Unboxed

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!

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!

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!

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!

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

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!

Arlington Hall, located at Route 50 and George Mason Drive, was a girls finishing school founded in 1927.

The school suffered financial problems in the 1930s, and finally became a non-profit institution in 1940. In 1942 the facility faced condemnation and was taken over by the Secretary of War under the Second War Powers Act. The property was deemed essential for the war effort, and the school became the headquarters of the Army Signal Corps, later the Intelligence and Security Command; at this time it became known as Arlington Hall Station.

Arlington Hall Station was one of only two primary cryptography operations in the United States during World War II, concentrating mostly on Japanese codes. Along with the Pentagon and other war agencies, Arlington Hall Station provided employment for many women who came to the area looking for work, as you can see in the photograph above.

In the post-war years, Arlington Hall Station continued to do work dealing with espionage and diplomacy. It housed a large portion of the Defense Intelligence Agency, founded in 1961, and today the National Foreign Affairs Training Center and the Army National Guard Readiness Center operate out of Arlington Hall.

The Arlington Community Archives holds materials pertaining to the site, including histories and photographs, and holds several yearbooks and other documents dating to Arlington Hall’s time as a girls school.

What About You?

What do you remember about Arlington Hall? What was Arlington like during World War II? Let us know what you remember!