This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/an/SBC.2ACI/356.1 Message Board Post: Hi, I'm not a big Civil War buff, but I believe that "hill" as in Munson Hill, Mason Hill, Upton Hill, etc., were just that, hills throughtout an area that were high enough to allow armies that were fighting, a view of the surrounding areas and the opposing armies movement. They named each particular hill as to whos land or property it was on. I know that Munson Hill is on Leesburg Pike about half way between the city of Falls Church and Baileys Crossroad. The Munson family was a very well known and prominate family in that area (Fairfax County) and owned and ran a large farm and nursery. My grandfathers family was from that area and were neighbors with the Munsons for quite a few years. I found the following statement in a book on Fairfax County History: "Both Munson Hill and Arlington Mill were bought by northerners in the 1840s and 1850s. The Confederate Army under J.E.B. Stuart held Munson Hill in Sept. of 1861, although it was occupied by Union and Confederate forces at different times during the war. At the time of the war, Munson Hill was high enough that one could see both the dome of the U.S. Capitol as well as the Blue Ridge Mountains in the distance. An Islamic Mosque and an apartment complex reside on Munson Hill today". I live in Fairfax county and I have to say that if the families who lived and farmed that area around Munson Hill, could see it now, they would "turn over in their graves", as my grandfather used to put it. The building and population in that area is truely unbelievable today. Hope this helps. :)