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 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 thereafter General Dunn died, and the development stagnated. During the Spanish–American War, the founding of Camp Russell A. Alger brought growth and prosperity to Dunn Loring, and among the troops trained at Camp Alger was the celebrated author-poet Carl Sandburg, after whom the present Sandburg Street was named. In 1912, Fairfax Shield McCandlish bought out the interests of the developers, consolidated parcels, and subdivided the land into its current platting. Following World War II, the area began to develop as part of Metropolitan Washington, D.C.

Dunn Loring is located in northeastern Fairfax County. It is bordered to the west by the town of Vienna, to the north by Tysons Corner, to the east by the Capital Beltway, and to the south by Interstate 66. Dunn Loring is 14 miles west of downtown Washington, D.C. Interstate 66 and Interstate 495 form the southern and eastern boundaries of Dunn Loring, respectively, and serve as the major roadways providing access to Dunn Loring. Dunn Loring is roughly equidistant from Washington Dulles International Airport, 16 miles to the west, and Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, 12 miles to the east. It is also served by the Dunn Loring station on the Washington Metro's Orange Line.

[Source: Wikipedia]