Van Dorn Street Metro Station

Here follows an excerpt from Nathaniel Lee's book, "The Iron Road of Franconia" regarding the station:

Even before the RF&P Railroad had closed Newington Station, the last passenger rail station in the Franconia area in 1971, plans were already moving forward on a new project to bring commuter rail service back to the Franconia area in the form of the Washington Metro subway system. Construction began in the District of Columbia in 1969, but expansion along the existing RF&P Railroad right-of-way into Fairfax County would not occur for twenty more years. Metro officials had acquired land for the Van Dorn Street Station as early as 1977, and plans for expanding to Springfield were on paper by 1986, yet funding delays hampered progress. It would not be until June 15, 1991, that Metro finally extended service to the Van Dorn Street Station.

The choice of the Van Dorn name is an interesting one. The roadway formerly known as the Old Lincolnia Road was a part of Fairfax County until 1952. Upon annexation by the City of Alexandria, a law on the books required all new north-south streets to have names honoring Confederate military officers. In 1953, the road was renamed Van Dorn Street to honor Major General Earl Van Dorn.

Born in 1820 in Mississippi, he would embark on a career as an Army officer fighting with distinction in the Mexican War and the tribal wars. During the American Civil War, he served as a major general in the Confederate Army of Tennessee. Called “the terror of ugly husbands,” his womanizing ways repeatedly landed him into trouble. In May of 1863, Dr. James Peters claimed Van Dorn had an affair with his wife while using his home as a headquarters building. Peters snuck into the office with Van Dorn and shot him in the back, killing him instantly. His family laid Earl Van Dorn to rest at his home in Port Gibson, Mississippi.

Van Dorn Station remained the southwestern terminus of the Blue Line for six years. In 1997, Metro extended the tracks out to Franconia-Springfield Station. It is located just to the south of Springfield Mall on the site of the former Windsor Stop on the Alexandria and Fredericksburg Railway. However, early plans could have had the Metro system looking very different in the Franconia neighborhood. Early construction proposals brought forward by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority in 1969 had the Blue and Yellow lines both serving Van Dorn Street Station. Not too surprising, but west of the station is where things got interesting.

In the 1969 plan, the Yellow Line trains would continue west out of Van Dorn Street Station and directly follow the RF&P Railroad right-of-way to serve a terminus at “Franconia Metro Station.” Metro officials considered building this station just north of Franconia Road on the property where the old Franconia railroad station was located for many years. The plan also allowed for a Yellow Line extension south to Fort Belvoir, Woodbridge or points beyond. The Blue Line trains would continue west out of Van Dorn Street Station and run between the Southern Railway tracks to the north and the Capital Beltway to the south. The Blue Line would reach its terminus at the “Backlick Road Metro Station” where today the historic Springfield Station stands to serve the Virginia Railway Express line to Manassas. The plan also allowed for a Blue Line extension west through Springfield, Burke and points beyond.

Known as the “J” route, the proposed extension kept appearing for about a few years in the published maps. Local resistance to a Metro station at the former Franconia Station site ultimately killed the proposed route. Residents of the neighborhood, lead by future Land Use Committee chairman Liles Creighton, were wary of putting a high-density project like a subway station adjacent to the many low-density bedroom communities that had developed in the area. A second look at the plan showed the wisdom in placing a station in a higher-density area like the Springfield Mall, which had just opened for business to rousing crowds and visits from the British royal family. With Metro officials already considering the running of two separate branch lines as too costly, the two planned stations combined into the one Franconia-Springfield Station that exists today.