Great Falls is a census-designated place (CDP) located in Fairfax County, Virginia. The population was 8,549 at the 2000 census.

Although primarily a bedroom community for Washington, D.C., one major attraction is Great Falls Park which overlooks the Great Falls of the Potomac River, for which the community and the park are named. George Washington was involved with building a canal around the falls on the southwest, or Virginia, side, called the Patowmack Canal, which did not become commercially viable. Remnants of the canal and of a village around the canal are still visible in the park.

River Bend County Park is another gathering area in Great Falls, as is the Village Green, which hosts community celebrations around Easter (Egg Hunt), Fourth of July, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas (Tree Lighting) and other holidays.

Geography

Boundaries of the Great Falls as of 2003

Great Falls is sparsely populated due to the vast tracts of land. The main roads serving Great Falls are Virginia State Route 7 (Leesburg Pike) and Virginia Route 193 (Georgetown Pike).

According to the US Census Bureau, Great Falls has a total area of 17.9 square miles, of which, 17.9 square miles of it is land and 0.04 square miles is water.

Early on, the village was known as Forestville (unofficially, since there was already a Forestville with a Post Office), but was named Great Falls in 1955.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 8,549 people, 2,785 households, and 2,464 families residing in Great Falls. The population density was 478.5 people per square mile. There were 2,852 housing units at an average density of 159.6/sq mi. The racial makeup of Great Falls was 92.83% Caucasian, 1.20% African American, 0.14% Native American, 4.40% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 0.43% from other races, and 1.95% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.56% of the population.

There were 2,785 households out of which 44.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 82.4% were married couples living together, 4.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 11.5% were non-families. 8.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 2.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.07 and the average family size was 3.23.

In Great Falls the population was spread out with 29.5% under the age of 18, 4.1% from 18 to 24, 22.1% from 25 to 44, 35.9% from 45 to 64, and 8.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females there were 102.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 98.1 males.

The median income for a household in Great Falls was $159,695 and the median income for a family was $170,618. Males had a median income of $100,000+ versus $62,206 for females. The per capita income for Great Falls was $78,149. About 0.9% of families and 1.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 1.5% of those under age 18 and 3.0% of those age 65 or over.

From Wikipedia