Editing Franconia, Virginia

{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2023}}
{{Infobox settlement
| official_name      = Franconia
| settlement_type    = [[Census-designated place]]
| image_skyline      = Franconia, Virginia.jpg
| image_caption      = Nall's Produce in Franconia
| pushpin_map        = USA Virginia Northern
| image_map          = Fairfax County Virginia Incorporated and Unincorporated Areas Franconia highlighted.svg
| map_caption        = Location of Franconia in [[Fairfax County, Virginia|Fairfax County]], [[Virginia]]
| subdivision_type   = Country
| subdivision_name   = United States
| subdivision_type1  = [[U.S. state|State]]
| subdivision_name1  = [[Virginia]]
| subdivision_type2  = [[List of counties in Virginia|County]]
| subdivision_name2  = [[Fairfax County, Virginia|Fairfax]]
| unit_pref          = Imperial
| area_total_km2     = 9.01
| area_land_km2      = 8.99
| area_water_km2     = 0.02
| population_as_of   = [[2020 United States Census|2020]]
| population_total   = 18943
| population_density_km2 = 2107.1
| population_density_sq_mi = 5459.1
| timezone           = [[Eastern Time Zone|Eastern (EST)]]
| utc_offset         = −5
| timezone_DST       = EDT
| utc_offset_DST     = −4
| elevation_m        = 76
| elevation_ft       = 249
| coordinates        = {{coord|38|45|48|N|77|9|1|W|region:US-VA|display=inline,title}}
| postal_code_type   = [[ZIP Code]]s
| postal_code        = 22310, 22315
| area_code          = [[Area code 703|703]], [[Area code 571|571]]
| blank_name         = [[Federal Information Processing Standard|FIPS code]]
| blank_info         = 51-29552<ref name="GR2">{{cite web |url=https://www.census.gov |publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]] |access-date=2008-01-31 |title=U.S. Census website }}</ref>
| blank1_name        = [[Geographic Names Information System|GNIS]] feature ID
| blank1_info        = 1492975<ref name="GR3">{{cite web|url=http://geonames.usgs.gov|access-date=2008-01-31|title=US Board on Geographic Names|publisher=[[United States Geological Survey]]|date=2007-10-25}}</ref>
}}

'''Franconia''' is a [[census-designated place]] (CDP) in [[Fairfax County, Virginia|Fairfax County]], [[Virginia]], United States. The population was 18,943 at the 2020 census.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Franconia CDP, Virginia |url=https://data.census.gov/profile/Franconia_CDP,_Virginia?g=160XX00US5129552 |access-date=2024-01-27 |website=data.census.gov}}</ref>

Located just southwest of [[Alexandria, Virginia|Alexandria]], Franconia has existed as a community since the 1870s, when a station by that name opened on the [[Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad|RF&P]] Railroad. Like most of the surrounding area, however, it began to develop into its present suburban form only in the 1950s. The CDP extends south to just north of the border of [[Fort Belvoir]], encompassing neighborhoods such as Manchester Lakes and Windsor Estates. Street addresses have Alexandria [[ZIP Code]]s 22310 and 22315. It is near the [[Springfield Mall (Virginia)|Springfield Mall]] shopping area and the [[Franconia–Springfield station|Franconia–Springfield Washington Metro station]].

==Geography==
Franconia is located in southeastern Fairfax County at {{coord|38.763351|-77.150328|type:city_region:US-VA|format=dms|display=inline}} (38.763351, −77.150328).<ref name="GR1">{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/geographies/reference-files/time-series/geo/gazetteer-files.html|publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]]|access-date=2011-04-23|date=2011-02-12|title=US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990}}</ref> It is bordered to the west by [[Springfield, Virginia|Springfield]], to the north by [[Lincolnia, Virginia|Lincolnia]], to the northeast by [[Rose Hill, Fairfax County, Virginia|Rose Hill]], to the east by [[Kingstowne, Virginia|Kingstowne]], and to the south by [[Newington, Virginia|Newington]]. It is {{convert|13|mi}} southwest of [[Washington, D.C.]]

According to the [[United States Census Bureau]], the Franconia CDP has a total area of {{convert|9.0|sqkm|order=flip}}, of which {{convert|0.02|sqkm|order=flip|2}}, or 0.18%, is water.<ref name="Census 2010">{{Cite web |title=Geographic Identifiers: 2010 Demographic Profile Data (G001): Franconia CDP, Virginia |url=http://factfinder2.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/DEC/10_DP/G001/1600000US5129552 |access-date=October 4, 2016 |publisher=U.S. Census Bureau, American Factfinder}}{{dead link|bot=medic|date=April 2020}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref>

==History==
Franconia Road once served as a [[rolling road]] to bring [[tobacco]] hogsheads to the port at Alexandria.<ref name="snappages.site1">{{cite web|url=https://myrosehill.snappages.site/mission|title=Franconia Museum - Mission|website=myrosehill.snappages.site|access-date=19 April 2018}}</ref> The surrounding community derives its name from the "Frankhonia Farm", which sat on a portion of a tract of 191 acres purchased from Joseph Broders of Oak Grove Farm in 1859 by William Fowle, a merchant from [[Alexandria, Virginia|Alexandria]]. Fowle's son, Robert Rollins Fowle, sold 18 acres of the property to the [[Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad|Alexandria & Fredericksburg Railway Company]] in 1871 for the erection of a [[railway station]], which took its name of the farm. The station was the site of the Garfield Post Office from 1881 until 1890, and again from 1898 until 1907. In 1903, it was relocated after a fire from its original site, near Fleet Drive, to the north side of [[List of secondary state highways in Virginia#SR 644 (Fairfax County)|Franconia Road]]. The railway station remained in regular service until around 1953. Today, it is memorialized with a historic marker erected by the [[Fairfax County History Commission]] in 2000, located in front of the Franconia Governmental Center.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.hmdb.org/Marker.asp?Marker=158|title=Franconia Historical Marker|access-date=10 April 2018}}</ref> For many years the center of the community was Wards Corner, at the intersection of Franconia Road and Old Rolling Road. Over twenty-five years the complex grew to include a gas station, grocery store, bar, movie theater, and dance hall; a 1959 fire destroyed everything at the site.<ref name="snappages.site">{{cite web|url=https://myrosehill.snappages.site/historic-map|title=Franconia Museum - Historic Map|website=myrosehill.snappages.site|access-date=19 April 2018}}</ref>
[[File:Shops in the Festival at Manchester shopping plaza.jpg|thumb|left|Shops at the Festival at Manchester Lakes shopping plaza]]

The Franconia area was the site of a skirmish in January 1862, during the [[American Civil War]]. Colonel [[Wade Hampton III]], having led a group of cavalrymen across the [[Occoquan River]] past [[Pohick Church]], encountered a group of Union cavalry in the area and gave chase. Being warned by a Texas scout that he was soon to enter an ambush, Hampton stopped short and formed a squadron on top of Potter's Hill. The trap having failed, both sides began firing at each other; several soldiers were wounded, including one of Hampton's men who was shot in the face. The Confederates then retreated across the Occoquan.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.hmdb.org/Marker.asp?Marker=106896|title=The Spy with the Glass Eye Historical Marker|access-date=19 April 2018}}</ref> In later years Potter's Hill was the site of three schoolhouses, the last of them burning in 1932; more recently it was the site of a chicken farm and, later, a gravel [[quarry]] which provided material for the construction of the first [[Woodrow Wilson Bridge]]. Today the location is the site of the Hilltop Village Center.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.hmdb.org/Marker.asp?Marker=106894|title=Potter's Hill Historical Marker|access-date=19 April 2018}}</ref> Members of the Potter family are buried at the Millan family cemetery, located nearby on the former grounds of the Millan family home, Dairy Lodge.<ref name="snappages.site"/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://fxgs.org/cemeteryRecords.php?cid=233|title=Fairfax Genealogical Society, Inc - Cemetery Records|website=fxgs.org|access-date=19 April 2018}}</ref>

The Franconia Volunteer Fire Department was organized in 1934; its first firehouse, completed in 1937, stood where the government center is located today. Today the department continues to serve the community from two locations in the vicinity.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.franconiavfd.org/AboutUs/History.aspx|title=Franconia Volunteer Fire Department > About Us > History|last=Franconia Volunteer Fire Department|website=www.franconiavfd.org|access-date=19 April 2018}}</ref>

Franconia is also the site of the Laurel Grove Colored School and Church, organized as a congregation of former slaves in the 1880s. The school site was deeded to the Virginia School System in 1881 by Georgianna and William Jasper for $10; the school served the community until 1932. In 1884, the couple provided another half-acre for a church to be built next to the school.<ref name="auto">{{cite web|url=https://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=86181&Result=1|title=Laurel Grove Colored School and Church Historical Marker|access-date=10 April 2018}}</ref> Laurel Grove Baptist Church stood until being destroyed by an electrical fire in December 2004.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/26/AR2007122601864.html|title=In Franconia, a House Divided|first=Amy|last=Gardner|date=27 December 2007|access-date=10 April 2018|via=www.washingtonpost.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.firehouse.com/home/news/10515197/fire-guts-more-than-100yearold-alexandria-virginia-church|title=Fire Guts More Than 100-Year-Old Alexandria, Virginia Church|access-date=10 April 2018}}</ref> The church cemetery still exists,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://chnm.gmu.edu/laurelgrove/items/show/104|title=Teaching with Laurel Grove School - Laurel Grove Cemetery|website=chnm.gmu.edu|access-date=10 April 2018}}</ref> as does the school building, which was honored in 2008 with the erection of a historical marker by the Fairfax County History Commission.<ref name="auto"/> A number of other churches have existed in the neighborhood over the years, including Sharon Chapel, founded in 1848<ref>{{cite web|url=https://fxgs.org/cemeteryRecords.php?cid=239|title=Fairfax Genealogical Society, Inc - Cemetery Records|website=fxgs.org|access-date=19 April 2018}}</ref> and counting [[Phillips Brooks]] among its early seminarians, and Olivet Episcopal Church.<ref name="snappages.site"/> Adjacent to Sharon Chapel is a cemetery,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/library_cemeteries/Cemetery.aspx?number=FX101|title=All Saints Episcopal Church - Sharon Chapel - Cemeteries - Fairfax County, Virginia|website=www.fairfaxcounty.gov|access-date=19 April 2018}}</ref> one of several in the area; another marks the former site of Oak Grove plantation, which was demolished in 1996 to make way for an assisted living facility.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/library_cemeteries/Cemetery.aspx?number=FX051|title=Broders Family Cemetery - Cemeteries - Fairfax County, Virginia|website=www.fairfaxcounty.gov|access-date=19 April 2018}}</ref> Other cemeteries can be found along Beulah Street.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://fxgs.org/cemeteryRecords.php?cid=234|title=Fairfax Genealogical Society, Inc - Cemetery Records|website=fxgs.org|access-date=19 April 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://fxgs.org/cemeteryRecords.php?lv=C&cid=226&sortCol=lna|title=Fairfax Genealogical Society, Inc - Cemetery Records|website=fxgs.org|access-date=19 April 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://fxgs.org/cemeteryRecords.php?cid=229|title=Fairfax Genealogical Society, Inc - Cemetery Records|website=fxgs.org|access-date=19 April 2018}}</ref>

The Franconia area is represented in the [[Virginia House of Delegates]] by [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrat]] [[Mark D. Sickles]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://votesmart.org/candidate/biography/50781/mark-sickles|title=The Voter's Self Defense System|website=Vote Smart|access-date=19 April 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.marksickles.com/|title=Mark Sickles|website=Mark Sickles|access-date=19 April 2018}}</ref> Other residents have included former South Carolina Congressman [[William Waters Boyce]], who purchased the house Ashland and 195 acres of farmland after the Civil War.<ref name="snappages.site"/>

The history of the Franconia community and the surrounding area is preserved and interpreted by the Franconia Museum, located in the Franconia Governmental Center.<ref name="snappages.site1"/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://myrosehill.snappages.site/map-hours|title=Franconia Museum - Map & Hours|website=myrosehill.snappages.site|access-date=19 April 2018}}</ref>

==Demographics==
=== 2020 census ===
At the [[2020 United States census|2020 census]] (some information from the [[American Community Survey|2022 American Community Survey]]) there were 18,943 people, 7,698 housing units and 7,456 households residing in the CDP. The [[population density]] was 5,459.1 inhabitants per square mile (2,107.1/km<sup>2</sup>). The average housing unit density was 2,218.4 per square mile (856.3/km<sup>2</sup>). The racial makeup of the CDP was 45.37% [[Race and ethnicity in the United States census#2020 census|White]], 20.36% [[Race and ethnicity in the United States census#2020 census|African American]], 0.62% [[Race and ethnicity in the United States census#2020 census|Native American]], 16.62% [[Race and ethnicity in the United States census#2020 census|Asian]], 0.21% [[Race and ethnicity in the United States census#2020 census|Pacific Islander]], 4.84% from [[Race and ethnicity in the United States census#2020 census|other races]], and 11.97% from two or more races. [[Race and ethnicity in the United States census#2020 census|Hispanic]] or [[Race and ethnicity in the United States census#2020 census|Latino]] of any race was 13.60% of the population.<ref name=":0" />

Of the households, 7.4% were non-family households, 49.3% were married couple families, 18.1% were a male family householder with no spouse, and 25.2% were a female family householder with no spouse. The average family household had 3.06 people.<ref name=":0" />

The median age was 40.4, 17.8% of people were under the age of 18, and 13.7% were 65 years of age or older. The largest ancestry is the 8.0% who had [[German Americans|German ancestry]], 35.3% spoke a language other than [[English language|English]] at home, and 27.4% were born outside the United States, 78.2% of whom were [[Naturalized citizen of the United States|naturalized citizens]].<ref name=":0" />

The median income for a household in the CDP was $143,322, and the median income for a family was $172,264. 10.0% of the population were [[Veteran#United States|military veterans]], and 65.3% had a [[bachelor's degree]] or [[Higher degree|higher]]. In the CDP 4.0% of the population was below the [[poverty line]], including 5.2% of those under the age of 18 and 5.0% of those aged 65 or over, with 5.7% of the population without [[Health insurance in the United States|health insurance]].<ref name=":0" />

=== 2010 census ===
The population was 18,245 at the 2010 census,<ref name="Census 2010" /> down from 31,907 in 2000 due to the splitting off of part of it to form the [[Kingstowne, Virginia|Kingstowne]] CDP.

=== 2000 census ===
As of the [[census]]<ref name="GR2" /> of 2000, there were 31,907 people, 13,284 households, and 8,182 families residing in the CDP. The population density was {{convert|4,465.3|PD/sqmi|PD/km2|sp=us|adj=off}}. There were 13,509 housing units at an average density of {{convert|1,890.6|/sqmi|/km2|sp=us|adj=off}}. The racial makeup of the CDP was 69.26% [[White (U.S. Census)|White]], 13.57% [[African American (U.S. Census)|African American]], 0.30% [[Native American (U.S. Census)|Native American]], 10.72% [[Asian (U.S. Census)|Asian]], 0.11% [[Pacific Islander (U.S. Census)|Pacific Islander]], 2.28% from [[Race (United States Census)|other races]], and 3.77% from two or more races. [[Hispanic (U.S. Census)|Hispanic]] or [[Latino (U.S. Census)|Latino]] of any race were 7.32% of the population.

There were 13,284 households, out of which 29.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.4% were [[Marriage|married couples]] living together, 8.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 38.4% were non-families. 28.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 2.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.40 and the average family size was 3.01.

In the CDP, the population was spread out, with 21.9% under the age of 18, 6.2% from 18 to 24, 43.4% from 25 to 44, 23.8% from 45 to 64, and 4.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females, there were 92.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.8 males.

According to a 2007 estimate, the median income for a household in the CDP was $100,161, and the median income for a family was $106,998. Males had a median income of $56,890 versus $46,138 for females. The [[per capita income]] for the CDP was $37,134. About 1.8% of families and 2.8% of the population were below the [[poverty line]], including 3.2% of those under age 18 and 2.2% of those age 65 or over.

==References==
<references />

{{commons category}}

{{Fairfax County, Virginia}}
{{South Alexandria}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Census-designated places in Fairfax County, Virginia]]
[[Category:Census-designated places in Virginia]]
[[Category:Washington metropolitan area]]