Phillips v. Payne
Supreme Court of the United States
Decided October 1, 1875
Full case name	Phillips v. Payne
Citations	92 U.S. 130 (more) 2 Otto 130; 23 L. Ed. 649
Case history
Prior	Appeal from the Court of Claims
Holding
The State of Virginia has been in de facto possession of the County of Alexandria, which, prior thereto, formed a part of the District of Columbia
Court membership
Chief Justice Morrison Waite Associate Justices Nathan Clifford · Noah H. Swayne Samuel F. Miller · David Davis Stephen J. Field · William Strong Joseph P. Bradley · Ward Hunt
Case opinion
Majority	Swayne, joined by unanimous

Phillips v. Payne, 92 U.S. 105 (1875), was a United States Supreme Court case that ruled that since 1847, pursuant to the act of Congress of the preceding year, the State of Virginia has been in de facto possession of the County of Alexandria, which, prior thereto, formed a part of the District of Columbia.

The political department of its government has, since then, uniformly asserted and the head of its judicial department expressly affirmed its title. Congress has, by more than one act, recognized the transfer as a settled fact.

A resident of the county in a suit to recover the amount by him paid under protest for taxes upon his property there situate is therefore estopped from raising the question as to the validity of the retrocession.^[1]