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Arlington’s Autorailer Experiment

1936-1939

Since the first trolley began running in 1896 - from Rosslyn to Fort Myer, just outside of Arlington National Cemetery - public transportation has been an important aspect of Arlington’s identity and development.

Autorailer picking up passengers c. 1938; CLH Collections

Having easy access to public transportation was an integral part of the growth and development of Arlington. The 1930s in Arlington saw a massive rise in population thanks to the government’s New Deal Programs, which brought thousands of government jobs into Arlington. Many workers were forced to live farther and farther away from D.C. as there were few housing options left close to the city. Even though half of American families owned a car by 1930, many still relied on companies like the Washington-Virginia Railway to get them to and from work.

When the Washington-Virginia railway went bankrupt in 1927, local community members and businesses gathered to form their own company, the Arlington & Fairfax Railway Company. By purchasing the former tracks, the new company was able to continue service between Fairfax City and Rosslyn. It also promoted tourism and vacations among D.C. residents, allowing them to travel to local landmarks like Mount Vernon, Great Falls, the National Cemetery, and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

The company, under Vice President G. Hall Roosevelt, nephew of Theodore Roosevelt and youngest brother of Elenanor Roosevelt, operated at a loss for 9 years until deteriorating infrastructure, competition from cars, and the loss of tracks into DC threatened to shut down the line for good.

Detroit Investment

In June of 1936, the Arlington & Fairfax Railway was saved by an investor from Detroit, The Evans Product Company. Evans was looking to break into the streetcar market and chose the D.C. area to promote their new innovation, the Autorailer - a hybrid streetcar and motorbus that was able to travel on both railroad tracks and paved roads, seamlessly transitioning at railroad crossings with the push of a lever.

Life Magazine Ad for Autorailers, August 1936. Photo courtesy of The Old Motor

In exchange for 51% of the company, The Evans Company invested $30,000 to rehabilitate the infrastructure, and supplied six autorailers for immediate use. Between December 1936 and January 1937, Evans spent over $125,000 to replace Arlington's remaining streetcars with the autorailers. To highlight the new technology, they renamed the company “Arlington & Fairfax Auto Railway."

Promotional newsreel made by Chevrolet in 1935 containing the "Evans Auto-Railer," an automobile that runs down railroad tracks in Jackson, Michigan. Prelinger Archives; Public Domain.

"Dual-Purpose and Streamlined"

The Autorailer was designed as a combination trolley streetcar and motor bus, with rubber tires for the road, and flanged wheels that could be set down to ride along the electric railroad tracks. Each vehicle typically had 4 wheels, a Chevrolet or Ford engine, and could carry 20-27 passengers. A rear compartment also allowed for the transport of mail and luggage.

The Arlington & Fairfax Auto Railway Company operated two lines out of Rosslyn starting in December 1936. The Main line went from Rosslyn to Fairfax, via Clarendon, Falls Church, and Vienna. The Arlington Line traveled from Rosslyn to Ft. Myer, via Green Valley and Arlington Cemetery. The Autorailer ran every twenty minutes for 15 cents each way, and commuters could get from Rosslyn to Fort Myer in just under an hour.

Although newspapers at the time claimed that “comparatively little mechanical trouble has been experienced, despite the newness of the vehicle” (Transit Journal, March 1937), contemporary analysis of the autorailer by John E. Merriken in "Old Dominion Trolley Too: A History of the Mount Vernon Line" deemed them, “Relatively primitive vehicles noticeably inferior to both the railcars they replaced and to contemporary motor buses”

AutoRailer1

Autorailer, January 1939; CLH collections

Autorailer's flanged wheel and rubber tire, c. 1935; Photo courtesy of The Prelinger Archives

AutoRailer4

Autorailers going to Arlington Cemetery and West Falls Church c. 1938; photo from CLH Collections

Crossing the Potomac Into DC

Previous trolleys had been able to travel across the Long Bridge to provide service into Washington D.C. This line was abandoned in 1930 when the station was destroyed for the construction of the Federal Triangle.

One of the immediate goals of the Arlington & Fairfax Auto Railway was to regain service into D.C. The company repeatedly petitioned to obtain permission to enter the city over the Key Bridge and resume service down Pennsylvania Avenue, filing at least two applications in 1937.

Although the application was finally granted in November 1938, it isn’t clear whether any autorailers ever crossed over the Potomac River, as two months later the Capital Transit Company successfully defended their right to a monopoly on passenger service in Washington, and the Arlington & Fairfax Auto Railway was barred from using the Key Bridge.

Return to Bankcruptcy, and to County Roadways

The loss of service into D.C. was the final nail in the coffin for the Arlington & Fairfax Auto Railway, and by September of 1939, the company was once again bankrupt. With no investors to save them this time, they began to liquidate their stock of autorailers.

While much of the fleet was sold across the country, four remained in Arlington and were sold to the Washington and Old Dominion Railroad. Three were used for general maintenance and repairs and one was converted to do repair work on the overhead electric lines for the tracks until 1944. Most of the railroad tracks were released to the County to be used for roads and highways, including Fairfax Drive, Clarendon Blvd, and Electric Avenue.

Trolley service would continue in Arlington County until the early 1960s, when the last of the railroad tracks were sold for the construction of I-66 and the Metro.

Regarding Public Transportation and Segregation in Virginia

In 1904, the Virginia General Assembly gave streetcar companies the power to segregate passengers by race. Two years later, the Assembly enacted legislation that required racial segregation on Virginia streetcars. In 1946, forced segregation on interstate buses was declared unconstitutional after Irene Morgan appealed her case to the U.S. Supreme Court. And in 1960, another Supreme Court case, Boynton v. Virginia, banned segregation by race on any type of public transportation. Learn more about this topic at the Virginia Museum of History & Culture.

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The USS Arlington

Arlington's Naval Voyage Through the 20th Century

The first USS Arlington, c. 1947;
Photo Courtesy of Naval History and Heritage Command

World War Two

The first United States Navy Ship to be named Arlington was a general cargo ship that was converted into a troop transport in 1944 for World War Two. Capable of carrying over 1,000 soldiers, the Arlington acted as a training vessel for sailors on the West Coast. It then became a troop transport at the end of the war.

The Arlington was decommissioned in 1946 and remained in the Navy’s reserve fleet until it was sold for scrap in the 1960s.

The second USS Arlington after conversion, c. 1960s;
Photo from CLH collections

Cold War Communications

As the technology of the Cold War advanced, need arose for a powerful communications ship that could relay messages anywhere across the world. In 1967, the former aircraft carrier USS SAIPAN was converted into a Communication Relay Ship and officially commissioned as the USS Arlington in honor of the Arlington Radio Towers, which had been the site of the first trans-Atlantic voice communication in 1915.

At a length of 684 feet, a crew of about 1,000 men, and a top speed of 33 knots, the Arlington was the ideal choice to act as a communication relay hub. After beating the USS Boston in a race to Guantanamo Bay, the USS Arlington earned a reputation as one of the fastest ships in the Navy’s fleet. Upon winning the race, the ship adopted the nickname the “Road Runner,” and its crew displayed a flag of the television cartoon character when entering port or pulled alongside another ship for refueling or to provide assistance. They also played the character’s theme song whenever the flag was raised.

After participating in NATO training exercises across Europe, the Arlington acted as communication support for US troops in Vietnam, most notably at the Gulf of Tonkin incident in August 1967.

President Nixon aboard the USS Arlington with Captain Murphree before the Apollo 11 landing, 1969;
Photo courtesy of NavSource.

Assisting the Space Race

Thanks to its advanced radio and communication capabilities, the USS Arlington assisted in the return of several Apollo spaceships. In December, 1968, it served as the primary communication ship for the recovery of Apollo 8, and in May, 1969, it assisted in the recovery of Apollo 10.

Because the USS Arlington was stationed near the landing zone, it was chosen as one of the main ships in assisting in the recovery of the Apollo 11 astronauts after they reached the moon in July 1969. The role of the USS Arlington was classified, and not revealed to the public until years after the landings.

The USS Arlington’s contribution to the Apollo missions would be its last for the US Navy. The Arlington returned to the United States in January of 1970 to be decommissioned and was officially sold as scrap in 1976.

Although the ship was only formally active for 4 years, it was awarded 7 campaign stars for its efforts in Vietnam.

The third USS Arlington participates in recovery training of the Orion capsule, 2013;
Photo courtesy of NASA

USS Arlington Today

In 2004, the US Navy decided to name 3 of the Navy’s new ships in honor of the 9/11 attacks. The USS Arlington was launched in 2010, along with the sister ships USS New York and USS Somerset.

In 2013, the new USS Arlington helped NASA in stationary recovery training of the Orion spacecraft.

The USS Arlington honors the 184 victims and thousands of emergency, fire and rescue personnel of Arlington Country and localities in the National Capital Region who provided critical emergency assistance after the attack. The ship was built with a museum to honor the victims of the Pentagon which includes pieces of steel from the Pentagon 9-11 crash site. To read more about the USS Arlington, visit https://www.arlingtonva.us/Government/Topics/ussarlington

To learn more about Arlington's history, visit the Center for Local History on the first floor of the Central Library.

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Lustron Steel Homes in Arlington

1947-1950: A Slice of American Architectural History

“If Lustron fails, let us forever quit talking about mass-produced houses” - Senator Ralph Flanders, Suffolk News Herald, August 9, 1949.

Lustron Home Advertisement - Late 1940’s, Courtesy of Washington University.

By the end of World War Two, Arlington County was in the middle of a housing crisis. The completion of the Pentagon in 1943 made the area a prime destination for government workers as well as troops returning after the war, more than doubling Arlington’s population from 57,000 to 135,000 between 1940 and 1950.  

 Residential construction had almost completely stopped during the war years due to materials rationing. One solution to this nation-wide housing crisis came from inventor Carl Strandland, who converted his steel factory in Columbus Ohio - which had built bombers during the war - into an assembly line for cheap, pre-made, steel houses that required as little maintenance as possible. 

In 1947, Strandland’s factory began to turn out the components for “fireproof, termite proof, and vermin proof” Lustron Homes - 11 of which ended up in Arlington. 

Lustron Advertisement from Life Magazine, April 19th, 1948; photo courtesy of Make it Mid-Century

The Lustron Home

Each house was created piece by piece on an assembly line in the main factory in Columbus, Ohio and then shipped unassembled by truck to the desired location. Once the components arrived, it would be assembled by a licensed "Builder/Dealer." Most of the homes in Arlington were constructed by local companies Carlton Construction or Construction Associates. Construction could take anywhere from 9 days to 3 weeks, depending on the experience of the crew.

The homes were one story, constructed from steel with a porcelain steel enamel cover available in typical 1950’s colors such as surf blue, dove gray, desert tan, and maize yellow. The inside was designed to be modern and futuristic, aimed at making life as easy as possible for young families.

To set Lustron apart from other prefabricated homes, design features included a round fireplace and a radiant ceiling heating system, which integrated with the metal walls to trap heat. They also came with a built-in combination washing machine/dishwasher, bookshelves, and wall units.

Floor Plan of Westchester Deluxe Model; image courtesy of Make it Mid-Century

 

Much of the appeal of the Lustron Homes came from the ease of cleaning; the metal paneled interior walls were easily washed with water. Homeowners could simply take a hose to the outside of their house in order to clean it.

The affordable price of the homes put them in high demand; they began at about $6,000 but had jumped to almost $10,000 by 1950 in an effort to make the company more profitable.

Lustron Homes in Arlington

After a model Lustron Home was placed in Foggy Bottom, over 1200 orders were placed in the DMV area in a few months. But due to strict housing codes that affected what kinds of homes were built, difficulty obtaining permits, and delivery issues, only 11 homes were completed in Arlington. The largest concentration of these homes were 5 of the Westchester Deluxe Model 2 homes, built in the Columbia Forest neighborhood in 1949 as part of a failed planned community of 100 prefabricated, metal homes.

Although a large collection of Lustron Homes were built at the Marine Corp Base in Quantico, only 4 more were built in the DMV area before the company went out of business in 1950.

Columbia Forest Lustron Home, Arlington, 1998; CLH photo.

Columbia Forest Lustron Home, Arlington, 2022; CLH photo.

Preservation

Of the 11 original Lustron Homes in Arlington, only two remain. Most were destroyed in the last 20 years, to make way for larger, more modern housing.

In 2005, local Lustron owner Clifford M. Krowne offered to donate his nearly original Lustron Home to Arlington in exchange for the County’s removal of the house from his property. The next year, the County Board accepted responsibility of the house by disassembling and placing it into storage until a suitable use could be found for it.

Krowne’s home experienced a short period of national fame when it was loaned to the Museum of Modern Art in New York for the exhibit, “Home Delivery: Fabricating the Modern Dwelling,'' from May to November 2008. Only partially reconstructed for the exhibit, the Lustron Home helped to illustrate the fad of pre-made houses in the 20th century.

Krowne Lustron being dismantled: the crew removes the steel framing pieces supporting the chimney flue, and the crane lifts another whole roof truss off and over the shell of the house. 2006 photo by Cynthia Liccese-Torres and Kim A. O'Connell, courtesy of CRM Journal, National Park Service.

After the exhibit in New York, Arlington County placed the Krowne Lustron Home back into storage until 2011, when the County Board voted unanimously to donate it to the Ohio Historical Connection, which holds the Lustron Corporate Archives. Reassembled as the centerpiece of the exhibit “1950’s: Building the American Dream,” the Home has seen over 870,000 visitors since 2013.

Lustron Memories

Although some have described the houses as, “like living in a filing cabinet,” or complained that they “had felt a draft through the walls on cold, gusty nights,” the homes were also popular and well received. A 1980 Washington Post interview with a homeowner described her home experience living in a Lustron Home as, “sturdy and well built. Snug-fitting doors and windows make them very comfortable...she particularly appreciates the ease with which she can clean the attractive, hard-finished interior.”

Do you have any memories of living in or visiting a Lustron Home in Arlington? We want to hear from you!

The Center for Local History invites the Arlington Community to play an active role in documenting our history by donating stories and materials to our permanent collection. Learn more https://library.arlingtonva.us/center-for-local-history/center-for-local-history-call-for-donations/

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Marking Arlington’s Border in Stone

You might know that Arlington was once a part of Washington D.C., but did you know that Arlington’s boundary stones are some of the country’s oldest federal monuments?

These stones were created as a result of the Residence Act of 1790, which gave President George Washington permission to select an area for a new Federal capital along the Potomac River.

To facilitate this deal, both Maryland and Virginia agreed to cede a section of land, with Virginia ceding much of what is now Arlington. Since 1731, the Virginia land had been designated as part of Fairfax County.

Washington selected the southernmost section of the Potomac River in order to include as much of Virginia and the city of Alexandria as possible. Although Arlington was largely rural at the time, Alexandria was one of the most important port cities in the region.

Boundary Stone No. 7 SW at Carlin Elementary School, photo 2022, CLH.

The Survey

Once the boundaries had been chosen, then Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson appointed Major Andrew Ellicott to survey the 10 square mile area for an official border. Ellicott was chosen because he was one of the most prominent surveyors of the time and possessed some of the most advanced mapping equipment of the time period. He was joined by Benjamin Banneker, a free black man who had taught himself mathematics and astronomy.

The men set up camp at Jones Point, Alexandria and worked with a small team to chart the stars and complete the necessary calculations for drawing the borders.

Arlington at the time was mostly rural with dense forests, making surveying work extremely dangerous for the men in the field. Many suffered from the harsh climate, influenza, and one worker was even killed by a falling tree.

Chart showing the original boundary milestones of the District of Columbia / Fred E. Woodward (1906).
Image Courtesy of the Library of Congress

The First Stone

The first boundary stone was set up at Jones Point on April 15th, 1791. Ellicott and his team (now without Banneker, who had retired due to his health shortly after the first marker was placed), then began the process of placing the remaining 39 boundary stones across Virginia and Maryland.

Each stone was made of sandstone from Aquia Creek and placed at one-mile intervals. Engraved on each marker was “Jurisdiction of the United States”, with the accompanying state and year the stone was placed.

By the end of 1791, 14 stones had been placed in Virginia and the remaining 26 were erected in Maryland the following year. It would take another 10 years for the District of Columbia to be formally incorporated, with the federal capital remaining in Philadelphia until 1801.

The First Boundary Stone under Jones Point Lighthouse, Alexandria in 2010; Image Courtesy of Something Original at Wikipedia

Preservation Today

The stones would remain in place while the face of the city changed around them, often leading to some stones being buried or lost in the growth of nature. The section of Virginia that is now Arlington and Alexandria would remain as part of D.C. until 1847, when unhappy Virginia citizens forced the federal government to give the land back to the Commonwealth.

Boundary stone preservation efforts began in 1915, as the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) began placing iron cages around the remaining markers. Although some of the remaining monuments today lie on private property, there are 36 stones that can be visited across the D.C. area.

To explore the Boundary Stones online, visit the Boundary Stones of DC Story Map

Boundary Stone No. 9 SW at Benjamin Banneker Park, Arlington, photo 2022, CLH.

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