history | ARLnow.com

Published September 25, 2015 at 3:30PM

The following letter to the editor was submitted by Joan K. Lawrence, Chair of the Arlington Historical Affairs and Landmark Board.

The recently posted “Peter’s Take” commentary calling for the rejection of historic designation for the Stratford School is both premature and uninformed. Arlington does not create local historic districts lightly. There are many public hearings involving the Historical Affairs and Landmark Review Board (HALRB), the Planning Commission and the County Board, as well as the School Board, when the property in question is a school. This process is still in progress.

Around Town

Guide to Arlington’s African American Historic Sites Is Being Revisited

By Eleanor Greene

Published September 22, 2015 at 10:35AM

The 20-page booklet, “African American History in Arlington, Virginia: A Guide to the Historic Sites of a Long and Proud Heritage,” was first published in 2001. It was a joint project between the Arlington Convention and Visitors Service, the Chamber of Commerce and the Black Heritage Museum of Arlington.

The funding for the booklet comes from the Virginia Department of Historic Resources, in the form of a $3,000 grant that was accepted by the County Board.

News

Gov. McAuliffe Dedicates Bridge Over Columbia Pike in Honor of Freedman’s Village

By Heather Mongilio

Published September 10, 2015 at 3:45PM

Gov. Terry McAuliffe has dedicated the bridge that takes Washington Blvd over Columbia Pike as Freedman’s Village Bridge, in honor of settlement for freed slaves started in Arlington during the Civil War.

McAuliffe was joined by transportation officials, Arlington County Board members and descendants of Freedman’s Village residents as he unveiled one of the two plaques on the bridge this morning.

News

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published August 19, 2015 at 9:25AM | Updated August 19, 2015 at 9:53AM

Arlington Native Murdered in California — Christopher Wrenn, an Arlington native, was shot to death in a San Jose, California office park last week. The motive for the shooting remains a mystery, but two of the three suspects have since been shot and killed by police. Wrenn, a Washington-Lee High School graduate and Marine Corps veteran, was noted for having a big personality and always having a story to tell — like how he was baby-sat by actress Sandra Bullock as a kid. [San Jose Mercury News, San Francisco Chronicle, CBS Bay Area]

Arlington Little League Memories — The local little league used to keep statistics on each player, and “Our Man in Arlington” columnist Charlie Clark recently dug up some of those records. Among the batting averages of some notable Arlingtonians are .172 for CNBC managing editor and anchor Tyler Mathisen, .212 for Italian Store owner Bobby Tramonte and .290 for Clark himself. [Falls Church News-Press]

Around Town

Arlington Author Pens Novel Based on the Real-Life ‘Beast of Barcroft’

By Heather Mongilio

Published August 18, 2015 at 1:15PM

“The Beast of Barcroft,” set to be released as an e-book in November, is based on a series of actual animal attacks in Barcroft during 1974.

“Something for weeks in 1974 was scaring the residents of Arlington,” Schweigart said.

News

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published August 12, 2015 at 9:15AM | Updated August 12, 2015 at 10:05AM

More Metro Delays — Delays were reported on Metro’s Orange, Blue and Silver lines during this morning’s rush hour due to several train malfunctions. [Twitter, Twitter, Twitter]

Memorial Bridge Repairs Starting Soon — Temporary repairs to the Arlington Memorial Bridge are expected to begin later this month. The repairs are expected to take six months and will allow the closed lanes on the bridge to reopen. [Washington Post]

News

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published August 5, 2015 at 9:00AM | Updated August 5, 2015 at 10:07AM

Deal With Hospital Expected — Arlington County is expected to hold a public meeting next month to discuss a land deal with Virginia Hospital Center. The county is reportedly ready to sign a memorandum of understanding with the hospital for a five-acre, county-owned parcel of land adjacent to it, which would then allow the hospital to expand. Details of the deal were not yet available. [Washington Business Journal]

County History Survey — To help county leaders understand which aspects of local history are especially important to residents, Arlington is conducting an online survey, asking for “ideas on collecting, preserving, sharing our history.” An Arlington Historical Task Force will take the survey into account when presenting recommendations for historic preservation priorities later this year. [Arlington County, Preservation Arlington]

News

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published June 29, 2015 at 9:30AM

Historic Affairs Board: Preserve Stratford — Arlington’s Historic Affairs and Landmark Review Board has voted unanimously to recommend designating Stratford Junior High School, the current home of the H-B Woodlawn Secondary Program, a local historic district. The School Board will now decide whether or not to go along with the historic designation, which could delay plans to build a new middle school on the site by 2019. [InsideNova]

Three Arrests at Bar Crawl — There were only three arrests made at the All-American Bar Crawl in Clarendon on Saturday. Arlington County police were out in force, keeping the peace among the thousands of revelers who participated in the rain-drenched event, which the department again live-tweeted. Among the arrests were one for being drunk in public and another for failure to pay, according to a police spokesman. [Twitter]

Schools

County Considering Historic Designation for Stratford School, Worrying Parents

By ARLnow.com

Published June 16, 2015 at 1:15PM

With the H-B Woodlawn Secondary Program set to move from the Stratford building to a new building in Rosslyn, Arlington Public Schools is planning a $29.2 million renovation of Stratford that would allow it to house a new 1,000-seat neighborhood middle school. Both schools are set to open in 2019.

Tomorrow night, however, the county’s Historic Affairs and Landmark Review Board will hold the first of six public hearings on whether to recommend designating Stratford, which was built in 1950, a local historic district. It’s already on the National Register of Historic Places as a result of its role in the civil rights movement: in 1959 Stratford became the first public secondary school in Virginia to be racially integrated.

Around Town

Arlington’s ‘Most Endangered Places’ Include Dive Bars, Reevesland Farmhouse

By Heather Mongilio

Published June 1, 2015 at 11:00AM

Reeves farmhouse (photo courtesy Peter Roof)

Preservation Arlington, a group dedicated to protecting Arlington’s historic buildings, communities and landscapes, has released its “Most Endangered Historic Places” for 2015.

The annual list is used to promote awareness and advocacy of the historic sites and the preservation they need, according to the group’s website. Preservation Arlington also created a watch list for the 2015, which includes sites that are on the “verge of disappearing.”

News

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published June 1, 2015 at 9:00AM

Parents Located After Boy Found Wandering — A social media post helped Arlington County Police located the parents of a boy found wandering along on 4th Street N. Saturday afternoon. The parents said they both assumed the boy was with the other parent. [WJLA]

Whipple Endorses Schneider — Former County Board member and state senator Mary Margaret Whipple has endorsed Andrew Schneider in the Democratic County Board primary. [InsideNova]

News

Board to Consider Selling Reeves Farmhouse

By ARLnow.com

Published May 19, 2015 at 10:00AM

County Manager Barbara Donnellan is recommending that the Board approve putting the house and a portion of the surrounding property, adjacent to Bluemont Park, on the market for sale to a private buyer. The proposal was added to today’s County Board agenda on Monday.

Even after being sold to a private party, the house — which dates back to 1899 — would remain a local historic district and would be protected from changes that would hurt its historical integrity.