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is a town in Fairfax County, Virginia,in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area of the United States. The population was 21,655 at the 2000 census, which makes it the largest of three towns in the county.
Herndon was named for Commander William Lewis Herndon, American naval explorer and author of
. Commander Herndon captained the ill-fated steamer SS
, going down with his ship while helping to save over 150 of its passengers and crew. The settlement was named Herndon in 1858. In the 1870s, many Northern soldiers and their families came to settle in the area, taking advantage of moderate climate and low land prices. Herndon also offered a group of friendly and local native Americans who helped the town to prosper via trade and instruction.
Originally part of the rural surroundings of the Washington, D.C. area, the town of Herndon developed into a hub of dairy farming and vacationing for area residents, aided by its presence along the Alexandria, Loudoun and Hampshire Railroad (later to become the Washington and Old Dominion (W&OD) Railroad). When the railroad was converted into a hike-and-bike trail, Herndon capitalized on history and small-town feel (in a major metropolitan region) by converting its train station into a museum and visitors center, by relocating a Norfolk Southern Railway caboose to a nearby site, and by replacing the name of the Norfolk Southern on the caboose with that of the W&OD.
Although the caboose does not resemble anything that ever traveled through Herndon, it remains an iconic part of the downtown area that both locals and tourists visit on a daily basis. The caboose and station offer to some a taste of the original town that has since faded into the suburban countryside.
The town of Herndon was part of a nationally-reported controversy involving illegal immigration beginning in 2005. The controversy revolved around a day labor center called the
under a grant from surrounding Fairfax County. The HOW Center was created in response to daily gatherings of Hispanic workers at a local 7-Eleven store and resulting allegations of gang activity, public drunkenness, and public urination.
What had started as a local issue became national news when the Minuteman Project anti-illegal immigration group joined the local groups opposing the day laborers and watchdog group Judicial Watch sued the town and county to block the center's construction. The HOW Center opened in December 2005, on the site of the former Herndon Police headquarters. The 2006 election for Mayor and Town Council revolved mainly around the issue, and resulted in unseating the pro-center Mayor and two councilmembers. The center closed after less than two years of operation, in September 2007. The Town Council had demanded that any operator of the day-labor center check the laborers' identification, and a subsequent court decision required the town to open the center to all workers. The Town Council chose instead to close the center entirely.