06/11/2026
In 1936, a trip from Loudoun County into Washington, D.C. was still a relatively rare journey. According to Anne Carter Smith, writing in the Loudoun Times-Mirror, the drive took about an hour and could be made while "traveling well within the speed limits."
The route likely followed the two-lane Route 7 through Leesburg, Dranesville, Falls Church, and Rosslyn before crossing the Potomac on the Key Bridge into Georgetown and downtown Washington. At the time, the Key Bridge itself had only been open for 13 years, having been completed in 1923.
Fast forward 90 years.
Today, the commute into Washington is an everyday reality for thousands of Loudoun residents. Most drivers head down the Greenway and Dulles Toll Road before joining I-66, where traveling "within the speed limits" often means getting passed by everyone around you.
The roads have changed. The traffic has changed. Loudoun has certainly changed.
Yet somehow, after 90 years of progress, the commute still takes about an hour.
The vehicles got faster. The roads got wider.
The traffic had other plans. 😄