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Morning Notes

Published December 6, 2019 at 7:30AM

Parents Protest APS Proposal — “School officials tasked with the perpetual jigsaw puzzle of reassigning school zones have stirred new tensions… If you drive McKinley Rd., you can’t miss the printed signs ‘SAVE MCKINLEY: Our Neighborhood School Since 1951.’ The Madison Manor Civic Association has revved up with nearby PTAs and community groups to assemble contrary arguments.” [Falls Church News-Press]

Tafti Pushes Back on AG Comments — From Arlington Commonwealth’s Attorney-elect Parisa Dehghani-Tafti: “We are neither righteous warriors nor avenging angels. We are public servants. So a little humility in how we do our job and how we accept public critique of our work would go a long way toward building a system that is both safe and just.” [Twitter]

News

Ten New Historic Markers To Debut In Clarendon Central Park

By Kalina Newman

Published November 7, 2019 at 3:30PM

The Arlington County War Memorial in Clarendon is getting a significant addition this Veterans Day.

The memorial, which overlooks the intersection of Washington, Wilson, and Clarendon boulevards in Clarendon Central Park, will receive 10 new markers on Monday, November 11.

Around Town

New Historical Map of Arlington Shows What County Looked Like 100 Years Ago

By Airey

Published October 28, 2019 at 4:30PM

Calvert and Rogers, West Brothers Brick kilns in what's now Crystal City (Photo via the Center for Local History)

A new historical map of Arlington allows users to explore what the county looked like 100 years ago.

The digital map depicts a mix of new and old pictures, showing the buildings that were standing in Arlington’s neighborhoods in the 1920s. By clicking pinpoints on a county map, users can check out the homes and businesses that are (or were) located on that site and read caption notes.

Around Town

Cowboy Cafe: Three Decades of Arlington’s Dive Bar

By Kalina Newman

Published October 10, 2019 at 3:45PM | Updated October 10, 2019 at 10:46PM

Cowboy Cafe on Lee Highway

(Updated at 6:35 p.m.) When Cowboy Cafe’s beloved regular Jerome Williams passed away earlier this year, he didn’t have any immediate family to mourn him — but he had his friends at “the Cowboy,” and the bar’s memorial service was packed out the door.

“Working at the Cowboy, the customers aren’t just customers,” said current general manager Amanda Wellborn. “They’re family, and I mean it. I’ve never experienced anything else like it.”

News

After Decades in Safekeeping, Thousands of Historic Documents Have Returned to Arlington

By ARLnow.com

Published October 3, 2019 at 9:05AM

Archives recently returned to the Center for Local History in Arlington (Image courtesy of Arlington Public Library)

The public now has access to long-inaccessible local documents, courtesy of Arlington Public Library.

The library’s Center for Local History recently repatriated to Arlington a trove of historic documents dating as far back as the 1840s, held in safekeeping by the Library of Virginia for many years.

Around Town

Gambling, Rock and More in Weenie Beenie’s History

By Vernon Miles

Published September 27, 2019 at 3:30PM

Weenie Beenie in Green Valley

Weenie Beenie was recently commemorated in an Arlington mural, but the shack near Shirlington has a surprising history involving gambling winnings and a beef with a popular D.C. restaurant.

Founded as a simple hot-dog stand in the 1950s in Green Valley at 2680 Shirlington Road, Weenie Beenie’s current incarnation was the creation of gambling legend Bill “Weenie Beenie” Stanton, lauded as the “one of the premier gentleman gamblers of pocket billiards” aka pool.

Around Town

Spoiler Alert: We Now Know What’s in the Ballston Time Capsule

By Vernon Miles

Published September 20, 2019 at 10:45AM

Newspaper clipping from the Northern Virginia Sun in 1988 (photo courtesy Melinda Schaedig)

If you want to remain in the dark about the contents of the mysterious Ballston time capsule, which is set to be opened next year, read no further.

Melinda Schaedig, who was a third grader at Taylor Elementary School in 1988 when the capsule was buried, approached ARLnow with details from when the capsule was put into the ground.

Around Town

Mysterious Time Capsule in Ballston To Be Opened Next Year

By Kalina Newman

Published September 19, 2019 at 10:30AM | Updated September 20, 2019 at 11:13AM

A time capsule in Ballston that has been largely forgotten to time is set to be opened at some point next year, and no one seems to know what’s inside.

An inconspicuous plaque on the side of the Fairgate office building (1005 N. Glebe Road) announces the time capsule.

Around Town

Proposed Designs Revealed for New Fire Station 8

By Kalina Newman

Published September 18, 2019 at 11:00AM

Fire Station 8 preliminary designs. (Photo via Arlington County)

Arlington officials have proposed two preliminary designs for the replacement of Fire Station 8 on Lee Highway.

The designs will be discussed tonight at a 7 p.m. public community meeting in the Langston-Brown Community Center (2121 N. Culpepper Street).

Events

Event to Mark 400th Anniversary of American Slavery on Sunday

By Vernon Miles

Published August 23, 2019 at 1:45PM | Updated August 23, 2019 at 3:09PM

The National Park Service (NPS) will host a special event near Rosslyn on Sunday (Aug. 25) to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the first slaves arriving in the English colonies.

The Park Service is hosting events throughout the region as a day of remembrance for the first slave ship’s arrival at Point Comfort and the centuries of oppression that followed.

Events

Civil War Camp to Mark Anniversary of Skirmish Near Ballston Tomorrow

By Vernon Miles

Published August 23, 2019 at 9:05AM

Union soldiers stationed at Bon Air Park will offer a tour of their fortifications and military lifestyle tomorrow (Saturday) as they keep a watch on Confederate skirmishers to the south and west.

The Civil War reenactors will be posted at the park along Wilson Blvd and Four Mile Run from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. to honor the 158th anniversary of the Ball’s Cross Roads Skirmish, part of a series of small battles along the defenses of Washington, D.C. in the wake of the First Battle of Bull Run.

Around Town

Which Founding Fathers Got Bucked in the 1934 Arlington Street Renaming Shuffle?

By Vernon Miles

Published August 21, 2019 at 11:00AM

Arlington switched over to a more “rational” street naming system in 1934, but documents from the transition give some insight into the names that were lost.

Many of the casualties were founding fathers and other Revolutionary War-related vocabulary words.