The parking garage at Central Library will be closed on Friday, May 31 while the garage gate is being repaired.
We apologize for the inconvenience.
June 3: Marion Winik, Author of “Baltimore Book of the Dead”
Date: Monday, June 3
Time: 7 – 8:30 p.m.
Award-Winning Author, Humorist, and NPR Commentator
Marion Winik is an award-winning columnist, renowned humorist, NPR commentator, and author of creative nonfiction. Her latest book, “The Baltimore Book of the Dead,” is a collection of portraits of the dead, their compressed narratives weaving a unusual, richly populated memoir. A professor in the MFA program at the University of Baltimore, Winik was the recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship in Creative Non-Fiction and has been inducted into the Texas Institute of Letters. She has appeared on the Today Show, Politically Incorrect and Oprah.
Read for Your Health
Because Information is the Best Medicine
Each of these book lists is designed to help you learn more about the topics focused on during Health Week at the Library:
Brain Health
Community Health
Family Health
Heart Health
Mental Health
You can also access the Health & Wellness Resource Center for free with your library card. Search online for reputable information on diseases and conditions, alternative medicine, drugs and herbs, providers, terminology and current health news.
An Experimental Farm
Did you know that Arlington was at the forefront of experimental farming in the early 20th Century?
In 1900, Congress transferred 400 acres of land along the Potomac near Ft. Myer to the Department of Agriculture in order to create an experimental farm for plant testing, and the improvement of plants and cultivation.
Horse-drawn cultivator, Arlington House in background, 1908.
Experimental Farm, USDA, date unknown.
A lot of fascinating and far-reaching work was conducted at the Experimental Farm over the next forty years:
- The Farm naturalized over 100,000 types of foreign plants for domestic use, using seeds collected from Americans traveling aboard on governmental or private missions. Soybeans are one of the best-known crops to be introduced this way.
- When a plant disease threatened to wipe out the domestic sugarcane industry in the 1920s the Farm led the way in developing immunity to this blight, which ultimately resulted in the rebuilding of the sugarcane industry.
- One of the more unusual examples of the Farm’s experiments involved grasses for golf greens. Before WWI the country’s golf courses were almost entirely dependent on German grown seed for their grasses. When the supply was cut off by the war, golf courses throughout the country contributed funds for experiments at Arlington to develop new domestic varieties.
U.S. Dept. of Agriculture photo of the Experimental Farm, 1906. National Monument in the background.
Aerial View of the Experimental Farm, 1919, shows area now occupied by the Pentagon and Airport. Bridges are Memorial Bridge and Aqueduct Bridge.
With the development of Arlington National Cemetery and the construction of Memorial Bridge there was pressure to relocate the farm. In 1932 much of the farm’s work was shifted to Beltsville, MD.
By 1941 the remainder of the property had been transferred to the War Department for use in the National Defense Program.
To see more items like these, or to learn more about Arlington's history, visit the Center for Local History on the first floor of the Central Library.
Do you have a question about this story, or a personal experience to share?
Use this form to send a message to the Center for Local History.
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Aurora Hills Closed on May 21 for HVAC Replacement
Update: HVAC work is complete and the Aurora Hills Branch will be open on Thursday.
The Aurora Hills Branch Library and the Senior Center will be closed Tuesday, May 21 and Thursday, May 23.
The HVAC unit for the building will be replaced during this time.
Aurora Hills will be open for our regular schedule on Wednesday, May 22, from 1 - 9 p.m.
Due Dates and Holds
- All due dates are unaffected as our other Library locations remain open.
- The Aurora Hills book drop and parking lot will be unavailable Tuesday and Thursday due to construction equipment.
- Holds will remain on the Aurora Hills hold shelves through Saturday, May 25.
We apologize for any inconvenience.
The Aqueduct Bridge
Before the Key Bridged spanned the Potomac River from Georgetown to Rosslyn, the Alexandria Aqueduct carried barges on an extension of the C&O Canal from Georgetown to Alexandria (then encompassing Arlington County and the City of Alexandria), to keep the city competitive as a trading center.
NOTE: The following two paragraphs have been edited to correct an error, and add information.
These two photographs were taken approximately forty years apart.
Aqueduct Bridge, c. 1900, photographed from Georgetown
Key Bridge with remaining piers of old aqueduct, c. 1940, photographed from Georgetown
The first photo, c.1900, was taken from Georgetown looking towards Rosslyn. It shows the Aqueduct Bridge (also known as the Potomac or Alexandria Aqueduct), which connected Virginia and Georgetown from 1843 to 1923. The tall building in the upper right corner of the first photo was a brewing company that began as the Consumer Brewing Company (1895 -1902) and then became the Arlington Brewing Company (1902 -1918).
The second image shows the Key Bridge with the last vestiges of the Aqueduct Bridge. Construction on the Aqueduct Bridge began in 1833 at the bequest of the Alexandria Canal, which knew its port would suffer because of the C&O Canal. The bridge took ten years to construct, and in 1868, a second level was added to the bridge to serve as a road between Rosslyn and Georgetown for people and carts.
In 1886, the bridge was closed to canal boats, but the Aqueduct Bridge continued to be used as a bridge for traffic between Georgetown and Rosslyn until 1923, when the Key Bridge opened.
The Aqueduct Bridge's iron superstructure was removed in 1933 by the Depression-era Civil Works Administration, and in 1962 the Army Corps of Engineers removed the tops of seven of the eight stone piers visible in the Key Bridge image. The eighth pier—the one closest to Virginia—was left intact and is visible to this day. You can also still see remnants of the Georgetown abutment near the western base of the Key Bridge.
To see more items like these, or to learn more about Arlington's history, visit the Center for Local History on the first floor of the Central Library.
Do you have a question about this story, or a personal experience to share?
Use this form to send a message to the Center for Local History.
Center For Local History - Blog Post Message Form
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Truck and Bus Day at Columbia Pike: May 18
Children of all ages are invited to see and even touch all sorts of vehicles including construction trucks, fire trucks, a recycling truck, an ART bus, and more!
While you’re here, create fun truck and bus crafts, listen to a truck storytime, and check out books about cars, trucks, buses and construction vehicles.
Hygiene Class for New Mothers
Happy Mother's Day to all the women who have worked to keep us both healthy and clean!
These photos are from Arlington Health Department hygiene classes, which were offered for new and expectant mothers in the 1930s and 1940s.
Home hygiene clinic, 1938
Baby bath demonstration, 1943
During this time period, health and cleanliness were considered one and the same, so personal hygiene was seen as essential to being healthy.
The classes for new mothers covered maternity hygiene, infant hygiene, and preschool hygiene. Among other things, nurses demonstrated the best way to wash a toddler and a baby.
To see more items like these, or to learn more about Arlington's history, visit the Center for Local History on the first floor of the Central Library.
Do you have a question about this story, or a personal experience to share?
Use this form to send a message to the Center for Local History.
Center For Local History - Blog Post Message Form
Do you have a question about this story, or a personal experience to share? Use this form to send a message to the Center for Local History.
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Tracy K. Smith: May 16
Award-winning two-term Poet Laureate of the United States Tracy K. Smith continues the 2019 Arlington Reads series.
A finalist for the National Book Award, Smith’s “Ordinary Light” explores coming of age and the meaning of home against a complex backdrop of race, faith, and the unbreakable bond between a mother and daughter.
Tracy K. Smith
Central Library Auditorium
Thursday, May 16, 7 – 8:30 p.m.
The 2019 Arlington Reads series “Our Stories, Ourselves” features women writers whose diverse voices and experiences remind us that everyone has a story. Appearing next: Marion Winik (June 3).
Prom Season at Bishop O’Connell
Spring is in the air... time for April showers, May flowers and prom!
Did you go to your high school prom? These photos, scanned from Bishop O’Connell yearbooks, show prom outfits through the years. How do they compare to what you wore?
Bishop O’Connell, 1964
Bishop O’Connell, 1977
Bishop O’Connell, 1984
Bishop O’Connell, 1993
Although prom is now a high school tradition known for its extravagance and debauchery, it began in Northeast colleges and universities as pseudo coming-out event (prom is actually short for promenade).
Unfortunately, the Center for Local History's photo archive does not include many prom photos. This is partly because high school yearbooks tend to go to print before most proms are held.
Do you have photos of your Arlington prom that you would like to add to the Center for Local History's Community Archive? Visit or contact the Center for Local History at Central Library, and let us know!
To see more items like these, or to learn more about Arlington's history, visit the Center for Local History on the first floor of the Central Library.
Do you have a question about this story, or a personal experience to share?
Use this form to send a message to the Center for Local History.
Center For Local History - Blog Post Message Form
Do you have a question about this story, or a personal experience to share? Use this form to send a message to the Center for Local History.
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