Dale City is a census-designated place (CDP) in Prince William County, Virginia, United States, located 25 miles south west of Washington, D.C. It is an annex of Woodbridge, Virginia. As of 2017, the total population was 73,384. The community is roughly bounded by Hoadly Road to the northwest, Prince William Parkway to the north, Smoketown Road to the northeast, Gideon Drive to the east, and Cardinal Drive to the south.[3]

Dale City was the idea of a real estate developer, Cecil Don Hylton, who chose the term because it aptly describes the “hills and dales” of the rolling Virginia Piedmont,[citation needed] where he developed the community. Hylton began his career as a “huckster”, a young man who sold farm goods and produce at the farmers’ market in Washington, DC. He later began a sod business after several requests from his regular clients. He ran several dozen trucks and pioneered new technologies in the industry. After the post-war housing boom, he moved into homebuilding. Throughout his career, he constructed apartments, commercial shopping centers, and over 22,000 homes. Along the way, he began his own sewer company, Dale Service Company, as well as the first cable television companies in Prince William County.[citation needed]