What are some of the iconic places, buildings, monuments or businesses that most exemplify “old school Arlington?”
That’s what we were asking ourselves recently as our staff contemplated new designs for the ARLnow Shop. While some things immediately came to mind — see: photos in the gallery — we wanted to open it up to readers to make sure we’re not forgetting something.
Some Arlington sidewalks will soon contain “stumbling stones” identifying locations where people were once enslaved.
Forthcoming markers in and around county rights of way, unanimously approved by the Arlington County Board on Saturday, are part of “Memorializing the Enslaved in Arlington” — an Arlington Historical Society project seeking to uncover and chronicle the history of Arlington’s enslaved population.
A civic association is pushing to prevent a century-old former schoolhouse from being demolished to make way for an affordable housing project near Crystal City.
The historical significance of the Nelly Custis School, which stands on the Melwood property in Aurora Highlands, is slated for discussion at a Historic Affairs and Landmark Review Board (HALRB) meeting tonight.
A new marker commemorating Black troops who fought in the Civil War has been installed at Fort Ethan Allen Park.
An official unveiling for the new sign at 3829 N. Stafford Street is scheduled for Thursday, June 20 — the day after Juneteenth. The marker commemorates the 107th United States Colored Troops, which ran drills and manned the ramparts at Fort Ethan Allen and other Arlington forts starting in October 1865, guarding D.C. following the end of the war.
Model WWII props built in an Arlington veteran’s backyard were featured at a VIP event Wednesday at the French ambassador’s residence.
Former Army officer David Ostrander constructed a set of hedgehog anti-tank obstacles, as well as a portion of a World War II era landing craft, to go along with several surplus Army jeeps at two French fêtes. Yesterday’s event took place on Victory in Europe Day, while the second is scheduled to happen at the French embassy on June 6, the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings.
A 90-year-old Tiffany stained glass window has a new home in Arlington.
Christ in Blessing was salvaged from a bankrupt mausoleum by Arlington County. The private mausoleum, built in the 1920s near Arlington National Cemetery, was torn down by the Navy about 20 years ago.
Several projects approved in Arlington’s inaugural round of historic preservation grants may need some more time to wrap up.
The Arlington County Board on Saturday will consider extending agreements with five projects that were among the first to receive county dollars last year from the Historic Preservation Fund. The grant recipients originally agreed to finish by June 30, but due to “unpredictable delays,” a county report recommends pushing back the deadline to Dec. 31.
A local group of woodwind musicians will perform at a literary festival next weekend in the English village of Arlington.
The Arlington Wind Quintet will travel to what’s described as “the most beautiful village in England” to perform at the Bibury Literary Festival from April 19-21. The five-person ensemble will perform early 20th-century classical music by British and Russian composers such as Vaughan Williams, Holst, Prokofiev, and other symphonists from the Edwardian era.
(Updated at 5:35 p.m.) A yearslong attempt to convert a historic Arlington property into a home for adults with developmental disabilities may be nearing the finish line.
The Arlington County Board is expected to consider agreements to transfer the Reeves Farmhouse into the hands of local nonprofits and allocate community development block grant funds later this year, according to a county report. In advance of this, the Board on Saturday took steps toward streamlining the efforts of Habitat for Humanity DC-NOVA, HomeAid National Capital Region and L’Arche of Greater Washington.
The first homes being built on the old Febrey-Lothrop Estate could be ready for move-in early next year.
Developer Toll Brothers says its nine quick move-in homes at ‘The Grove at Dominion Hills’ are in progress and expected to come online in early 2024, according to the company’s D.C. Metro Division President Nimita Shah.
Charlie Clark, a dogged chronicler of local life in Arlington, has died at the age of 70.
He was known locally as the author of “Our Man in Arlington,” a weekly column in the Falls Church News-Press, and as the author of several books on local history.
A curious plaque outside a private development in the Old Glebe neighborhood underwent some copy-editing in recent years.
The plaque is attached to a large stone on the corner of N. Richmond and Stafford streets, near where Fort Ethan Allen once stood. It marks the entrance to a development across the street from the Madison Community Center and Fort Ethan Allen Park, built by former developer and prominent philanthropist Preston Caruthers, who died earlier this year.
