Virginia Square–GMU station is a

Washington Metro The Washington Metro (or simply Metro), formally the Metrorail,Google Books search/preview

station in the

Virginia Square Virginia Square is a neighborhood in Arlington County, Virginia. It is centered at the Virginia Square station on the Orange and Silver lines of the Washington Metro subway system, between Clarendon and Ballston. The neighborhood consists of ...

neighborhood of

Arlington, Virginia Arlington County is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The county is situated in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from the District of Columbia, of which it was once a part. The county is ...

, United States. The

side platform A side platform (also known as a marginal platform or a single-face platform) is a platform positioned to the side of one or more railway tracks or guideways at a railway station, tram stop, or transitway. A station having dual side platforms ...

ed station opened on December 1, 1979, and is operated by the

Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA ), commonly referred to as Metro, is a tri-jurisdictional government agency that operates transit service in the Washington metropolitan area. WMATA was created by the United States Con ...

(WMATA). The station serves the

Orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower *Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum * ...

and

Silver Silver is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/h₂erǵ-, ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, whi ...

Lines. The station serves the Virginia Square neighborhood as well as the Arlington campus of

George Mason University George Mason University (George Mason, Mason, or GMU) is a public research university in Fairfax County, Virginia with an independent City of Fairfax, Virginia postal address in the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Area. The university was origin ...

(GMU). The station entrance is located at the intersection of Fairfax Drive and North Monroe Street.

History

Originally to be called Ballston, the station was renamed Virginia Square by the Metro board in March 1977. Its name was changed due to its location at the since-demolished

Virginia Square Shopping Center The Virginia Square Shopping Center in Arlington County, Virginia, United States opened in early 1952, to complement the adjoining Kann's-Virginia store. At opening, the 15-store center included a Giant supermarket, People's Drug, Fanny Farmer ca ...

. After several years of construction, the station opened on December 1, 1979. Its opening coincided with the completion of approximately of rail west of the Rosslyn station and the opening of the , and stations. Known originally as simply Virginia Square, in July 1985, the Metro board voted unanimously to rename the station Virginia Square–GMU, with the "GMU" standing for the adjacent, Arlington campus of

. Arlington County paid the $50,000 required for the change. This station was closed from March 26, 2020, until June 28, 2020, due to the

2020 coronavirus pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...

Station layout

References

External links

* * The Schumin Web Transit Center
Virginia Square–GMU Station

Monroe Street entrance from Google Maps Street View
{{DEFAULTSORT:Virginia Square-GMU (WMATA station) Stations on the Orange Line (Washington Metro) Stations on the Silver Line (Washington Metro) Transportation in Arlington County, Virginia Washington Metro stations in Virginia Railway stations in the United States opened in 1979 1979 establishments in Virginia Railway stations in Virginia at university and college campuses