Images of America: McLean is part of the Arcadia Publishing series of books that help preserve and make people aware of the history of communities across the nation. McLean begins with Captain John Smith exploring the Potomac River in 1608 and ends with the McLean Centennial Celebration in 2010. In between are numerous photographs and illustrations that present a chronological history of McLean. For Virginia, McLean is relatively new. It was a farming community in 1910, when Henry Alonzo Storm established a general store that included the McLean Post Office; the opening of Storm’s Store is considered McLean’s unofficial beginning. The store was located on Chain Bridge Road beside a stop of the Great Falls and Old Dominion Railroad that ran from Rosslyn to Great Falls Park. The stop was named after John R. McLean, a founder of the trolley and owner of the Washington Post Newspaper. A village and vibrant community gradually developed around this area.
