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Center for Local History Blog

Dedicated to collecting, preserving and sharing the history of the community.

What Went Up Came Down, 1997

1960s Courthouse Demolished Sixteen Years Ago

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At 7 a.m. on Feb. 23, 1997, the shell of the old Arlington County Courthouse came down in an impressive, yet controlled, implosion. Located across the street from the current courthouse and correctional center, the building was opened in 1960 with great fanfare, as it was a vast improvement over the original courthouse from 1898. However, the 1960 building had lots of asbestos and no sprinkler or fire alarm system, and a major fire in 1990 was its death knell. The county completed the current courthouse building in 1995, and the 1960 building was used by the fire department for training exercises until its demolition. The area is now a parking lot.

This series of photographs by County Photographer Deborah Ernst give a dramatic view of the implosion and the rubble it left behind.

 

Do You Know What Your Street Used To Be Named?

How Arlington Made Sense of its Street Names and Paved the Way for Our First Federal Building

The 1935 Arlington County Directory of Street Names represents a unique moment in Arlington history-- a time when many Arlingtonians had to re-learn the names of their streets and those of their neighbors.

Page 1 from the Arlington County Virginia Directory of Street Names, 1935, screenshot of scanned document opened in the Community Archives.

In 1932, Arlington County had already begun a boom in population that would only continue over the next several decades. Between 1900 and 1930, the population of the once-rural area had grown by over 350%--from 6,430 to 23,278--despite the annexation of sizable portions of land by the city of Alexandria in 1915 and 1929.

New streetcar suburbs began popping up all around Arlington County--between 1900 and 1910 alone, plats for seventy new subdivisions were entered into the County Deed Books.

However, these new developments sprang up with little to no coordination or central planning, and by 1932, this was beginning to create problems. The developments formed what was, in effect, a confusing archipelago of small, unconnected towns, and street names were frequently repeated throughout the county. There were, by one account, as many as twenty-five different roads named "Arlington," for example, as well as many roads known as "Washington," "Virginia," and "Lee."

Visitors found the county difficult to navigate, neighborhood names had to be attached to mailing addresses to ensure that letters arrived at the right building, and some DC-area businesses even refused to deliver to customers in Arlington. There were also concerns about the Fire Department being dispatched to a house at the same address in the wrong subdivision.

1935 Arlington County Franklin Insurance Property Atlas

The newly-established “County Board-County Manager” Government of Arlington decided very quickly to try to rectify this situation. One of the primary issues motivating them seems to have been the desire to see a Post Office in Arlington, as mail service to Arlington had been routed through Washington D.C. since 1925, and the Post Office Department had dictated that no Post Office would be allocated to Arlington until its street naming scheme was more coherent and logical. To this end, a Street Naming Committee was established, tasked with rationalizing the county's street naming scheme.

Initially, the committee considered simply eliminating duplicate street names, leaving one street with each repeated name. The committee quickly decided that this approach was insufficient, and that a more general, systemic plan was necessary. Soliciting feedback from the county’s residents, the committee got a variety of proposals, from continuing DC’s alphabetical/numeric scheme to having the residents of each street vote on a street name.

Eventually, the committee decided on essentially the county’s current street naming scheme:

  • The county is divided into two sections, North and South Arlington, generally separated by Arlington Boulevard (US Route 50).
  • Numbered streets generally run east-west, parallel to Arlington Boulevard, and North and South designations follow numbered street names.
  • Named streets generally run north-south, and North and South designations precede named street names. These streets are generally named in alphabetical order from east to west, skipping the letters X, Y, and Z. When the end of the alphabet is reached, it is repeated with additional syllables-- thus Oak and Quinn Streets are to the east of Oakland and Quincy, which are in turn east of Ohio and Quantico Streets.
  • Boulevards, Drives, and Roads are generally major thoroughfares with historically recognized names, most of which were not renamed. Generally, these are the only through streets, unlike numbered and named streets, which tend to be broken up at times and intended primarily for local neighborhood traffic.

The Committee’s recommendations were put forward for public comment, and were approved with several small amendments in August of 1934--thirty months after the project began. In 1936, Arlington County was assigned a local Postmaster for the first time in over ten years, and the next year, the Postmaster General of the United States of America was on hand for the dedication of the cornerstone of the new Post Office in Clarendon--the first federal government building in Arlington County.

For people researching Arlington before 1934, the street name change can present challenges. This searchable PDF of the Arlington County Virginia Directory of Street Names, which opens by clicking or tapping on the cover image, can help with navigation of Arlington before the change.

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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Our Back Pages: The Nearby Hideaways

Shirlington Shelter Map

Nuclear attack was a constant boogeyman of the Cold War.

In the 1950s and 1960s especially, American citizenry was encouraged to be proactive in protecting themselves from nuclear fallout (remember “Duck and Cover”?).

Arlington was no exception. In late 1960s, the Northern Virginia Regional Planning Commission, which covered the cities of Alexandria, Fairfax and Falls Church and Arlington, Fairfax, Loudon and Prince William Counties, developed a civil defense plan for a possible nuclear attack. These plans included a fallout shelter program, mapping shelters in regard to population centers and how to get people to those shelters.

The Northern Virginia Region Community Shelter Program, published in 1968, outlined these plans and processes, and also published maps of shelter locations for subsets of the region. The Arlington Edition of the map sectioned the county into color-coded zones so users could find a shelter in their area and contained tips on creating and stocking your own shelter. The above image shows the fallout shelter locations for Shirlington, and the image below lists the names of these shelters. The map itself has the following introduction:

“In case of danger from fallout from a nuclear attack upon this country, you and your family would need to know WHERE TO GO and WHAT TO DO. This Community Shelter Plan contains this information for every citizen. It is based on making the best possible use of the fallout protection now available. If you and your family take action, as this Plan recommends, you will have maximum chance for survival from fallout effects.”

List of Shirlington fallout shelters, 1968.

What about you?

Did you have a fallout shelter in your home or neighborhood? Do you remember preparing for “the Big One”? We want to hear from you.

 

From Marching Bands to Indie Rock: The Story of Gerald Lewis Recording

1979 Arlington County All-County Elementary Orchestra and Chorus album cover

In today’s music scene, it isn’t uncommon for those involved to wear many hats.

Artists crossover from performing to producing, find parallel careers in film, literature, and the visual arts with regularity. In earlier times, this phenomenon was less prevalent, excepting well-known performers such as Elvis and Frank Sinatra. Arlington’s own Gerald M. Lewis had a rich and varied career, being involved in many different aspects of music including performing, instruction, production, and recording.

From 1954-1979, Mr. Lewis served as a band director for Gunston and Stratford Junior High Schools, and Wakefield and Washington-Lee High Schools. At his home on 216 S. Pershing Drive, Lewis also owned and operated Gerald Lewis Recording. Housed in a mobile home adjacent to his residence, Gerald Lewis Recording was a mobile recording unit that offered him the ability to record performers and public events on location.

Operating from 1964-1991, a remarkably diverse customer base utilized Mr. Lewis’ recording service. Local Virginia and Maryland schools and churches recorded public events and concerts, including performances from high school marching bands and public speakers.

Local recording artists also took advantage of Lewis’ expertise. In 1985, Teen-Beat Records artists Unrest used the mobile studio to master their debut 7” single “So You Want To Be a Rock ‘n’ Roll Star”/ “Zelda” (Side A) – “The Hill” (Side B), which was also the first Teen-Beat vinyl release. Unrest band member and Teen-Beat impresario Mark Robinson recalls, “He [Lewis] essentially was the broker for Teen-Beat to press our first record. He put the master tape together, sent it to the pressing plant, etc. I paid him, and he paid the pressing plant. I found his number in the Yellow Pages. He also recorded and pressed up the Arlington All-County Orchestra record that I was on back in 4th or 5th grade, so I knew that this guy knew how to make a record.”

In 1996, Mr. Lewis and his wife Elizabeth, a music teacher at Wakefield High School, moved to Tennessee where he continued to be involved in music, directing, arranging, and playing trombone for the Pleasant Hill Ensemble until his passing in March of 2008, at the age of 82.

What about you?

Do you have any memories of Mr. Lewis or his recording services?

A Garden to Remember

Photgraph by Pamela Powers

The Bon Air Memorial Rose Garden, located at the corner of N. Lexington  St. and Wilson Boulevard, was conceived by Nell Broyhill as a memorial for the many Arlingtonians who served and died in World War II.

In 1941, Ms.  Broyhill assembled a group of women from Arlington churches, civic groups and associations and formed the Arlington Rose Garden Association, now called the Arlington Rose Foundation. After ten years of fundraising they finally realized their dream when the rose garden opened on the grounds of what was then Arlington Hospital (now Virginia Hospital Center) in 1951.

Ten years later the garden was moved to Bon Air Park; the transfer was completed in 1964. Today the garden is maintained by the Arlington’s Department of Parks, Recreation and Community Resources. It contains approximately 135 different rose varieties and 2,500 plants on about one acre.

In the center of the garden is the famous Peace rose and the Veterans’ Honor ™ rose. The Peace rose is a yellow blend Hybrid Tea developed by Frances Meilland in France in 1935. When World War II began Meilland sent the rose to friends in Germany, Italy and the U.S. in the hopes of ensuring its survival. Called the Peace rose in the U.S. to commemorate the end of the war, it was formally introduced on April 19, 1945, the day Berlin fell.

The Veterans’ Honor ™ rose, a dark red hybrid tea rose, was created by Jackson and Perkins in 1999 to commemorate America’s veterans.

The Foundation sponsors an annual rose competition for growers. This year’s district competition, which includes 70 competitive categories, will be at held at Merrifield Garden Center- Fair Oaks location on September 22nd from  1 to 6 pm and September 23rd from  11am to 4 pm. See  www. arlingtonrose.org  for more details as well as for information about the Arlington Rose Foundation’s activities and rose advice.

Plans are also underway for a Bon Air Memorial Rose garden celebration day on Saturday, October 6. Along with docent-led tours, rose rooting classes and poetry inspired by roses, the legacy and unique gift that Ms. Broyhill bestowed to Arlington will be on prime display.

What About You?

What are your favorite memories of Bon Air Rose Garden? Or other wonderful rose gardens in Arlington?

 

 

Clarendon’s Trophy

Dan Kan Trophies, 1998

 

The building at 3100 Washington Boulevard in Clarendon is a visually arresting structure.

This Streamline Moderne-style storefront was the home of Dan Kain Trophies, which was the store in Arlington for trophies, ribbons and plaques for many years. Although Dan Kain Trophies is now located in Merrifield in Fairfax County, it still has a major impact on the community; so much so that although the building is currently a restaurant called Lyon Hall, many Arlingtonians still call it the Dan Kain Building.

The Dan Kain Building, shown above in 1998, was constructed in the mid-1940s for Frank Lyon, who rented it out to a series of businesses selling appliances, electronics and finally furniture. In 1963, Dan Kain moved his trophy business, which he had established in his home, into the building, and Dan Kan Trophies stayed there for 40 years, providing not just Arlington but northern Virginia with signs, trophies and other materials for government and private groups. In 1973, ads appeared in the Washington Post for “Special Prices for Bowling Leagues.” With its specialized products, friendly service and unique home, Dan Kain Trophies became an institution.

In 1988, the County Board unanimously approved the Dan Kain Building as a Local Historic District. It is an excellent example of the Streamline Moderne style of architecture, with its lack of ornamentation, streamlining, and distinctive wrap around to North Highland Street. The interior was renovated in 2004, and Dan Kan Trophies, now owned by longtime employee Jim Preziotti, left Washington Boulevard to relocate to 2207 N. Pershing Drive.

A GSA federal contract in 2009 to make trophies and signs was an indication of the business’s continuing vitality. However, the economy’s downturn hurt Dan Kain Trophies; budgets set aside for trophies, medals and plaques were diminished as belts were tightened. When the Pershing Drive location was scheduled to be torn down in 2010, the business ended up moving to Merrifield, where rent is cheaper. However, Dan Kain Trophies is still in business, marking people’s milestones and helping preserve memories. And the building to which it is linked still stands proudly, still a vital part of Clarendon’s business district.

What about you?
What are your memories of Dan Kan Trophies and its building?

How to Preserve Arlington’s Past

The Virginia Room at Central Library is the County’s official history archive.

But how does the Library keep a steady flow of history coming in? Donations, from people like you.

Scott McCaffrey of the Sun Gazette was on hand for a recent donation by the Potomac Women’s Club, just one of several civic groups that now has its newsletters, yearbooks and scrapbooks preserved for future generations of Arlington residents and researchers.

In the case of the Potomac Women’s Club, the records go back to the early 1950s and create a fascinating timeline of both dramatic changes in the County and the evolving influence of women’s organizations nationwide.

See more images from the Potomac Women’s Club donation.

 

Learn more about the Virginia Room and local history. 

 

Our Back Pages: Swillers Music

Serving as both a location to find the latest recorded music and a popular gathering spot, Swillers Music is still fondly remembered by longtime Arlington residents. 

Known over the years as Swillers Music, Swillers Music Center, or just Swillers, the store’s location in Clarendon at 1206 N. Hartford St. helped it become a magnet for residents looking for phonograph records of all genres. Turntables, televisions, radios, and related accessories were also kept in stock for the customer’s convenience.

Priding themselves on adding new merchandise on a near daily basis, many local residents found themselves visiting Swillers regularly, enjoying each other’s company, making new friends, or just passing the time. All of this seems quite fitting for a family owned business overseen by president Milton Swiller, vice president Anna Swiller, and treasurer Sydney Swiller.

The first listing for Swillers in an Arlington County directory appeared in 1948, while the last entry is from 1961.

 What About You?

 Do you have any recollections about Swillers Music?  If you do, please share in our comments section. Thanks.

 

 

 

 

From Our Archives: I Saw Lincoln Slain

She found herself in Washington like millions before and since, a young woman from somewhere else—in this case Connecticut—quickly taken with her newfound closeness to the pomp of the Federal seat of government.

Back in 1865, Washington was also capital of a nation split by a brutal civil war entering its last months. Sarah Russell, a minister’s daughter, would twice see President Lincoln with her own eyes—at the White House on the evening of his second inauguration, March 4, and a few weeks later on Good Friday, April 14, Ford’s Theatre.

Currier & Ives

Jump ahead four decades to a roomy two-story home with picket fence on Lee Highway in the East Fall Church neighborhood.  Sarah Norton Russell Eastman (1847-1939), mother of two impressive young men and wife of a Union veteran, is placing her memories onto the modest lines of a composition book. Points of popular history supplement her recall and at times a fact or two come out wrong.

But it’s Mrs. Eastman’s brief glimpses of Lincoln, both in celebration and mortally wounded, that shine like well-kept heirlooms.

“His shirt was open showing blood on his chest.”

Arlington Public Library’s Virginia Room is home to the Eastman-Fenwick Collection, a large mix of personal papers, Civil War and World War I front-line correspondence, photographs, maps and other materials that include Sarah Eastman’s, and those of several generations including her granddaughter’s husband, Virginia delegate, state senator and gubernatorial candidate Charles R. Fenwick. The Arlington Democrat was a key proponent of regional mass transit and his name is attached to Metro’s Yellow Line span of the 14th Street Bridge.  Fenwick was also a political intimate of John and Robert Kennedy.

The Eastman-Fenwick House, 6733 Lee Highway, is still a family home.

 

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A transcription of Sarah Eastman's account of seeing Abraham Lincoln during March and April 1865:

 

My Recollection of the Assassination of

President Abraham Lincoln.

 

In January 1865, before the close of the

Civil War, I came to Washington to live, and

witnessed many of the exciting scenes of

that period.

 

I saw President Lincolns second

Inauguration and helped dress my Sister to

ride in a float in the parade, which was

an impromptu affair. Thirteen girls dressed

in white with red white and blue, carrying

flags rode on the float.

 

That evening I attended the reception to

President Lincoln’ second inaugural reception

The President at the White House. At the

front door a certain number of persons were

admitted at a time, and when the door was

closed the crowd surging back actually

lifted me off the my feet. After entering, persons

passed through the hall into the Blue

Room, and after shaking hands with the

President and Mrs. Lincoln passed into

the East Room, making their exit through

 

[page 2]

one of the windows onto a platform extending

from the windowsill to the front fence, then

down a few steps to the pavement.

 

My father had been a minister in

Connecticut, and was opposed to the Theatre, so it

was after long urging and the argument that

Ford's Theatre, April 1865

General Grant was to be at the Theater with the

President that evening, that he gave his consent

to my going. I sat in the dress circle nearly

opposite the box in which the President was seated.

The play was Our American Cousin. When the

Presidential Party came in, Lord Dundreary was

just asking the conundrum [“]Why does a dog

wag his tail[?”], and after the applause given the

President he repeated it. The play went

on, then at a moment when the stage was

clear there was a pistol flash and John Wilkes

Booth jumped from the box in which the

President was sitting onto the stage. In jumping

his foot caught in the flag decorating the box

and he apparently sat for an instant on the stage.

Rushing across the stage, about in the middle,

he turned, brandishing a dagger that glistened

[page 3]

in the gas light, and calling out “Sic Semper Tyranus [sic]”

was gone into the alley where a boy was holding

his horse. Being familiar with the Theater he

knew how to arrange the passages so that nothing

would obstruct his course.

 

For a moment every one was dazed, there was

quiet, but almost immediately word spread

around The President has been shot. Then the

confusion was awful. Women fainted, some tried

to climb over the backs of chairs, men rushed on to

the stage, some climbed to the box with water,

Laura Keene came on the stage and with arms

outstretched implored the audience to be calm.

Twice she came out in that manner. After that

she was in the box with Mrs. Lincoln.

 

In going out I reached the top of the stairs just

as the President was being carried down on a

stretcher. Laura Keene was following calling

[“]Make way for Mrs. Lincoln,[“] who was crying

[“]Let me get the assassin, Oh take me to him.[“]

His shirt was open showing blood on his chest.

He was taken to a house opposite where he

died the next morning.

 

[page 4]

There was a plot to assassinate some of

the Cabinet that night. Secretary of State Seward

was attacked, on his sick bed, and seriously

injured, his Son having a tussle with the assassin.

 

Secretary of War Stanton was an intended

victim but was not found where the plotters

supposed him to be. General Grant who was

advertised to be at the Theater was suddenly

called out of the city.

 

Accompanying the President and Mrs. Lincoln

was Major Rathburn [sic] and Miss Harris – afterward

married.

 

There were six persons in the plot

Mrs. Surratt, at whose house on H St near 5th NW

their meetings were held, her Son John H. Surratt,

Payne, who attacked Secretary Seward, Harrold [sic],

Atzerolt [sic] and Mudd. After trial three were

executed  - hung – on the grounds of Old Capitol Prison.

(The ground now occupied by the New Senate Office  Bldg.)

Mrs. Surratt, Payne, Atzerolt. The others were

banished to Dry Tortugus [sic].

 

A few words about Miss Keene

 

[page 5]

The performance that evening was

advertised as a Benefit, also her last night.

The President, with a full house must have

been an incentive to do her best. She was

gowned in white satin brocaded with pink

roses and green leaves, cut with tight bodice,

low neck, short sleeves and full shirt, in

which she made a pleasing picture.

 

I quote from a program which I have preserved.

 

Playbill. Smithsonian Institution

Benefit and Last Night of Miss Laura Keene

the distinguished managerist [sic], authorist [sic] and

actress. Supported by John Doytt and

Henry [sic] Hawk, in Tom Taylors celebrated eccentric

comedy. As originally produced by Miss Keene

and performed by her upwards of 1000 nights

Entitled, Our American Cousin.

 

Copied into this book February 1905.

Sarah N. Eastman.

Our Back Pages: Shreve’s in Cherrydale

Shreve’s Store on Lee Highway in Cherrydale was the second general store in Cherrydale, the first being Nelson’s. In addition to being a store it was also, for a time, the Cherrydale Post Office.

Double track trolley lines in front of the store ran to Great Falls in one direction and Rosslyn in the other. The tracks, which followed what is now Old Dominion Drive, were removed in 1935.

According to an article in the Sun newspaper, there was a water trough for horses in front of the store, which was filled from a nearby pump. When the pump was eventually electrified, the horses were so scared by the new device they wouldn’t drink!

As Lee Highway was not paved in the early years, the Shreve family often hitched their own road grader to their horse to smooth out the street.

The photograph above was taken circa 1910.

What About You?

What do you remember or have heard about Shreve’s or other stores in Cherrydale? We want to know!



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