Reston Association history

1965 - Lake Anne Village Center officially opens.

In the spring of 1966, three residents of neighboring Herndon approached Simon to ask if residents of Reston might like to perform their original musical, The Greatest Game in Town.

1967 - First issue of Reston Directory published.

1969 - First Black Arts Festival.

1970 - The 11,500 residents note founding of Reston Interfaith & The Common Ground Foundation, opening of Cedar Ridge, Reston's first low & moderate income housing.

1971 - Now 16,000 strong, Restonians hail May opening of Fellowship House in Lake Anne, first housing for senior citizens.

Over the years, the Reston Players occupied a number of different performance venues and encountered a number of challenges including the 1972 fire at Bowman Chapel which destroyed all of the Reston Players’ assets.

1974 - Tall Oaks Center dedicated.

1976 - Reston gets post office building and police substation.

1977 - Openings: Terraset -- nation's first underground, solar heated, cooled school, and ACCESS emergency medical care facility.

In 1979, RCP mounted Applause, its first production in the brand new state-of-the-art CenterStage at the Reston Community Center and has been performing there ever since.

1980 - Voters reject town status.

1983 - About 40,000 call Reston "home"; over 15,000 work in more than 700 businesses; RHOA maintains more than 854 acres for recreational use.

In 1984, Lindsay Petersen, the Secretary of the RCP Board of Directors, purchased a warehouse in Herndon which she leased back to RCP for a nominal fee.

1989 - Urban Land Institute Award for Excellence recognizes Reston's precedent-setting first 25 years, and Fairfax-Falls Church United Way & Fairfax Chamber of Commerce give first IMBY (In My Back Yard) Award to RCA, Reston Interfaith & Reston Land.

The bricks and mortar… The Grand Opening for the first phase of Reston Town Center took place in fall 1990 when the Mercury Fountain by noted sculptor St Clair Cemin was unveiled.

1992 - Changes: 392 new Reston firms; Town Center subsidized housing completed and first private housing begun; RCA becomes Reston Citizens Association.

1995 - Plaza America & Spectrum Center open; Lake Anne's renovation begins.

1997 - Town Center second stage development launched.

1999 - New commercial construction -- with many large buildings completed and occupied -- is fueled by arrivals of information age hi-tech firms.

2003 - Okayed: Rebuilt Southgate community center in RA referendum (to be funded by county); rehab of RA's 17-mile stream bed in mitigation agreement (to be funded by developers in trades for eliminations of water-sheds elsewhere.) Yesterday's Reston youth initiate weekend reunion.

2005 - Rehabilitation and redesign concerns dominated local issues.

1 unincorporated community in Fairfax County58,404 people (2010 Census)7 Square Miles7 schools:1 high school, 1 middle school, and 6 elementary schools16 tennis courts, 15 swimming pools, and 55 miles of paths

The Metro’s Silver line will open its first stop in Reston in 2014 and the Reston Town Center Metro stop is expected to be finished in a few years.

2017 - Lake Anne Plaza listed on the National Register of Historic Places

In 2018, Reston was ranked as the Best Places to Live in Virginia by Money magazine for its expanses of parks, lakes, golf courses, and bridle paths as well as the numerous shopping and dining opportunities in Reston Town Center.