19th century Known originally as Peach Grove, the area received the designation "Tysons Crossroads" after the
Civil War. William Tyson, a
Maryland native from
Cecil County, purchased a tract of land from
A. Lawrence Foster. Tyson served as postmaster of the now discontinued Peach Grove Post Office from 1854 to 1866.
20th century As recently as the 1950s, Tysons was a quiet rural intersection flanked by a few small stores and a fruit stand operated by the Tyson descendants, who sold apples and apple cider from the corner of their property. In 1963, the Tysons area moved from a country crossroads to a giant commercial urban area with the awarding of contracts at the interchange of
VA Route 7 and
VA Route 123. In 1962, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors approved the
Tysons Corner Shopping Center, now Tysons Corner Center, which was planned to be within a triangle bordered by
Chain Bridge Road,
Leesburg Pike, and the
Capital Beltway. Developers proclaimed it the largest enclosed mall in the world when it opened on July 25, 1968.
21st century at
Tysons Corner Center in 2001 In the early 21st century, an influx of technology companies into
Northern Virginia led to new office buildings and hotels to the landscape. The rapid growth of Tysons in comparison to other locations near the Capital Beltway has been the topic of numerous studies. One factor was the aggressive promotion of Tysons by Earle Williams, for many years the CEO of the defense contracting firm
Braddock Dunn & McDonald. In November 2012, the county approved Arbor Row, a mixed-used development of office and residential high-rises, ground-floor retail, and underground parking near the Tysons Corner (now ) station. In April 2013, the county approved
Scotts Run Station South, a development containing 17 buildings, including six office and residential buildings, one hotel, and ground-floor retail near the
McLean Station. This development alone will be larger than
Reston Town Center. Ahead of the Washington Metro
Silver Line opening in mid-2014, the
Fairfax County Board of Supervisors and the Tysons Partnership, a nonprofit association that represents the area's stakeholders, began rebranding the area as simply "Tysons", dropping "Corner" from the name. The change started as a matter of convenience, but later took hold to market the change in the area's character, according to members of the board. The change was unofficial at the time, and either "Tysons" or "Tysons Corner" could be used in addresses. But in November 2015, the U.S. Census Bureau announced the CDP's name would officially be changed to Tysons as of the next summer. Tysons is seen as a modern prototype of an edge city. In its 40-year history, it has been given substantial redevelopment offers for the next 20 to 30 years. The area has seen growing interest as plans to make it an
urban center were begun in 2010. Private-sector development in the
United States in combination with political groups have begun the planning process behind the redevelopment of Tysons. Two forces are at work in the creation of an edge city, as it can be beneficial to both parties. With the redevelopment process taking place there has been an aggressive push to bring in businesses to Tysons. Edge cities such as Tysons have specific regional accessibility that has been enhanced by major projects funded by federal and state governments. One of the bigger enhancements to transportation specifically to Tysons was the construction "of the
Washington Dulles International Airport and an associated access road and the
Capital Beltway but also expansions to state roads". The plan remains to see Tysons become Fairfax County's downtown core. So far, "eight districts have been delimited, with four centered on new metro stations being transit-oriented development districts". Future plans for transportation around the area continue to be made. "The aims of the plan are for 75% of development to be within half a mile of metro stations, an urban center of 200,000 jobs and 100,000 residents, a jobs balance of 4.0 per household". ==Geography==