[3] Located just southwest of Alexandria, Franconia has existed as a community since the 1870s, when a station by that name opened on the RF&P Railroad; however, like most of the surrounding area, it only began to develop into its present, suburban form in the 1950s.

The CDP extends south to just north of the border of Fort Belvoir, encompassing neighborhoods such as Manchester Lakes and Windsor Estates.

[4] It is bordered to the west by Springfield, to the north by Lincolnia, to the northeast by Rose Hill, to the east by Kingstowne, and to the south by Newington.

In 1903, it was relocated after a fire from its original site, near Fleet Drive, to the north side of Franconia Road.

Today it is memorialized with a historic marker erected by the Fairfax County History Commission in 2000, located in front of the Franconia Governmental Center.

Over twenty-five years the complex grew to include a gas station, grocery store, bar, movie theater, and dance hall; a 1959 fire destroyed everything at the site.

Being warned by a Texas scout that he was soon to enter an ambush, Hampton stopped short and formed a squadron on top of Potter's Hill.

The trap having failed, both sides began firing at each other; several soldiers were wounded, including one of Hampton's men who was shot in the face.

[8][11] The Franconia Volunteer Fire Department was organized in 1934; its first firehouse, completed in 1937, stood where the government center is located today.

[12] Franconia is also the site of the Laurel Grove Colored School and Church, organized as a congregation of former slaves in the 1880s.

[14][15] The church cemetery still exists,[16] as does the school building, which was honored in 2008 with the erection of a historical marker by the Fairfax County History Commission.

[8] Adjacent to Sharon Chapel is a cemetery,[18] one of several in the area; another marks the former site of Oak Grove plantation, which was demolished in 1996 to make way for an assisted living facility.

[23][24] Other residents have included former South Carolina Congressman William Waters Boyce, who purchased the house Ashland and 195 acres of farmland after the Civil War.

[6][25] At the 2020 census (some information from the 2022 American Community Survey) there were 18,943 people, 7,698 housing units and 7,456 households residing in the CDP.