On May 6, 2013, Preservation Arlington debuted as an online forum dedicated to protecting and improving the quality of Arlington’s distinct architectural heritage. Through education and advocacy, Preservation Arlington brings together people and organizations to influence the future of Arlington’s historic buildings, landscapes, and communities. Our primary format was an educational website providing information and discussion. It has been quite a ride and we thank you for enjoying it with us.

Since last May, Preservation Arlington has posted 117 blog items — a little more than two a week. We began and continue with general posts on preservation and historic issues in Arlington. Some of these general articles have included a Q&A with the county’s new Historic Preservation Coordinator; a spotlight on a history-minded business (Whitlow’s on Wilson) doing innovative design with rescued local historic artifacts; and our efforts to save the Wilson School with an online petition and information dissemination.

In June we started our series, Preserved & Developed, which highlights local development projects that have involved both development of a site and preservation of historic resources. The projects show that development and preservation can go hand in hand in a highly urbanized community such as Arlington. We’ve completed twenty-one project profiles at this point and have more to cover.

In November we began our FOR SALE series on interesting or special residential properties on the market in Arlington. So far we have run twenty-one feature articles highlighting close to three dozen properties. Most of the properties have sold and, while we lost one or two to development, several were purchased by preservation minded buyers. A good number of the properties are located in National Register listed neighborhoods and a few were in local historic districts.

November also saw a series of articles on the 50th Anniversary of the assassination and burial of President Kennedy. The series highlighted the experience of several Arlingtonians during those dark days and culminated in a piece on Arlington Cemetery’s Eternal Flame and how President Kennedys’ interment there changed the cemetery and the county forever.

Our LOST series began in November as we started to more thoroughly and regularly list the homes that were being demolished in the county. And, based on feedback from readers, we now identify which houses are in National Register Districts and if the homes are speculative developments. These photo essays are intended to show what is being lost in the county on a monthly basis.

As a positive counterpoint, we began a series In December called SAVED, in which we showcased projects that were successful independent historic preservation efforts. This monthly feature has been well received as it shows what good things people and groups are doing in Arlington County.

The best way to summarize the success of our website is with data. Utilizing Google Analytics we can know more about our readership and, according to our technology consultant, web traffic on our site has been “out of the park.”

For the period from May 6, 2013, to May 6, 2014:

26,158 users hit our website for a total of 35,490 sessions resulting in 55,362 total page views.

Our peak day was Saturday, January 11, 2014, when NPR and a host of other news outlets across the world picked up our piece about the Free Sears House being available and ran an interview they conducted with the architects, the county, and Preservation Arlington. On that day we had 5,582 sessions — a dramatic increase over our usual daily traffic. And, 5% of those visitors looked at other pages on our website before departing. Over the course of the year we had five days with traffic over 1,000 sessions.

It has been an exciting year and an excellent base on which we are building the future for Preservation Arlington. Thank you for joining us.