Culmore, Virginia Explained

Culmore, Virginia
Settlement Type:Unincorporated community
Pushpin Map:USA Virginia Northern#USA Virginia#USA
Pushpin Label:Culmore
Pushpin Label Position:left
Subdivision Type:Country
Subdivision Name:United States
Subdivision Type1:State
Subdivision Name1:Virginia
Subdivision Type2:County
Subdivision Name2:Fairfax
Unit Pref:Imperial
Population As Of:2000
Population Density Km2:auto
Timezone:Eastern (EST)
Utc Offset:-5
Timezone Dst:EDT
Utc Offset Dst:-4
Coordinates:38.8558°N -77.14°W
Postal Code Type:ZIP codes
Blank Name:FIPS code
Blank1 Name:GNIS feature ID

Culmore, Virginia is a small commercial center in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. It sits between Seven Corners and the Skyline area on State Route 7.

Overview

A part of a larger, unincorporated area known as Bailey's Crossroads, Culmore derives its name from the Culmore Shopping Center which forms its heart. The center is located on the south side of Route 7, or Leesburg Pike, and is situated within the loop formed by Route 7, Glen Carlyn Road, Argyle Drive, and Glen Carlyn Drive.

Culmore Shopping Center contains the Peking Gourmet Inn restaurant, in which President George H.W. Bush dined.

"Culmore" has in recent decades become a place name describing both the shopping center and adjacent buildings, including St. Anthony of Padua Roman Catholic Church and a large group of garden-style apartment homes which are located behind the shopping center. The area is almost entirely inhabited by people of Hispanic, especially Central American, ancestry.

Bailey's Crossroads, in which Culmore Shopping Center is situated, is served by the post office in Falls Church, Virginia and all homes and businesses in the area bear Falls Church postal addresses. Bailey's Crossroads has no local government and falls within the Mason District of the Fairfax County government.[1]

During the American Civil War the Culmore area was the scene of sharpshooting, fighting and repeated skirmishes, particularly during the opening phase of the war when Confederate troops occupied Munson's Hill and Upton's Hill and Culmore formed a "no man's land" between the opposing forces, with Union soldiers encamped to the east.[2]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Archived copy . 2010-03-17 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20100527190147/http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/maps/images/maps/handouts/pdf07/SupervisorDistricts.pdf . 2010-05-27 .
  2. Bradley E. Gernand, A Virginia Village Goes to War--Falls Church During the Civil War (Donning Company: Virginia Beach, 2002), pp. 16-17, 68-69, 72, 74, 83, 139-141, 205.