The Nacotchtank, also Anacostine, were an Algonquian Indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands.
During the 17th century, the Nacotchtank resided within the present-day borders of Washington, D.C., along the intersection of the Potomac and Anacostia rivers.
Arlington County, or simply Arlington, is a county in the U.S. state of Virginia. The county, which is located in the Washington metropolitan area and the broader Northern Virginia region, is positioned directly across from Washington, D.C., the national capital, on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River. The smallest self-governing county in the United States by area, Arlington County has both suburban and urbanized districts. Its urbanized districts are located in proximity to several Washington Metro stations and lines. Its seat of government is located in the Court House neighborhood, which hosts many of its administrative offices and county courthouse.
Originally part of the Nacotchtank tribe's territory prior to the establishment of the Colony of Virginia in 1606, English colonists began settling in Arlington by the 1670s; the area was eventually designated as part of Fairfax County in 1742. The colonial-era economy was mostly based in tobacco agriculture operated with enslaved labor and indentured servants on large plantations. Following the end of the Revolutionary War, Arlington's planters and yeoman farmers transitioned to other crops. Virginia ceded present-day Arlington to help form the District of Columbia, and from 1801 the area was known as Alexandria County; it was eventually retroceded back to Virginia in 1847 as a result of pressure from Alexandria, which was the county's primary commercial center.
The Anacostia River /ænəˈkɒstiə/ is a river in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It flows from Prince George's County in Maryland into Washington, D.C., where it joins with the Washington Channel and ultimately empties into the Potomac River at Buzzard Point. It is about 8.7 miles (14.0 km) long. The name "Anacostia" derives from the area's early history as Nacotchtank, a settlement of Necostan or Anacostan Native Americans on the banks of the Anacostia River.
Heavy pollution in the Anacostia and weak investment and development along its banks made it "D.C.'s forgotten river". More recently, however, private organizations; local businesses; and the D.C., Maryland, and federal governments have made efforts to reduce pollution and protect the ecologically valuable Anacostia watershed.