18th century Ballston is named after the Ball family, and one of their family cemeteries lies in the neighborhood at N. Stafford Street and Fairfax Drive, also known as
VA State Route 237. Ballston began as Birch's Crossroads, and later became Ball's Crossroads at what is now the intersection of
N. Glebe Road and
Wilson Boulevard. A historical marker that stands near the southeastern corner of the intersection reads: This intersection has been a focal point since about 1740, when two roads were developed, one from the future site of
Alexandria to the mouth of
Pimmit Run, the other from Awbury’s Ferry (at the site of Rosslyn) to
The Falls Church. The first came to be known as the Glebe Road because it passed the
glebe of Fairfax Parish and in order to distinguish it from other roads to the Falls. The second was eventually named Wilson Boulevard in honor of President Wilson. The intersection became known as Ball’s Crossroads when Ball’s Tavern was established here in the early 1800s.
20th century A historical marker near the northwestern corner of Fairfax Drive and N. Stafford Street, one block east of the
Ballston–MU station, at the former site of the Ballston trolley station, states: By 1900, a well-defined village called Central Ballston had developed in the area bounded by the present-day Wilson Boulevard, Taylor Street, Washington Boulevard, and Pollard Street. More diffuse settlement extended westward to Lubber Run and southward along Glebe Road to Henderson Road. The track of the Washington, Arlington, and Falls Church Electric Railroad ran along what is now Fairfax Drive; the Ballston Station was at Ballston Avenue, now North Stuart Street. Here Clements Avenue, now Stafford Street, divided to pass on either side of an old Ball family graveyard. In 1912, a competing interurban electric trolley line, the
Washington and Old Dominion Railway constructed a branch that crossed the WA&FC near the west end of Ballston, then called Lacey, near a WA&FC car barn and railyard.
Interstate 66 and the
Bluemont Junction Trail now follow the route of this railroad branch between
Rosslyn and the
Washington and Old Dominion Railroad Regional Park in Bluemont Park. A historical marker entitled "Lacey Car Barn" located near the northwest corner of N. Glebe Road and Fairfax Drive states:In 1896, the Washington, Arlington & Falls Church Railway began running electric trolleys from Rosslyn to Falls Church on the present routes of Fairfax Drive and I-66. By 1907, the Fairfax trolley linked Fairfax, Vienna, and Ballston with
downtown Washington, D.C. In 1910, at this location, the railway built a car barn, railyard, workshops, electrical substation, and general office. In 1912, the rival
Washington and Old Dominion Railroad began crossing the tracks on a bridge 200 yards west of here, following the present route of
I-66 from Rosslyn. The Fairfax trolley closed in 1939, but Metrorail’s Orange Line follows its route through Arlington. In 1951, the Parkington Shopping Center opened at the intersection, formerly known as Balls Crossroads on the site of present-day
Ballston Quarter. Parkington was anchored by the headquarters location of the
Hecht Company, and was reputed to have the largest parking garage in the nation when it opened. Ballston contains a section known as
Virginia Square, which takes its name from the
Virginia Square Shopping Center that once stood there. Virginia Square is served by the
Virginia Square–GMU station.
Ballston and Virginia Square-GMU
metro stations are within a 1/2 mile walking distance from each other. The area is sometimes collectively known as Ballston-Virginia Square. ==Shopping and recreation==