in Seven Corners, major landmarks in the area]]
Seven Corners was known as Fort Buffalo from the [[American Civil War]] until the 1950s.  The area took its name from a fortification constructed in October 1862 by men of the [[21st New York Volunteer Infantry|21st New York Infantry]].  Fort Buffalo stood on the southern side of the Leesburg Pike, at its current intersection with Sleepy Hollow Road.  The story of the fort is described in a local history of the Civil War entitled ''A Virginia Village Goes to War--Falls Church During the Civil War''.  The fort was built at that location to take advantage of the excellent views to the east and south—the direction from which Confederate Army troops were thought to possibly come.

After the war the massive fortification of Fort Buffalo was dismantled but other earthworks remained and were easily visible through the 1930s.<ref>Bradley E. Gernand.  ''A Virginia Village Goes to War--Falls Church During the Civil War''.  Virginia Beach:  The Donning Company, 2002.  Pages 112–113, 178–179, 236.</ref>

The change of place name in the 1950s came about due to the construction of Lee Memorial Boulevard, now known as [[Arlington Boulevard]] ([[U.S. Route 50 in Virginia|U.S. Route 50]]).  The construction of Route 50 caused the formation of a seven cornered intersection—or did until the mouth of Wilson Boulevard was rerouted slightly to avoid all those roadways converging on a single point.

With the advent of Route 50 the area quickly developed into an important commercial center with the opening in 1956 of [[Seven Corners Shopping Center]], one of the first malls in the Washington region.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Neibauer|first1=Michael|title=There is a vision to untangle and redevelop Seven Corners|url=http://www.bizjournals.com/washington/breaking_ground/2015/02/there-is-a-vision-to-untangle-and-redevelop-seven.html|access-date=3 May 2016|work=Washington Business Journal|date=4 February 2015}}</ref>  The original center featured an iconic sign combined with a modernistic entry arch; this was later removed.  The original Route 50, envisioned and built as a landscaped parkway linking Washington, D.C., with the Shenandoah Valley, has since evolved into a commercial corridor and its function as a link to the valley has been assumed by [[Interstate 66]].<ref>Gernand, ''A Virginia Village Goes to War'', pp. 235-236.</ref>