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Center for Local History Blog

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

Westover’s Library, 1963 – 2009

Post 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

Post 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

Post 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

Post 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

Post 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

Post 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

Where Are We?

Post Published: December 12, 2006

We Need Your Help!

Do you recognize this intersection?

This photograph above was taken around 1937. The signpost on the far right reads “Clarendon” in the center and “Ballston” on the bottom, but we have not identified the road or neighborhood where this photograph was taken.

The original photograph is here in the Center for Local History at the Central Library, if you are interested in taking a closer look. The Library holds many photographs where the people and places are unknown. The staff always welcomes input on these unidentified works.

What About You?

Do you recognize this intersection? Do you have old photographs of a similar location? Let us know what you remember!

 

December 12, 2006 by Web Editor Filed Under: News Archive, Our Back Pages, Unboxed

The Rucker Legacy

Post Published: December 5, 2006

For a century the company called Rucker Reality has been part of the Arlington business community.

The company was founded in 1906 by George H. Rucker who was the county clerk of Alexandria County from 1899 until his death in 1919. Rucker and his wife Elizabeth began purchasing land in the county in 1899, and by 1906 they had acquired a large tract that he filed for subdividing as “Rucker’s Addition to Clarendon.” That same year Rucker started an insurance business and was a founding officer of Virginia Real Estate Title Company. By 1909, the company had grown and he asked two of his brothers-in-law, Ashton C. Jones and N.A. Rees to join him in the business.

When George Rucker died suddenly in 1919, at the height of his business career, Ashton Jones replaced Rucker in managing the business and in 1920 created the subdivision Ashton Heights. The company was also involved in developing many areas such as Lee Heights, Cherrydale, Tara-Leeway Heights, Ballston and the Westover Shopping Center.

Over the years the company diversified and eventually became the George H. Rucker Realty Corporation. Today, all ownership shares of the privately held company are still owned entirely by descendents of the founders, except for some stock option incentive shares held by the company president and CEO. The Virginia Room holds copies of many important Rucker Realty documents and has some photos of their Clarendon offices.

 

What About You?

Did you or your family have dealings with Rucker Realty? Let us know what you remember!

 

December 5, 2006 by Web Editor Filed Under: News Archive, Our Back Pages, Unboxed

Keeping the County Healthy

Post Published: November 28, 2006

In 1919, the Arlington County Department of Health was one of the first full-time county departments for health services in the nation. 

Health dept well inspection

A home well inspection, 1942.

Unique for this type of county service, the Department received most of its funding from private rather than public resources.

The Department of Health was organized to improve the county’s state of public health by enforcing laws regulating sanitation and disease. Over the years, the Department evolved into a social agency serving the community and enhancing the quality of life through many local social programs.

Researchers interested in the early development and organization of municipal health systems and health care services should find this collection (RG 21) from the library’s Community Archives very valuable. The photograph above, a well house inspection from 1942, is from that collection. Information about RG 21 can be found in the library catalog and a full finding aid is available in the Virginia Room.

Today, the Department of Health has become the Arlington County Department of Human Services. 

 

What About You?
What do you remember about the Health Department? How did you interact with them? Let us know what you remember!

 

November 28, 2006 by Web Editor Filed Under: News Archive, Our Back Pages, Unboxed

Home Cooking

Post Published: November 21, 2006

The first observance of Thanksgiving in America actually took place in Virginia.

Kid cookingt

A children’s cooking class sponsored by Arlington’s Department of Recreation and Parks.

However, it was religious in nature and involved no form of feasting. On December 4, 1619, a group of 38 English settlers arrived at Berkeley Plantation on the James River, in the area of what is now known as Charles City, Virginia. The charter of the group required that the day of arrival be observed yearly “as a day of Thanksgiving to God.” (In the fall of 1621, the first Thanksgiving in New England was celebrated in Plymouth, Massachusetts and involved much feasting which lasted for three days.)

Today, of course, feasting is very much a part of the holiday. For your Thanksgiving dinner you might enjoy the following recipes from “The Virginia House-wife” by Mary Randolph, 1824, using the traditional sweet potato.

Sweet Potato Pudding

Boil one pound of sweet potatoes very tender, rub them while hot through a colander, add six eggs, well beaten, three quarters of a pound of powdered sugar, three quarters of butter, and some grated nutmeg and lemon-peel, with a glass of brandy; put a paste in the dish, and when the pudding is done, sprinkle the top with sugar, and cover it with bits of citron.

Sweet Potato Buns

Boil and mash a potato, rub into it as much flour as will make it like bread, add spice and sugar to your taste, with a spoonful of yeast; when it has risen well, work in a piece of butter; bake it in small rolls, to be eaten hot with butter.

 

What About You?
What do you remember about Thanksgiving in Arlington? What was on your table? Let us know what you remember!

 

November 21, 2006 by Web Editor Filed Under: News Archive, Our Back Pages, Unboxed

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