Push For Federalization and Boundary Issues
Throughout this period, efforts were also made to have the city or federal government purchase Washington-Hoover. In late 1933, the city asked the Public Works Administration to purchase the airport, but the agency refused (citing the high cost of land). Despite this setback, some city and federal leaders kept pushing for Washington-Hoover as the city's municipal airport. Arlington County officials opposed the proposal, however, as the private airport generated tax revenues it would not if it were a federal facility.
One of the reasons why purchase was opposed was the boundary question. In April 1933, a filling station near Washington Airport refused to pay taxes to the state of Virginia, arguing that the land on which it stood was part of the District of Columbia. Despite the Supreme Court's earlier ruling, this claim threw into question where the border really was.
In an attempt to fix the border permanently, Congress enacted legislation on March 21, 1934, creating the District of Columbia-Virginia Boundary Commission. For the next 20 months, the Boundary Commission held hearings and studied ancient maps to determine whether the low tide or high tide level of the Potomac River constituted Virginia's boundary with the District of Columbia. In December 1935, the Boundary Commission issued a compromise report, giving the federal government (which represented the District) title to all land east of the Mount Vernon Memorial Highway. This compromise would have given Washington-Hoover Airport to the state of Virginia while giving nearby Gravelly Point to the federal government.
But a major congressional battle over the report led to no action, and the dispute continued to simmer. Finally, in October 1945, Congress enacted legislation essentially enacting the recommendations of the Boundary Commission report, but giving title over National Airport to the federal government (with some caveats for law enforcement).
Read more about this topic: Washington-Hoover Airport
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