history

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Arlington’s Historic Strip Malls — Arlington County is trying to convince owners of garden apartment buildings, one-story shopping centers and other properties deemed ‘historic’ to agree to be a part of new county-created historic districts. But some people are questioning whether the ‘historic’ properties identified by the county are really historic and worth the effort of preserving. [WAMU]

Another Candidate Joins County Board Fray — Arlington County Planning Commission member Peter Fallon has announced his candidacy for the County Board. Fallon, a 25-year Arlington resident, says he has “the experience necessary for the challenges ahead.” He joins fellow Democrats Melissa Bondi and Terron Sims on the official list of candidates hoping to replace to replace state Senator-elect Barbara Favola in an upcoming special election.

Yorktown Wins First Playoff Game — The undefeated Yorktown Patriots football team beat McLean 20-6 on Friday to advance to the semifinal round of the Northern Region playoffs. Yorktown will face the Lee Lancers on Nov. 18. [Sun Gazette]

County to Dedicate Historic Marker Near Chain Bridge

By ARLnow.com

(Updated at 4:15 p.m.) Arlington County and the American Foreign Service Association will dedicate a historic marker on the Virginia side of Chain Bridge on Tuesday.

The marker will commemorate the spot where, in 1814, a State Department clerk first hid the Declaration of Independence and some of the young country’s most precious documents ahead of the British attack on Washington, D.C.

From Arlington County:

Arlington County Board Member Jay Fisette and an American Foreign Service Association representative will join residents and history buffs on Tuesday, November 15, to dedicate a historic marker on the Virginia side of Chain Bridge. The dedication highlights Arlington’s early history as the bicentennial of the War of 1812 approaches.

The marker notes that it was to this spot that a State Department Clerk, Stephen Pleasonton, carried the Declaration of Independence and other iconic American documents that he had packed into a wagon on August 23, 1812 1814 as the British marched on Washington. Pleasonton initially hid the documents in an abandoned grist mill at the site. On August 24, 1812 1814, the British burned parts of the District, including the White House and Capitol.

The dedication will take place at 11:00 a.m. The location is described as the “trailhead for Pimmit Run trail under the GW Parkway Bridge, where it crosses over Glebe Rd. at Chain Bridge Rd.”

“Very limited” parking is available.

Historic Arlington House Damaged in Earthquake

By ARLnow.com

You’d heard about damage to the Washington Monument after the 5.8 magnitude earthquake that hit the D.C. area in August. But you probably haven’t heard about the damage suffered by one of the most iconic, historic structures on the other side of the Potomac River.

Arlington House, the former home of Robert E. Lee, suffered significant damage during the quake. Large portions of the 200-year-old house, which overlooks the District from what is now Arlington National Cemetery, are now closed to the public as a result of the quake.

The house’s entire second floor is currently closed, along with a back hallway. We’re told that the quake shifted the structure’s back wall by a quarter of an inch, producing large cracks in the plaster. Though further inspections will be performed, it’s thought that the damage is primarily to the plaster, and not to the structure. Some hairline cracks in the wall as seen from the outside, however, may have been caused by the earthquake; it’s unclear how significant those cracks may be to the structural integrity of the house.

Arlington House was already in the midst of a multi-stage rehabilitation project when the earthquake hit. The National Park Service will try to add earthquake repairs to an existing contract to rehabilitate the home’s interior plaster and paint, according to a park ranger. The work likely wouldn’t be complete until the end of March, at the earliest, we’re told.

In addition to being a national memorial and a tourist destination, Arlington House also serves as the inspiration for the Arlington County seal.

1/9

Board Approves New Apartment Building Along Rt. 50

By ARLnow.com

A new 12-story apartment building will be coming to the Fort Myer Heights/Courthouse area as part of a plan to help preserve a historic garden apartment complex.

The planned 104-unit building will have a distinctive red brick facade, to match the adjacent Wakefield Manor, Wakefield Annex and Courthouse Manor garden apartments. The existing, three-story buildings — designed by the late, notable architect Mihran Mesrobian and given Arlington County’s highest historical designation — will be preserved “in perpetuity” as a result of the development.

The Arlington County Board voted unanimously on Saturday to approve the development and preservation plan. The new apartment building will be constructed at the corner of N. Troy Street and Fairfax Drive, overlooking Route 50. Currently, a surface parking lot sits on the future construction site.

In addition to helping with the county’s goal of preserving historic garden apartments, the development will tick a number of other boxes on the county’s priorities list. Mature trees on the site will be preserved. The new building will be built to LEED Silver environmental standards. The developer will contribute $75,000 to the county’s public art fund. And the developer will add a couple of units to the county’s committed affordable housing stock (or make a nearly $400,000 cash contribution to the county’s affordable housing fund).

“Three buildings, ranked ‘essential’ in Arlington’s Historic Resources Inventory, will now be preserved for future generations,” County Board Chairman Chris Zimmerman said in a statement. “At the same time, a new, elegant building compatible with its historic neighbors will add 104 new homes to the Fort Myer Heights housing mix.”

A 179-space parking garage will be built under the new building. The parking structure will also have 38 bike parking space.

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

State Change Could Cost Arlington Millions — A proposed change in the way Virginia determines how much localities are reimbursed for road maintenance could cost Arlington $9.2 million per year if approved. [Sun Gazette]

Bikeshare Expansion Approved, Sort Of — The Arlington County Board voted on Saturday to use $1.2 million in state funds to build about 30 new Capital Bikeshare stations along the Rosslyn-Ballston corridor. Installation of the stations (and nearly 200 new bikes) is expected to wrap up in the summer of 2012. The action isn’t official yet, though. Due to an administrative error, the Board will have to reconsider the item at their Tuesday evening meeting. [Arlington County]

Board Talks Libraries at Meeting — Facing public comments in favor of restoring pre-recession hours at Arlington Public Library branches, the County Board on Saturday reiterated their support for the library. At the same time, members said that they must balance other budget priorities before restoring hours. [Sun Gazette]

Remembering Queen City — Former residents of an African-American enclave in Arlington known as Queen City recently recounted their experiences living there. Queen City was leveled in the mid-1940s t0 make way for the transportation infrastructure necessary for the new Pentagon complex. Many displaced residents settled in the Arlington View or Green Valley neighborhoods. [Patch]

Morning Poll: Renaming Arlington’s Confederate Roads

By ARLnow.com

The Arlington County Board’s recent vote to change the name of Old Jefferson Davis Highway to “Long Bridge Park” was preceded by a thorough dissing of the former namesake by Board Chairman Chris Zimmerman, the Sun Gazette reports this morning.

“I have a problem with ‘Jefferson Davis,'” Zimmerman said of the former Confederate president. “I don’t believe Jefferson Davis has a historic connection to anything in Arlington… He wasn’t from Virginia. I don’t really see why we need to honor him.”

Though last week’s vote may be a victory for the anti-Jefferson Davis crowd, it only renames a narrow, pothole-ridden backroad that connects Crystal City with a future county park. The much larger and more heavily-traveled State Route 1 will continue to be known as Jefferson Davis Highway.

Meanwhile, another state route — Route 29 — is named after an even more prominent, but slightly less controversial Confederate leader: Robert E. Lee. While Jefferson Davis Highway runs north-south through south Arlington, Lee Highway runs east-west across north Arlington. Both serve tens of thousands of commuters each day.

Though the Civil War figures prominently in the history of Arlington, should these roads be renamed for something or someone not associated with slavery and the losing side of a horribly costly war? Or should we preserve our history, warts and all?

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

County Adding Historical Preservation Tools — In an effort to preserve historic buildings in Arlington, the county is considering some new policies to its “toolbox.” Among the possible new strategies: purchasing properties threatened with demolition, using a “transfer of development rights” to convince developers to preserve historic properties and further surveying residential property in the county to find and catalog more historic properties. [Sun Gazette]

Man With Terror Links Owned Arlington Condo — Esam Ghazzawi, a Saudi Arabian national whose Florida mansion was regularly visited by the 9/11 hijackers, also owned property in Arlington. In the mid-1990s, Ghazzawi owned the Penthouse condo in Rosslyn’s The Atrium building. [Washington Post]

Old ACFD Truck Lives on in S.C. — A retired ACFD fire truck that was among the first to respond to the Pentagon on 9/11 is still fighting fires in South Carolina. Quint 109 was retired from Arlington’s Station 9 in 2005, and was sold to the Anderson County, S.C. Fire Department. Although Anderson County repainted the truck, fire officials were careful to leave its “Operation Noble Eagle” sticker — indicating it was at the Pentagon on 9/11 — in tact. [Independent Mail]

Video: Arlington’s Post-9/11 Remembrance Ceremony

By ARLnow.com

On a cold and windy October day, less than a month after the 9/11 terror attacks, local leaders gathered near the Pentagon at Washington-Lee High School for a “Day of Remembrance and Appreciation.”

The event, hosted by NBC4’s Doreen Gentzler, featured speeches from first responders, from military brass and from county and state officials, including Arlington County Manager Ron Carlee, then-County Board Chair Jay Fisette, Gov. Jim Gilmore and Rep. Jim Moran.

Arlington County has uploaded the entire hour and a half video to YouTube, in advance of the 10th anniversary of 9/11. Fast forward to 55:30 to see a three-minute video presentation recounting the attack on the Pentagon and the emergency response that followed.

Historical Marker Installed Outside ‘Deep Throat’ Garage

By ARLnow.com

It’s not the most conspicuous sign in the world, but there’s now a permanent historical marker next to the Rosslyn garage in which Mark “Deep Throat” Felt met up with Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward to discuss the Watergate scandal.

The text of the marker describes how the nondescript garage at N. Nash Street and Wilson Boulevard helped unravel the political scandal that ultimately resulted in the resignation of President Richard Nixon.

“Mark Felt, second in command at the FBI, met Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward here in this parking garage to discuss the Watergate scandal. Felt provided Woodward information that exposed the Nixon administration’s obstruction of the FBI’s Watergate investigation. He chose the garage as an anonymous secure location. They met at this garage six times between October 1972 and November 1973. The Watergate scandal resulted in President Nixon’s resignation in 1974. Woodward’s managing editor, Howard Simons, gave Felt the code name “Deep Throat.” Woodward’s promise not to reveal his source was kept until Felt announced his role as Deep Throat in 2005.”

Don’t be fooled by the words “erected in 2008” on the marker; it was actually installed by Arlington County on Friday, after a three year delay.

Within the garage itself, another sign marks the exact spot where Felt and Woodward would meet. The garage owner has marked parked spot 32D, located in a dark corner of the garage, as the two men’s once-secret meeting place.

In addition to the Watergate marker, the county recently erected two other historical plaques.

(more…)

Meet Arlington’s Penny-Farthing Commuter

By ARLnow.com

Ken Matthews actually doesn’t like attention.

You just wouldn’t know it if you saw him riding down the street on his 1891 Columbia Light Roadster “penny-farthing” bicycle, a bike so old that the only replacement tires you can find for it are sold by the Amish.

Matthews, an employee in the Arlington County communications department and self-professed lover of “old stuff,” has been riding a bike to work every day for 10 years now. For a couple of days last week, Matthews caused a bit of a stir when he started commuting from his home in Falls Church to the county government building in Courthouse on the penny-farthing, instead of on his usual, low-key 1972 Peugeot three-speed. Tweets and emails started coming in to ARLnow.com, asking what was up with the guy pedaling through Ballston on the old-school, high-wheel bike.

As it turns out, the Peugeot had been stolen — like two other bikes before it — and the penny-farthing was the only working-order bike in Matthews’ sizable vintage bicycle collection. The married father of two says he doesn’t ordinarily commute on the penny-farthing, largely due to the fact that it takes twice as long to get wherever he’s going since he is constantly stopped by curious strangers who want to take photos and ask questions. That’s not to say, however, that Matthews doesn’t like the occasional ride on the 120-year-old bike, which weighs 35 pounds and requires little maintenance due to the lack of parts like chains or inner-tubes.

“Keeping it well-oiled is pretty much all you have to do,” he said. “It’s bombproof.”

Matthews’ 2- and 4-year-old also enjoy rides on the penny-farthing, made possible by the fact that his Cannondale children’s bike trailer can attach to the penny-farthing’s “backbone” (the pole that holds the smaller wheel).

You won’t be seeing much of the penny-farthing from here on out, since Matthews has fixed up another vintage bike as his every-day commuter. But the penny-farthing will still make occasional appearances. The bike, which could fetch as much as $2,000 at auction, technically belongs to one of Matthews’ friends, who rides it in parades. The friend has let Matthews ride the penny-farthing in exchange for storing it for the past several years — since the nearly 5-foot tall bike won’t fit in the friend’s home.

1/9

Civil War 150 in Arlington: The Toll on the Trees

By ARLnow.com

It’s hard to imagine now, given the county’s tree-lined streets and abundance of leafy parks, but during the Civil War much of Arlington was a tree-less, barren wasteland.

Thanks to its key strategic location across the Potomac from the District, Arlington County was home to 22 Union forts during the Civil War. In order to see an approaching enemy, soldiers often cut down 1-2 miles of trees around each fort.

The photo, left, illustrates just that. Fort C.F. Smith, now a county park along the George Washington Parkway in North Arlington, was surrounded by a denuded landscape that allowed soldiers to mount an effective, fortified defense against any Confederate force that might have tried to invade attack Washington.

Civil War historian Dr. Walton H. Owen II, author of Mr. Lincoln’s Forts: A Guide to the Civil War Defenses of Washington, says that while large expanses of trees were cut down, some were spared.

“Contrary to what many people believe, not every tree was cut down,” Owen said. “Trees located around homes that provided shade were often saved because that was the Civil War equivalent of air-conditioning.”

The means by which the trees were cut down is fascinating in its own right. Owen cited a quote from the book The Seventy-Ninth Highlanders: New York Volunteers in the War of the Rebellion, published in 1886, that discussed the domino-like felling of an entire forest.

It was an interesting sight to witness the simultaneous falling of a whole hill-side of timber; the choppers would begin at the foot of the hill, the line extending for perhaps a mile, and cut only part way through the tree, and in this way work up to the crest, leaving the top row so that a single bow would bring down the tree – then, when all was ready, the bugle would sound as a signal, and the last stroke of the axe be given, which brought down the top row; these falling on those below would bring them down, and like the billow on the surface of the ocean, the forest would fall with a crash like mighty thunder.

For the next four years Arlington and the rest of the country will be marking the 150th anniversary of the Civil War. Among the upcoming events planned in commemoration, the Virginia Civil War HistoryMobile will be camped out at the Arlington County Fair from Wednesday to Sunday.

For more information on Arlington’s Civil War history, see the Arlington Virginia Civil War web site or contact the Arlington Historical Society.

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