Langley, Virginia

Langley is an unincorporated community in the census-designated place of McLean in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. The name "Langley" often occurs as a metonym for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), as the community is home to the CIA headquarters, the George Bush Center for Intelligence. The land which makes up Langley today once belonged to Thomas Lee, former Crown Governor of the Colony of Virginia from 1749 to 1750. Lee's land was named Langley in honor of Langley Hall, which formed part of the Lee home estate in Shropshire, England.[2] In 1839 Benjamin Mackall purchased 700 acres (283 ha) of land from the Lee family,[3] while keeping the name.

This article is about the unincorporated community of Langley in McLean, Virginia. For the military installation in Hampton, Virginia, see Joint Base Langley–Eustis.

Langley, Virginia
Unincorporated community
Langley High School
Langley High School
Langley is located in Northern Virginia
Langley
Langley
Langley is located in Virginia
Langley
Langley
Langley is located in the United States
Langley
Langley
Coordinates: 38°56′47″N 77°9′32″W
CountryUnited States
StateVirginia
CountyFairfax
Time zoneUTC−5 (Eastern (EST))
 • Summer (DST)UTC−4 (EDT)
ZIP Codes
22101, 22102
GNIS feature ID1495816[1]
Langley High School, pictured here in June 2008, serves much of northeastern Fairfax County, Virginia. Visible on the left is the five stone memorial to the families affected by the September 11 attack on the Pentagon, the headquarters of the U.S. Department of Defense.

The community was essentially absorbed into McLean many years ago, although there is still a Langley High School.[4] In addition to its roles as a bedroom community for Washington, D.C., and as home to the CIA's headquarters, the area is the site of the Federal Highway Administration's Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center and formerly the Claude Moore Colonial Farm of the National Park Service, now permanently closed.

In the animated series American Dad!, the city of Langley Falls, Virginia, in which the show takes place, is loosely based on Langley, being depicted as a somewhat larger city as well as the headquarters of the CIA, where main character Stan Smith works as an agent.

"Weird Al" Yankovic's song "Party in The CIA" starts with the line "I moved out to Langley recently".

See also

References
  1. U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Langley, Virginia
  2. The CIA Campus: The Story of Original Headquarters Building
  3. Compare: Kessler, Ronald (January 10, 2012) [1992]. Inside the CIA. New York: Simon and Schuster. p. 347. ISBN 9781439140772. Retrieved June 4, 2023. [...] Benjamin Mackall, who acquired the Langley estate from the Lee family in 1836.
  4. "Langley HS Map" (PDF). Fairfax County Public Schools. 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 24, 2012. Retrieved October 6, 2008.
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