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

Alert

Westover Library Has Sunday Hours. More Info

Home - Arlington County Virginia - Logo
MENUMENU
  • Join Now
  • My Account
    • Login
    • Borrow, Renew, Return
    • Holds
    • About My Account
    • My eAccounts
  • Hours & Locations
    • All Hours & Locations
    • Holiday Closings
  • News
  • Contact Us

Arlington Public Library

MENUMENU
  • Search
      • Browse New
      • Browse All
  • Events
    • Arlington Reads
    • Featured Events
    • Calendar
    • On Demand Programs
  • eCollection
    • eAudiobooks
    • eBooks
    • Digital Magazines
    • Learning Tools
    • Research Tools
    • All eCollection
  • Research
    • Research Portal
    • Research Tools A-Z
    • Local History
  • Services
    • Accessibility Services
    • For Book Lovers
    • Garden Tool Library
    • Maker
    • Meeting Rooms
    • Notary
    • Public Computers
    • Teleconnect Space
    • More Services
  • Explore
    • Catalog
      • Catalog Search
      • Catalog Browse
      • Digital Archives
      • Borrowing Collections
      • Book Lists
    • Kids & Teens
      • For Babies and Preschoolers
      • For Elementary Schoolers
      • Middle and High Schoolers
    • Local History
      • Research Room
      • Community Archives
      • Online Exhibits
    • Support the Library
      • Donating Materials
    • Popular
      • Consumer Reports
      • Overdrive
    • EXPLORE MORE
  • Join Now
  • My Account
    • Login
    • Borrow, Renew, Return
    • Holds
    • About My Account
    • My eAccounts
  • Hours & Locations
    • All Hours & Locations
    • Holiday Closings
  • News
  • Contact Us

Center for Local History Blog

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

Into a New Home

Published: March 6, 2007

old Signature
After a 14-year stint at what was affectionately known to many as “The Garage,” Signature Theatre has settled into its new location at 4200 Campbell Avenue (formerly S. Stafford Street) in the Village at Shirlington.
This is the third location for Signature since its founding in 1988 by Donna Migliaccio and Eric Schaeffer. Featuring two black box theaters, greatly expanded facilities and ample parking, this new space is a far cry from the theater’s humbler beginnings.

The Signature’s first two years saw it hosted by the Gunston Arts Center on Wilson Boulevard, prior to its move to what had previously been the business location of Auto Bumper Plating at 3806 S. Four Mile Run. A long standing (1964-1992) auto repair and plating business run by the Lentini family, the garage was renovated at a cost of $300,000 to a 104-seat black box theater which quickly drew acclaim for their many productions over the years.

The current season at the Village opened on January 12, 2007, featuring Stephen Sondheim’s Into The Woods as its premiere performance.

What About You?
What are your memories of the Signature Theatre? Let us know what you remember!

 

March 6, 2007 by Web Editor Filed Under: News Archive, Our Back Pages, Unboxed

A Famous Neighbor

Published: February 27, 2007

Wmsburg Jr High 69btFebruary marks the 45th anniversary of John Glenn’s space orbit. He was one of America’s original seven Mercury astronauts and orbited the Earth three times on February 10, 1962 in the capsule Friendship 7. While Alan Shepard had been the first American astronaut in space in 1960, Glenn was the first American to circle the globe.

Since Glenn and his family were long-time residents of Arlington, that also makes him the first Arlingtonian to accomplish such a feat!

Drawn to Northern Virginia in 1958 by the promise of good schools, the Glenn family soon took up residence on North Harrison Street where their children simply had to cross the street to get to class at Williamsburg Junior High School.

When Glenn was sent to NASA’s astronaut training at Langley Research Center in Hampton, 180 miles from Arlington, his wife Annie and the children remained in their new house and John commuted on weekends.

After John Glenn’s successful orbit, he received a national hero’s welcome, but his home remained in Arlington. “Even Lyndon Johnson and his wife Lady Bird were welcomed at the house for Glenn’s 41st birthday party, dining on Annie’s ham loaf and staying well into the night.”

With thanks to Peter Golkin for his feature on John Glenn from which much of this is excerpted. His entire essay can be found in the Virginia Room.

What About You?
Do you remember Glenn’s historic flight? How about the Glenn family as your neighbor? Let us know what you remember!

 

February 27, 2007 by Web Editor Filed Under: News Archive, Our Back Pages, Unboxed

Floyd Hawkins: A Honey of a Guy

Published: February 20, 2007

Excerpt from Oral History with Floyd Hawkins

Floyd Hawkins, who at the age of 81 helped start the Arlington County Fair, and served as the Fair’s treasurer for 10 years, from 1977 to 1987.

Mr. Floyd A. Hawkins, Sr. was born in 1895, and first moved with his family to Arlington on a two-acre plot of land in 1925.

While working as a letter carrier, and later a Motor Vehicle Office Supervisor at the Washington, D.C., City Post Office, Hawkins raised and sold meat from pigs, chickens, and turkeys from his Arlington farm. In 1930 he acquired his first beehives. In the next 58 years, he was affiliated with numerous beekeeper associations, won awards and ribbons, and conducted numerous classes in beekeeping through the Arlington 4-H. The flyer above is from one of his classes.

At the age of 81, Floyd Hawkins helped start the first Arlington County Fair in 1977 and served as the Fair's treasurer for 10 years. In 1985, he was honored as a civic activist in Arlington County for over 30,000 hours of volunteer service. He was also a member of St. John's Baptist Church, the Arlington Chapter of the Full Gospel Businessmen's Fellowship, a charter member of the Y Men's Club International, the Nauck Citizen's Association, and the NAACP.

Read this quote from his oral history about how he started beekeeping:

"I started raising bees in 1930. I got two beehives and they had got mean and wild at that time, you know because they hadn't been attended to. So I got started off with two mean beehives. . . .[T]he queen bee, she's fertile for life. If she's mated by a gentle drone, every egg that she lays will be gentle bees, you see. If she's mated with a wild drone the bees will be mean as long as she lives - she'll always lay those same eggs because she's fertile for life.

Invitation to learn about Bee Keeping.

So that's the way that they had gotten wild and mean, and I got them, and I got rid of the mean queen and ordered a gentle queen - and the bees became gentle.

A colony of bees, that's one family. She's the mother of all. She can be the mother of a quarter of a million bees in her lifetime. That covers a span of about two years before she stops."

What About You?

Did you ever take a class with Floyd Hawkins? Do you remember old farms in Arlington? Let us know what you remember!

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.

"*" indicates required fields

Share Your Story

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

February 20, 2007 by Web Editor Filed Under: News Archive, Our Back Pages, Unboxed

A Lesson in History

Published: February 13, 2007

School Integration in Arlington

When four African American students, seventh graders Gloria Thompson, Ronald Diskins, Lance Newman and Michael Jones (above, left to right), entered Stratford Junior High School (now H.B. Woodlawn) on February 2, 1959, Stratford became the first white public school in Virginia to admit black students.

In opposition to the state’s plan of “massive resistance,” the Virginia NAACP developed a strategy to focus their energy first where the black population was small, and the Byrd machine weak, and it worked. Arlington, with an African American population of about five percent, fit that description. In addition, it had a strong core of black activists, as well as whites who supported their cause and also did not want the Arlington schools closed down.

On that cold winter day, half of Arlington’s police force, wearing white battle helmets and equipped with gas grenades and masks, were deployed around the entire perimeter of the school grounds. Fifteen plainclothesmen were on duty inside the school building, to which only students and teachers were allowed access. Press and other media, while present in large numbers, were barred from the premises of the school. Because of the precautions taken and the careful groundwork that was laid, the day passed without serious incident.

This date, however, marked the beginning of a process, for it was not until 1971 that Arlington schools were fully integrated.

The Virginia Room holds a wide array of materials on desegregation of the county’s public schools. There are several oral histories, archival collections, photographs, vertical files that include newspaper clippings, and recordings of Library events featuring students and administrators of the time.

What About You?

What do you remember about Arlington at this time? Did you go to Stratford Junior High in the late 1950s or early 1960s? Let us know what you remember!

 

February 13, 2007 by Web Editor Filed Under: News Archive, Our Back Pages, Unboxed

Westover’s Library, 1963 – 2009

Published: January 30, 2007

old Westover 1970s

Funded by a bond referendum in 1961, the Westover Branch Library, seen here in the 1970s, was opened to the public in June of 1963.

Prior to this, the Westover branch, founded in 1949, was located in small rented basement rooms at 1530 N. Longfellow Street, but the needs of the community soon outgrew the space. The new location at 1800 N. Lexington Street was designed by J. Russell Bailey, who also designed the Cherrydale branch building and the original Central Library in 1961.

From the Westover Library Dedication program:

“The modern split level design permits the entrance-level circulation desk to serve both the adult area on the upper level and the children’s room on the lower level. The latter opens to a grass terrace for story hour use. Full length windows on the north wall provide good light. Air-conditioning has been installed.”

Local women’s and civic groups planted trees and maintained flower beds on the grounds, and helped purchase new furniture and books for the shelves. The Westover Library had quickly become part of the community. However, that community has kept on growing, and the Westover branch has packed a lot of books and information in a small space to keep up with community needs.

A larger, more modern Westover Branch Library opened in October 2009.

 

What About You?

What do you remember about Westover library? How about other Arlington branch libraries? Do you have any photographs of those buildings? Let us know what you remember!

 

January 30, 2007 by Web Editor Filed Under: News Archive, Our Back Pages, Unboxed

Mmmmm… Hot Shoppes

Published: January 23, 2007

Updated by the Center for Local History on 3/26/2018.

If the phrases “chicken box for two” or “pantry pack” sound familiar to you, then it is probably safe to assume that once upon a time, you were a customer at a Hot Shoppes restaurant.

A classic slice of Americana, the first Hot Shoppes was established in Washington D.C. in 1927 by J. Willard Marriott, best known for founding the Marriott Corporation. By 1960, there were 70 Hot Shoppes restaurants in seven states and the District of Columbia. Arlington boasted a number of locations, including Crystal City, Shirlington, and Columbia Pike.

The Columbia Pike location in particular became a venerable Arlington institution, providing a loyal clientele with “Southern Home-style” cooking at affordable prices for 32 years.


Hot Shoppe map
Hot Shoppe map


Hot Shoppe menu
Hot Shoppe menu

There were two located on Columbia Pike. One at 2820 and the other located at 4707 Columbia Pike in the Barcroft neighborhood. Hot Shoppes not only offered quality food, but also served as a neighborhood gathering place where customers felt like they were treated as family and seniors could take advantage of special discount prices. As time went by, the rise of fast food restaurants put increasing pressure on cafeteria style establishments such as Hot Shoppes. The Marriott Corporation began converting most locations into Roy Rogers restaurants in the mid-1970s and the Barcroft location was no exception, changing over around 1978. 4070 Columbia Pike also served as the future site of the second location of Bob & Edith’s Diner, and Sauca. The building was torn down in 2017 for a new mixed use development.

Some Hot Shoppe trivia:

  • The first Hot Shoppe started as a curbside food stand selling A&W; Root Beer and tamales in 1927.
  • In 1967, Hot Shoppes officially changed its name, becoming the Marriott Corporation.
  • Jazz musician Duke Ellington and his band recorded seven versions of the Hot Shoppes theme song which were aired on radio as part of an advertising campaign in 1967-1968.
  • The last Hot Shoppes restaurant, located in a Marlow Heights shopping mall in Washington D.C., closed on December 2, 1999.

 

What About You?

What do you remember about the Hot Shoppes restaurants? Let us know what you remember!

 

January 23, 2007 by Web Editor Filed Under: Center for Local History, News Archive, Our Back Pages, Unboxed

Saving the Small Stuff

Published: January 16, 2007

 

Although you may think a ticket stub, sign, receipt or postcard is something that you use and then throw away, these materials many times have a much larger value.

These bits and pieces are called ephemera, and are vital in helping construct Arlington’s history. Ephemera, as defined by the Society of American Archivists, is “materials, usually printed documents, created for a specific, limited purpose, and generally designed to be discarded after use.” Ephemera is collected because of its association with a person, event or subject, such a bill signed by a famous person, a ticket stub to a nationally-known event, or, as above, showing the logo and method of advertisement for the Arlington Chamber of Commerce.

The sign above would be shown in an office or shop window, letting customers know that the business was affiliated with the Chamber of Commerce for 1949. That means they were part of a larger business community, networking with other businesses and working together on community projects.

Because of the date, the sign was meant to be thrown away at the end of the year. However, its existence in the Arlington Community Archives shows the Arlington Chamber of Commerce at the time was robust and active (the sign is made of heavy board with rich colors), and had a plan to showcase and advertise membership. Although the sign was meant to be thrown away, it remains in our collection as a valuable piece of ephemera.

The Arlington Community Archives has an entire collection of ephemera, Record Group 28, Pamphlets and Ephemera, and continues to take donations of this material. To find out more, see also “Ephemera: A Book on its Collection, Conservation and Use,” by Chris E. Makepeace, in the Virginia Room’s book collection.

 

What About You?
What kinds of ephemera do you have? What stories to they tell? Let us know what you remember!

 

January 16, 2007 by Web Editor Filed Under: News Archive, Our Back Pages, Unboxed Tagged With: local history news

The Three Sisters

Published: January 9, 2007

While they may seem quaint or even primitive by modern standards, upon their completion in 1913, the Navy’s Radio Station Arlington Towers were considered to represent the height of cutting edge communications technology.

In their day, “The Three Sisters” as they were known, were the second largest manmade structure in the world behind only the Eiffel Tower, with the tallest of the three standing a full 45 feet higher than the Washington Monument.

Located at the intersection of Columbia Pike and Courthouse Road, the towers were built to launch the Navy’s effort to establish a worldwide communications network. Using the call letters NAA, the towers functioned to provide the first long distance radio conversation, the first transoceanic radio telephone circuit (fittingly, to a French station broadcasting from the Eiffel Tower), and served to introduce the regular broadcasts of time signals, which was important to ships at sea who relied on accurate time checks for navigational purposes.

The towers were taken down in 1941 upon the opening of National Airport as they were considered to be an aviation hazard. Today, the site at Columbia Pike and Courthouse road continues to be occupied by military communications departments, chiefly the Defense Communication Agency. There are photographs like the one above, showing the Three Sisters and cavalry exercises from Fort Myer, and you can find out more information on the towers using newspapers on microfilm, all in the Virginia Room.

 

What About You?

What do you remember about the Arlington radio towers? What was early radio like in the Washington area? Let us know what you remember!

 

January 9, 2007 by Web Editor Filed Under: News Archive, Our Back Pages, Unboxed

The Little Tea House

Published: January 2, 2007

Little Tea House

The Little Tea House Restaurant, located on Arlington Ridge Road, opened in 1920 and remained there until 1963 when it was demolished to make room for a high-rise apartment building.

During its heyday, many famous people ate at the restaurant, including Eleanor Roosevelt, Amelia Earhart, and Oliver Wendell Holmes. Known for its lovely gardens and views, it was also one of the first places in Arlington where racially mixed groups could meet.

Gertrude Crocker, who started the restaurant, was active in women’s issues throughout her life and started the restaurant so she could be independent and her own “boss.” When Mrs. Crocker leased, and later sold, the business to Gertrude Allison, it became known for a period as Allison’s Little Tea House.

The Virginia Room’s Oral History Project includes an interview with Ellen C. Puterbaugh, daughter of Gertrude Crocker, and the Arlington Community Archives has a photograph collection, PG 215, of images of the Little Tea House dating primarily from the 1920s.

What About You?

Do you remember the Little Tea House? Did you ever eat there? Let us know what you remember!

 

January 2, 2007 by Web Editor Filed Under: News Archive, Our Back Pages, Unboxed

A House Fit For A King

Published: December 26, 2006

In 1888, John Walter Clark, originally of New Jersey, bought a plot of land in the Clarendon area on what is now Lee Highway.

On it, he built the Fort Strong Villa, near the remnants of Fort Strong, a 21-room mansion that was one of the biggest homes in Arlington County. Clark owned the White House, a well-known gambling house in Rosslyn, and made loans to local merchants and land owners; eventually, large portions of Rosslyn, then known as the bad part of town, ended up in his hands.

Situated at 2627 Lee Highway, Clark used his fortune to make his home truly grand. Annoyed by the dust and dirt of what was then called the Georgetown and Fairfax Turnpike, he lined the road from Rosslyn to his driveway with crushed oyster shells, an early form of paving. Clark frequently held large banquets at his home (with the help of a dumbwaiter installed in the house) and had a separate building on the current Cleveland Street for his retinue of servants.

John Walter Clark died in 1914, and his widow sold Fort Strong Villa to another family in 1921. The property eventually became a fancy guest house for people looking to escape downtown Washington during the summer. However, the property was demolished in 1968. The Virginia Room, however, holds several photographs of Fort Strong Villa and you can read more about it in Eleanor Templeman’s book “Arlington Heritage.”

What About You?

What do you remember about Fort Strong Villa, or Rosslyn before 1960? Let us know what you remember!

 

December 26, 2006 by Web Editor Filed Under: Our Back Pages, Unboxed

  • « Go to Previous Page
  • Go to page 1
  • Interim pages omitted …
  • Go to page 27
  • Go to page 28
  • Go to page 29
  • Go to page 30
  • Go to page 31
  • Go to page 32
  • Go to Next Page »

Primary Sidebar

News

Author Amina Luqman-Dawson at book-signing.

Amina Luqman-Dawson Wins Two Prestigious National Awards

First Black Woman to win both the John Newbery … ... about Amina Luqman-Dawson Wins Two Prestigious National Awards

Read More News

Operations Updates

HOLIDAY CLOSING: The Library Will be Closed Mon., Jan.16.

All Library locations will be closed Mon., Jan.16, … ... about HOLIDAY CLOSING: The Library Will be Closed Mon., Jan.16.

See More Service Updates

Center for Local History

Link to Autorailer blogpost.

Arlington’s Autorailer Experiment

1936-1939 Since the first trolley began running … ... about Arlington’s Autorailer Experiment

Read More Local History

Director’s Blog

Composite of eight book covers.

The Library Director’s 2022 Reading List.

"Every reader his or her book. Every book its … ... about The Library Director’s 2022 Reading List.

More Director's Blog

Recent Comments

  • Victoria Dale on Lustron Steel Homes in Arlington
  • Web Editor on OPERATIONS UPDATE: Regular Service Resumes Monday, Jan. 31
  • Gail Burnaford on OPERATIONS UPDATE: Regular Service Resumes Monday, Jan. 31

Footer

About Us

  • Mission & Vision
  • Center for Local History
  • News Room

Administration

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

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.

Facebook. Twitter. Instagram. YouTube. Flickr. Newsletter.

download appDownload the Library App

Arlington County | Terms & Conditions | Accessibility | Site Map
· Copyright © 2023 Arlington County Government ·