09/07/2022
On this day in Arlington history, July 9, 1846: Congress votes to return all the District's territory south of the Potomac River back to the Commonwealth of Virginia. President James Polk will sign the legislation into law on the following day. Return of DC’s Virginia county was an arduous process.
The Organic Act of 1801 organized the District of Columbia and put it under Congressional control. The District was organized into two counties, Washington on the east side of the Potomac River, and Alexandria on the west side. With this act, district resident were no longer residents of Maryland or Virginia and had no representation in Congress.
In the 1830s, efforts grew to reunite the southern portion of the District with Virginia. Alexandria City had gone into economic decline due to neglect of the area by Congress and the city needed infrastructure improvements to compete with other ports in the area like Georgetown. A 1791 amendment to the Residence Act specifically prohibited the "er****on of the public buildings otherwise than on the Maryland side of the river Potomac." The institutions of the federal government, including the White House and the United States Capitol were exclusively located in Washington on the east side of the Potomac River. This made Alexandria less important to the functioning of the national government. Alexandria was also a major market in the American slave trade and rumors circulated that abolitionists in Congress were attempting to end slavery in the nation's capital, which would have seriously harmed the area's economy.
In early 1846, Virginia General Assembly agreed to accept Alexandria’s petitions to reunite the western county of DC with the state clearing the way for Congressional advocates to urge passage of the bill in Congress. After fervent lobbying by Alexandrians, the 29th Congress passed the legislation on July 9, 1846, returning Virginian land south of the Potomac River but only after approval by Alexandrian voters.
The Virginia referendum on retrocession was held on September 1–2, 1846. The residents of the city of Alexandria voted in favor of the retrocession, 763 to 222. The residents of Alexandria County—the more rural area of Alexandria County and what would become Arlington County--voted against retrocession 106 to 29. Farmers sought to maintain their connection to DC to sell their goods. Despite the objections of those living in Alexandria County, President Polk certified the referendum and issued a proclamation of transfer on September 7, 1846.
The Virginia legislature, however, still didn’t immediately accept the retrocession offer. Virginia legislators were concerned that the people of Alexandria County had not been properly included in the retrocession proceedings. After months of debate, the Virginia General Assembly voted to formally accept the retrocession legislation on March 13, 1847.
At the start of the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln attempted to have the Virginia portion re-annexed over security concerns, but was rejected by the Senate.
