Frank Lyon (December 30, 1867 – November 29, 1955) was an American lawyer, newspaper publisher and land developer in Arlington County, Virginia.

[1][2] His father was a lawyer in Petersburg and served in the office of the Advocate General of the Confederacy during the Civil War.

[1][2] On June 1, 1887, Lyon became a private secretary to Walter L. Bragg of Alabama, a commissioner of the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC).

In 1912, he resigned this position to practice exclusively before the ICC in matters concerning steamship lines and coal companies.

[2] When Lyon sold land in Clarendon, he would have the buyer agree that "liquor shall never be sold or dispensed on the property or from any building erected thereon, nor shall said property be used for the conducting of any business that constitutes a nuisance to other lot owners in the subdivision, such as a soap factory or like industry.

These practices included restrictive covenants with buyers to prevent people of color from living on the land, except as servants.

He also required housing built on the land he sold to be expensive and designed the streets with cars in mind, not for pedestrians.

[10] In 1889, Lyon and Georgie Hays Wright moved to Alexandria County and built a small house on Lubber Run near Ballston, Virginia.

[1][2] Together, they had three children who survived childhood and one son who died from water pollution:[2] In the early 1900s, the Lyons moved to the "Ohmstead" House on Kirkwood Road in Arlington County.

[2] Due to the depression, Lyon had to sell Ballantrae and instead moved into Hickory Hill, a house on the same tract of land he purchased in Langley.