• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
arlingtonva.us
MENUMENU
  • My Account
    • Login
    • My eAccounts
    • About My Account
    • Join Now
  • Locations
    • All Locations
    • Central Library
    • Aurora Hills
    • Cherrydale
    • Columbia Pike
    • Connection: Crystal City
    • Glencarlyn
    • Plaza
    • Shirlington
    • Westover
    • Center for Local History
    • Map View
  • News
  • Help
    • FAQs
    • Contact Us
    • By Appointment

Arlington Public Library

MENUMENU
  • Events
  • Search
      • Browse New
      • Browse All
  • Explore
    • Catalog
      • Catalog Search
      • Catalog Browse
      • Digital Archives
      • Borrowing Collections
      • Book Lists
    • eCollection
      • eAudiobooks
      • eBooks
      • Digital Magazines
      • Learning Tools
      • Research Tools
    • Research
      • Research Portal
      • Research Tools A-Z
      • Local History
    • Services
      • Accounts and Borrowing
      • Computer Services
      • Meeting Rooms
      • Accommodation Services
      • Make an Appointment
      • More Services
    • Kids & Teens
      • Babies and Preschoolers
      • Elementary Schoolers
      • Middle and High Schoolers
    • Local History
      • Research Room
      • Community Archives
      • Digital Projects
    • Support the Library
      • Friends of the Library
      • Giving Opportunities
      • Donating Materials
    • Popular
      • Lynda.com
      • Consumer Reports
      • Overdrive
      • RBdigital
    • EXPLORE MORE
  • My Account
    • Login
    • My eAccounts
    • About My Account
    • Get a Free Library Card
  • Locations
  • News
  • Help

Libraries closed Wednesday, February 20, 2019

Author Susan Orlean Postponed Feb. 20 Due to Weather Forecast

Buckingham Theater

Do you recognize the white building with columns in the right side of this photo?

red car driving down Glebe road with the white collumned Buckingham theater on the far right
"Downtown in the Buckingham district. Looking north on Glebe Road from near the intersection of Glebe with Piedmont Street. The Traffic lights are at Pershing Road."

It was taken by Frank Zaza in July 1973, and written on the back side are these words: "Downtown in the Buckingham district. Looking north on Glebe Road from near the intersection of Glebe with Piedmont Street. The traffic lights are at Pershing Road.” This brief yet informative description helped Center for Local History staff to identify this beloved Arlington landmark - the former Buckingham Theater - now the Buckinghams Stations Post Office.

With architectural columns and a stark-white exterior, The Buckingham Theatre opened in 1939, and quickly grew to become a recognizable feature along Glebe Road. The theater remained operational until its closure in 1986.

What about you? How do you identify your snapshots? In a digital world where photographic prints are not being as massively produced as they once were, how are you capturing the everyday stories, developmental changes, and histories of your community? How will you leave your mark for the next generation?

To learn more about Buckingham Theatre, Arlington’s diverse history, or to see more items like this one, visit us at the Center for Local History located on the 1st floor of Central Library.

November 29, 2018 by Web Editor

Filed Under: App, Buzz, Center for Local History, News, Throwback Thursday

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. David says

    December 1, 2018 at 10:27 am

    Enjoyed the photo of the Buckingham Theater. I grew up in the Buckingham Community, and lived on Pershing Drive (not Pershing Road, as noted), just a few blocks from here. Spent many, many Saturdays at the theater, viewing movies new and old. In 1966, we attended the new release of “Birds Do It,” where the owners stopped the film partway through, and film star Soupy Sales (and some co-stars) came out from behind the screen! Discovered later that my grandfather had worked as a projectionist at the same movie theater in the 1930’s, thirty years before my birth!

    • Niki says

      December 7, 2018 at 2:50 pm

      Our family saw SOOOOOO many movies @ Buckingham in the 1950s-70s. i still remember some frm. late 1950s, early 1960s when i was pre- and early elementary school.

  2. Mary says

    December 6, 2018 at 10:12 pm

    Viewed a photography exhibit at NGA today. Gordon Parks, called one of the century’s greatest photographers, titled his works to describe who and what, and often, where .
    Meaningful to see the works described by him, and in many taking you to where it was shot, like one title including “7th St, NW”. We were transported to 7th St in the 1940’s.
    (See it, it’s beautiful/powerful/sobering)

Primary Sidebar


unboxed logo


Cub Scout Pack 589 and Ernest Johnson


African American students reading in the library

Oral History: Desegregation of Arlington’s Public Schools


Photo of dinosaur skeleton at the Museum of Natural History with high school class from Hoffman-Boston

George Melvin Richardson


Read more blog posts from the Center for Local History


Center for Local History


Central Library, First Floor
1015 North Quincy Street
Arlington VA 22201
703-228-5990

Footer

Explore

  • Catalog
  • eCollection
  • Research
  • Services
  • Kids and Teens
  • Local History
  • Events
  • more

About Us

  • Mission & Vision
  • Policies
  • Library Administration
  • Job Opportunities
  • News Room

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

Arlington County | Terms & Conditions | Site Map
· Copyright © 2019 Arlington County Government ·