The town of Annandale is located in the north-eastern part Fairfax county, Virginia, roughly 10 miles from the nation's capitol, Washington, D.C. It was founded in 1830 when the land the town is located on was renamed by the community inhabiting it. Tracing the roots back several hundred years, Annandale started out as one of the largest tobacco plantations in Northern Virginia. The land owner, Col. William H. Fitzhugh, converted over 20,000 acres of wilderness in 1685 into a family business then known as Ravensworth. Descendants slowly sold off portions of the land until the area was turned into a town and renamed.
The town is roughly 13.8 square miles in area dimension and houses the the first toll road in America, Little River Turnpike. The town center is just two miles east of Interstate 495 on Route 236. There are currently 42,000 residents in Annandale, most of whom live outside the town limits. The current economy is based largely on ENSCO, Inc. and Computer Sciences Corporation, which is headquartered in Annandale, and two ExxonMobil headquarters: Downstream Operations and ExxonMobil Aviation. These can be found in the Annandale, VA yellow pages.As of 2006, the Annandale, VA business directory listed over 900 Korean businesses within the city. In 2010, the Annandale, VA yellow pages had a listing for at least 65 Korean-owned restaurants, some of which catered to Koreans only, while most were attempting to branch out, demographically speaking. Other businesses in the area include Annandale Family Medicine, First Federal Savings & Loan, Fertility and Reproductive Health Center, Law Offices Of Fredricks & Stephens, P.C., and Yong Sung Lee Hapmudo Studio. Local organizations include the Chesapeake Chapter of the US Lighthouse Society, Knights of Columbus #8403, Annandale Toastmasters, and the Hillbrook/TallOaks Civic Association.
Annadale's public school system is extensive and encompasses many households. The facilities include Holmes Middle School, Edgar Allan Poe Middle School, Annandale Terrace Elementary School, Columbia Elementary School, Canterbury Woods Elementary School, and Wakefield Forest Elementary School. The high schools include Annandale High School, Falls Church High School, and Woodson High School. The most notable high school is Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology. A part of the Virginia Governor's Schools Program, it was ranked the #1 public high school in the by U.S. News and World Report in 2008, 2009, and 2010 by U.S. News and World Report. Private schools include Grasshopper Green, Kenwood School, and Wei Hwa Chinese School.
Written by Lyndsey Morgan
