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DHistory
History · Dunn Loring

Dunn Loring’s post office opened in 1886

More historic than 13% of U.S. towns · #177 of 253 in Virginia. What drives it

Most of Dunn Loring was built recently: 0.8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1979. Below: maps from 1900 on and the census since 2000.

1886first post office
0on the National Register
0.8%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Ser Amantio di Nicolao · CC BY-SA 3.0
Quick answers

How Dunn Loring began

When was Dunn Loring founded?

1886

The Dunn Loring post office opened in 1886, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 7,861 in 20002020 census: 9,464140 years

How historic is Dunn Loring?

D

More historic than 13% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Dunn Loring post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Dunn Loring’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Dunn Loring is more historic than 13% of U.S. towns, #177 of 253 in Virginia. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

D
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Dunn Loring’s overall grade.
Founding era1886, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19400.8% of homes (±1.0) · typical VA town 1.9% · U.S. 8.4%DNational RegisterNo listings counted · typical VA town 3.6 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 13%
NewerOlder
Virginia towns of 2,500+ (253)Ahead of 30%

Virginia towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Virginia town has 3.6 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Dunn Loring’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (17% of Virginia towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would still be D. The pre-1940 share (±1.0 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.

Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →

What stands out about Dunn Loring’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Dunn Loring are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19007 editions of the USGS map, 1900 to 1994. Watch Dunn Loring change.Lost villages4 hamlets and corners are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Dunn Loring’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Dunn Loring’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Dunn Loring on the map, 1900 to 1994

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Dunn Loring. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Dunn Loring on the 1900 USGS mapDunn Loring on the 1945 USGS mapDunn Loring on the 1951 USGS mapDunn Loring on the 1965 USGS mapDunn Loring on the 1971 USGS mapDunn Loring on the 1984 USGS mapDunn Loring on the 1994 USGS map1900Washington sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Dunn Loring.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

Dunn Loring had its own post office from 1886 to 1972.

Dunn Loring
1886–1972
18801950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Dunn Loring WoodsEnolaGlenmereStonewall Manor
1cemetery inside Dunn Loring
Williams Family

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

The story

How Dunn Loring came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Dunn Loring.

Read it all →

Dunn Loring (archaic "Dunn-Loring"), the earliest platted subdivision in Fairfax County and possibly the Commonwealth of Virginia, was founded in 1886. General William McKee Dunn and his wife Elizabeth Lanier Dunn purchased about 600 acres (2.4 km2) located on the Washington, Ohio and Western Railroad, now the Washington and Old Dominion Regional Trail, from L. B. Clarke and his wife on June 8, 1886. On September 22, 1886, the land was transferred to the Loring Land and Improvement Company, composed of General Dunn, then a retired Army brigadier general and former Judge Advocate General; George B. Loring, a former congressman and Commissioner of Agriculture; and George H. LeFetra, a Washington temperance hotel proprietor. The Town of Dunn Loring was advertised for residential sales in 1887. The Loring Land and Improvement Company built a railroad station and a post office, but shortly t…

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Dunn Loring, 1886 to 1972

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1886Post officeThe Dunn Loring post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1900On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 1972Post officeThe Dunn Loring post office closes
By decade

Dunn Loring, decade by decade

Today6 recent
2018-10-23 12 36 16 View west along Interstate 66 and the Orange Line of the Washington Metro from the overpass for Ced…20182018-10-23 12 36 16 View west along Interstate 66 and…2016-01-22 08 40 33 View south along the outer loop of the Capital Beltway (Interstate 495) at Exit 49 (Interstate 66 w…20162016-01-22 08 40 33 View south along the outer loop o…2016-01-22 08 40 00 Variable message sign reading "Blizzard Warning - Fri-Sat" along the southbound outer loop of the C…20162016-01-22 08 40 00 Variable message sign reading "Bl…2016-01-22 08 39 47 View south along the outer loop of the Capital Beltway (Interstate 495) near Exit 49 (Interstate 66…20162016-01-22 08 39 47 View south along the outer loop o…Dunn Loring Fire Station2013Dunn Loring Fire StationDunn Loring, VA, USA2010Dunn Loring, VA, USA
People over time

Dunn Loring, census by census

02,0004,0006,0008,00010,00020002020Peak: 9,464

Between 7,861 and 9,464 people in every census since 2000.

3 censuses, 2000–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Dunn Loring’s Wikipedia page.

Famous people

Famous people close to Dunn Loring

Nobody well known was born in Dunn Loring itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Sandra BullockAmerican actress and film producer · b. 1964
Jason SudeikisAmerican actor and comedian · b. 1975
Ariel WinterAmerican actress · b. 1998
David M. BrownAmerican astronaut · b. 1956
K
Katie CouricAmerican journalist, presenter, producer, and a… · b. 1957
Taryn ManningAmerican actress, singer and songwriter · b. 1978
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Vienna1 historic placeB−TysonsIts storyDMerrifieldIts storyDIdylwoodIts storyD−

Questions about Dunn Loring’s history

What year was Dunn Loring founded?

The Dunn Loring post office opened in 1886, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Dunn Loring rank for history?

Dunn Loring is more historic than 13% of U.S. towns, #177 of 253 in Virginia. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.

How old are the homes in Dunn Loring?

0.8% of Dunn Loring’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.0 points), against a typical 1.9% for a Virginia town; the median home was built in 1979.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

From Wikimedia Commons (6), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.