• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Alert

ALERT: Update on Maintenance and Upgrades at Central Library More Info

Home - Arlington County Virginia - Logo
MENUMENU
  • Join Now
  • My Account
    • Login
    • My Checkouts
    • My Holds
    • My Lists
    • My Reading History
    • About Borrowing
    • About Holds
    • About My Account
  • Hours & Locations
    • All Hours & Locations
    • Holiday Closings
  • News
    • Library News
    • Director's Blog
    • Get Email Updates
  • Contact Us

Arlington Public Library

MENUMENU
  • Search
  • Collections
  • Services
  • Events
  • Explore
  • Join Now
  • My Account
    • Login
    • About Borrowing
    • About Holds
    • About My Account
  • Hours & Locations
    • All Hours & Locations
    • Holiday Closings
  • News
    • Library Blog
    • Get Email Updates
  • Contact Us

Women’s Work: Ruby Lee Minar

Post Published: November 7, 2018

Have you shopped in Lee Heights? Visited Lyon Park?

Then you have been to neighborhoods created by real estate developer Ruby Lee Minar.

Composite of images from the Ruby Lee Minar exhibit

You can read a short history of Ruby Lee Minar's influential career in Arlington real estate development in our online exhibit, Women's Work.  The exhibit includes original documents, which are housed in the Center for Local History's Community Archive.

In the 1920s, entrepreneur Ruby Lee Minar built a real estate empire in and around Arlington. It was so expansive that the American Business Review described her as the “most successful woman in realty development in the country.”

By May 1921, Minar had become the exclusive sales agent for the Lyon Park subdivision owned by Lyon & Fitch. Minar also purchased a 400-acre tract of land between the Washington Golf and Country Club and the Potomac River, which was developed into a subdivision named Lee Heights.

Ruby Lee Minor was a prominent advocate for women’s rights in her roles as first president of the Washington, D.C. Soroptimist Club, a worldwide civic organization for business and professional women. She became the first woman admitted to the Virginia Real Estate Association and went on to be the only woman on the Alexandria-Arlington-Fairfax Real Estate Board.

Graphic image of the Memorial Bridge
Memorial Bridge illustration, from Ruby Lee Minar's brochure advertising Lee Heights

November 7, 2018 by Web Editor

Primary Sidebar


Charlie Clark Center for Local History: Where Stories Live


Link to blog post.

Appreciating Arlington Educator Katherine Mosley Ross


Link to blog post.

Sharing the Love: Edmond and Alice Fleet


Photo of Ms. and Mr. Bozman.

Ellen M. Bozman at 100


A group of eight people stands together on a small stage in front of large windows, smiling at the camera. They hold two framed items—one is a historical document with maps and text, and the other is a framed portrait of a bearded man. Colorful blue, green, and yellow balloons decorate the space above them, celebrating Glencarlyn Library's 101st birthday.

Glencarlyn Library’s 101st Birthday


Read more blog posts from the Center for Local History


Charlie Clark Center for Local History


The Charlie Clark Center for Local History (CCCLH) collects, preserves, and shares resources that illustrate Arlington County’s history, diversity and communities. Librarians and archivists develop collections of unique research material and make them available for use by residents, students, teachers, genealogists, scholars, authors, journalists and anyone interested in learning more about Arlington County.

Footer

About Us

  • Mission & Vision
  • Charlie Clark Center for Local History
  • News Room
  • Get Email Updates

Administration

  • Policies
  • Library Staff
  • Job Opportunities
  • Propose a Program or Partnership

Support Your Library

  • Friends of the Library
  • Giving Opportunities
  • Donating Materials
  • Volunteer Opportunities

Our Mission

We champion the power of stories, information and ideas.

We create space for culture and connection.

We embrace inclusion and diverse points of view.
























Download the Library App

Download the Library App

Arlington County | Terms & Conditions | Accessibility | Site Map
· Copyright © 2025 Arlington County Government ·