RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
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Welcome to Franconia ...

Franconia is located in Fairfax County<1>.

While we don't have a date for the founding of Franconia, you might get a feel for it by knowing that the earliest mention that we've found (so far) was in a book dated 1895.

Franconia is 240 feet [73 m] above sea level.<2>.

Time Zone: Franconia lies in the Eastern Time Zone (EST/EDT) and observes daylight saving time

Area Codes for Franconia: 703 & 571<3>

Communities Also Named Franconia ...

Using our Gazetteer, we found that there are 7 communities that are also named Franconia - they are located in Alabama, Arizona, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Ohio, Ontario and Pennsylvania.

For more information, see our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Franconia.

Websites for Franconia ...

Chamber of Commerce:   www.fccc.org/

Although we don't have any websites that are specific to Franconia, the following might be of interest:

Communities near Franconia ...

We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Franconia.

  • Arlington
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
  • Alexandria
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
  • Manassas
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
  • College Park
    (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for College Park
    • College Park is located in Prince George's County (MD)
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 32,173 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for College Park <4>
  • Herndon
    (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Herndon have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Herndon
    • Herndon is located in Fairfax County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 24,573 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Herndon <4>
  • Fairfax
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Hyattsville
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hyattsville have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hyattsville
    • Hyattsville is located in Prince George's County (MD)
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 18,217 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hyattsville <4>
  • Manassas Park
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Manassas Park have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manassas Park
    • Manassas Park is located in Manassas Park City
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 18,004 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Manassas Park <4>
  • Takoma Park
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Vienna
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)

To Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

We have a couple of sections for those tracing their genealogy.

We created a list of cemeteries that are in the area around Franconia. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Franconia.

Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Franconia. Our list includes information such as whether the 1895 community had a post office or railroad service. See our List of 1890's Communities around Franconia.

We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Franconia. See our Newspapers Page for Franconia.

TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Franconia ...

Looking for more information about Franconia? A wonderful source is the TripAdvisor website. We always start with the TripAdvisor Tourism page, where you can read an overview with links that will help you find lodging, restaurants and attractions.

In addition to the Tourism page for Franconia, there are neighboring communities that also have Tourism pages. More information about those communities can be found on our TripAdvisor Page for Franconia.

Adding Franconia to Our Gazetteer ...

We originally found mention of Franconia in both the FIPS-55 and the GNIS. For more information, see the FIPS and GNIS Codes sections on our Miscellaneous Page.

From our notes, the earliest published mention we've found for Franconia was in the book titled Business Atlas and Shippers' Guide (1895).

We also found Franconia on a map titled Rand McNally Map of Virginia (1911).

For more details, see References and Mentions for Franconia.

Footnotes ...

<1>If you're interested in how the shape of Virginia's counties, including Fairfax, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
<2>The elevation is an estimate for the area around Franconia - it will be higher in some places and lower in others.
<3>When there's a risk of an area code running out of phone numbers, an 'Overlay Area Code' is created that has the same geographic boundaries as the existing area code. In this case, the 703 code has been Overlayed with the 571 area code. New phone numbers in the Franconia area will be assigned with one of these codes: 703 or 571. As a result, placing a call in the Franconia area will require 10-digit dialing (where you enter both the area code and then the phone number).
<4>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<5>The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required.