Picture a Family Reunion… Family members engage with distant relatives seen only once a year, sharing stories of childhood memories....

Ruth Jones, born in March of 1913, began to visit Arlington Beach around 1927. The amusement park and beach were...

Ruth Jones, born in March of 1913, began to visit Arlington Beach around 1927. The amusement park and beach were...

Dr. Lilli Vincenz came to the Washington, DC area in 1963 as a WAC (otherwise known as the Women’s Army...

The County Board will honor two volunteers on Tuesday, April 25 as the 2016 recipients of the Bill Thomas Outstanding...

Arlington Public Library remains committed to being a welcoming place that accepts all comers regardless of backgrounds, beliefs, origin, income...

On Feb. 25, the story of public school desegregation in Virginia will be made accessible online by the County that...

It’s the Library Director’s favorite annual blog post – a time to look back on the year, and to share...

“It was in Miss Barbara Nelson’s first grade class at Stewart-Tuckahoe that I first learned that the choices I made...

The Organized Women Voters of Arlington was founded in 1923, just three years after the 19th amendment to the U.S....

The Public Shoe Store closed its doors on February 27, and owner “Doc” Friedman is donating the business’ records, as...

This year marks the 150th anniversary of the Hall’s Hill / High View Park neighborhood, named after Bazil Hall, a...

Rich cultural history of Arlington’s “Little Saigon” community to be shared through $9,000 grant from the Virginia Foundation for the...

The County’s History Task Force—charged with creating a vision capturing, preserving and sharing online Arlington’s history – has made its...

AKA“Don’t Touch that Dial” Mix  The National Day of Listening has now gone past. But we’re just getting started with...

Delegate Alfonso Lopez joined Library Director Diane Kresh on Nov. 20 to honor former County history preservationist Sara Collins. Collins...

It’s not every day that we get to celebrate our own… On Thursday, Nov. 5, Arlington County celebrated six Library...

An email from Powell’s Books in Portland, Ore. arrived in my inbox yesterday reminding me that Sept. 28 – Oct....

We shared the basic contents of this post last year at this time. The reader response was so strong that...

A new bridge to Arlington’s past On Sept. 10, 2015, Arlington officials will formally dedicate “Freedmans Village Bridge,” the replacement...

A Timeline of the Rich History of the Hall’s Hill Volunteer Fire Department For decades during segregation, Fire Station #8...

Public Art and Oral Histories Honor Clarendon’s Vietnamese Heritage On May 9, 2015, artist Khánh H. Lê’s temporary public installation...

Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam, was captured April 30, 1975 as the United States pulled out its remaining diplomats...

If the sign-up sheets haven’t yet begun circulating in your office, don’t fret.  They will soon. The annual Girl Scout...

This “Frozen” time of the year we bring you good cheer… And queued a set of tunes you’re just longing to...

In observance of the fiftieth anniversary of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, we look back at a document from...

“We are Pride” In celebration of Pride Month, Director’s Blog is featuring “Vital Signs,” a collection of my photographs chronicling the LGBT...

Class of 2014 A couple of events–one past and one pending–have me engaged in a fair amount of self-reflection. First:...

Calling All Local History Fans… While answering a reference question, we came across this interesting passage describing President Franklin D....

The King of Rock ‘n’ Roll Would Be 79 this Wednesday Here’s a double trouble playlist, with a hit from...

Our Sixth Annual Yule Blog The month of December is finally here The time of the season we bring you...

Vietnam in Clarendon For a brief period in the late 1970s and early 1980s, a small area of Clarendon became...

Can You Help Us Identify This Photograph? The Center for Local History is looking for your help in learning more...

Digitized Family Photos and Oral Histories Provide a Fascinating Look at Fifty Years of Development Along Columbia Pike The really...

A Memory of German Prisoners of War in Arlington, Virginia The following is an excerpt from an oral history with...

We’re Saying goodbye to the name “Virginia Room”… This year has brought big changes to Central Library, with building-wide renovation...

1960s Courthouse Demolished Sixteen Years Ago [iframe width=”100%” scrolling=”no” url=”http://libcat.arlingtonva.us/iii/cpro/EmbedSlideShowPage.external?lang=eng&sp=l6&suite=def” frameborder=”0″]   At 7 a.m. on Feb. 23, 1997, the shell...

How Arlington Made Sense of its Street Names and Paved the Way for Our First Federal Building The 1935 Arlington...

The classified confetti from Macy’s parade is now gone.   Black Friday and Cyber Monday, too.  It’s that most wonderful...

It’s been quite an autumn in Arlington. First came Hurricane Sandy, which thankfully caused little of the heart-breaking destruction seen...

Nuclear attack was a constant boogeyman of the Cold War. In the 1950s and 1960s especially, American citizenry was encouraged...

Meet the Public (through the Press) I had the pleasure of taking part last week in a new feature at...

In today’s music scene, it isn’t uncommon for those involved to wear many hats. Artists crossover from performing to producing,...

Photgraph by Pamela Powers The Bon Air Memorial Rose Garden, located at the corner of N. Lexington  St. and Wilson...

  The building at 3100 Washington Boulevard in Clarendon is a visually arresting structure. This Streamline Moderne-style storefront was the...

The Virginia Room at Central Library is the County’s official history archive. But how does the Library keep a steady...

Serving as both a location to find the latest recorded music and a popular gathering spot, Swillers Music is still...

She found herself in Washington like millions before and since, a young woman from somewhere else-in this case Connecticut-quickly taken...

Shreve’s Store on Lee Highway in Cherrydale was the second general store in Cherrydale, the first being Nelson’s. In addition...

Old sign on North Fairfax, now gone. Arlington business sign, now replaced. Photo taken by Diane Kresh on May 8,...

To mark the passing of the hero of the American Space Age, we’re re-sharing our blog post from Feb. 14,...

Sandra Bullock and Shirley MacLaine were both cheerleaders, and Warren Beatty played football at Washington-Lee. Katie Couric was a cheerleader at...

  The story of Princess Agnes Salm-Salm mixes myth and fact. Agnes Elizabeth Winona Leclerc Joy was born in Franklin,...

Each year, the Christmas season seems to arrive a little earlier. A few weeks ago, it was not yet Halloween...

In punk rock lore, the Washington D.C. area scene has always occupied a unique and significant place in both the...

Howard Larson, 2010 Howard Larson, retired Library staff member turned Library volunteer, died this fall, at the age of 81. ...

From an oral history with Walter R. De Groot: “Like I said, Fillmore Gardens before that was done, there was...

Where were you on Sept. 11, 2001? As the 10th anniversary of this epochal moment approaches, I find myself reflecting...

On Monday, Sept. 19, 2011, The Virginia Room’s Arlington Reunion History Program will host a community discussion on “Queen City,” Arlington’s...

Country Club Hills Brumback Realty Company of Clarendon, founded by a father with six sons, was a builder in Country...

Brumback Realty Company of Clarendon, founded by a father with six sons, was a builder in Country Club Hills in...

“The time is always right to do the right thing.” – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. On August 28, the...

The first bridge to cross the Potomac in the Washington area was constructed in 1797 when Georgetown merchants built the...

The first bridge to cross the Potomac in the Washington area was constructed in 1797 when Georgetown merchants built the...

Much of what we know about the history of Arlington County is due to the work of Eleanor Lee Templeman,...

Altha Hall was originally built by a gentleman from Fairfax named Andrew Adgate Lipscomb II (born 1854), who later became...

Baseball became a part of my life on a cool evening in the late summer of 1960 at Griffith Stadium...

Beginning the first week of June 2011, Arlington County’s Department of Environmental Services will install solar panels on the roof...

On Tuesday, May 17, the Arlington County Board honored the founders of ARPANet, which we now see as the beginning...

Union soldiers in Arlington wrote from geographic locations such as Arlington Heights and Hall’s Hill. While the forts in the...

Earnest E. Johnson with his wife Mignon (left) and an unknown friend in 1982 In 1949, Arlington established a formal...

Home to one of the earliest church congregations in Arlington County, the unique history of Walker Chapel is that of...

  Home to one of the earliest church congregations in Arlington County, the unique history of Walker Chapel is that...

In 1949, Arlington established a formal Department of Recreation for the rapidly growing and developing county. However, the classes, clubs,...

Reserve Hill and George Saegmuller George Nicholas Saegmuller was a native of Germany who came to live in Washington in...

Lyonhurst, or Missionhurst as it is now known, is a Spanish Mission-style stucco house originally built in 1907 as a...

  And now we bring you the last part of the Library Director’s annual “Don’t Touch That Dial” holiday-music blog...

This week we bring you the Library Director’s annual “Don’t Touch That Dial” holiday-music blog post, designed to chase the...

  This week we bring you the Library Director’s annual “Don’t Touch That Dial” holiday-music blog post, designed to chase...

Arlington and Fairfax have a football rivalry that goes back many years! The insert to the game program for the...

With Halloween lurking just around the corner, it seems only appropriate that we should rummage through some of Arlington’s own...

One of the busiest areas of Arlington can be found in Clarendon, where Washington Boulevard, Wilson Boulevard and Clarendon Boulevard...

Summer’s here. . . I’m for that. Got my rubber sandals, got my straw hat. Schools out for summer. Schools...

The Reed-Westover facility, new home of the Westover Branch Library, has been awarded Gold Certification in the Leadership in Energy...

  According to an article in the American Business Review in December 1929, Ruby Lee Minar was the “most successful...

Rixey Mansion, now part of Marymount University, stands on the site of Mary Ann Hall’s country house.   Mary Ann...

Arlington Reads 2010: Know What You Eat Here’s a little bit of last night’s Arlington Reads Community Book Discussion of...

The Arlington Years Thoughts From County Native and Arlington Public Library Director, Diane Kresh The last several days of wintery...