Land Development

J.H. Colton's topographical map of Virginia, Maryland & eastn. Tennessee : & part of adjoining states.
showing map showing Alexandria-Loudoun, and Hampshire Railroad (now the W&OD Trail) in 1861
Source: Library of Congress

Questions to Explore This Week

1) Read material relevant to a previous class: History of the Luck Stone Quarry Site Fairfax County, Virginia ca. 1928

2) explore Civil War-era maps of Northern Virginia to see how the region was developed/undeveloped 150 years ago:
- J.H. Colton's topographical map of Virginia, Maryland & eastn. Tennessee : & part of adjoining states
- Topographical map of Virginia between Washington and Manassas Junction
- McDowell's 1862 "Map of n. eastern Virginia and vicinity of Washington"

Occoquan in 1862, as depicted on McDowell's map
(can you find the quarry behind the modern Fairfax Water drinking water treatment plant,
across Route 123 from old Lorton prison?)
Source: Library of Congress

3) The basics:
- Land Ownership 101
- From Bundle of Rights to Zoning
- Local Zoning, Eminent Domain, and the "Bundle of Rights" in Virginia
- Land Use Planning in Virginia

4) Land Office Records
- About the Virginia Land Office Patents and Grants/Northern Neck Grant and Surveys
- search in Land Office Grants for William Fitzhugh's Ravensworth grant
- Land Records General Information for Fairfax County
- Land RecordsTax and Fee Schedule for Prince William County
- Northern Virginia Congestion Relief Fee Guide
- Tax on Home Sales in N.Va. Is Soon to Go Up Fivefold
- at the Virginia Courts Deed Calculation site, calculate an RFDT transaction

5) Property Boundaries
- explore the plan of Alexandria
- Surveyors and Mapmakers
- George Washington: Surveyor and Mapmaker

6) Planning vs. Zoning

7) Regional vs. Local Planning in Northern Virginia