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Upcoming Hearing: Nov 30
Westover Historic District

Upcoming Hearing: Nov 30
Westover Historic District

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A Special Meeting of the HALRB will be held at 6 PM on November 30 in the Auditorium at Swanson Middle School concerning the Westover Neighborhood Local Historic District Designation. The time, date and location are different in order to better accommodate community input. The Agenda for the meeting outlines the time, date, location and agenda. It is available online. The Historical Affairs and Landmark Review Board (HALRB) advises the County Board on historic preservation matters. The HALRB nominates properties…

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Upcoming Hearing:
HALRB Nov. 16

Upcoming Hearing:
HALRB Nov. 16

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The November meeting of the HALRB (Historical Affairs and Landmark Review Board) will be begin at 7:30 PM on Wednesday, November 16. The agenda includes: Consent Agenda COA’s (Certificate of Appropriateness) in Broadview, Buckingham Village and Maywood historic districts; Historic Markers for Hall’s Hill Wall, Calloway Cemetery, Jennie Dean Park and the Blue Goose/Marymount University/Ballston Center; The Chairman will report on the status of historic designation requests for Westover and the Robert Ball Sr. Burial Ground; and, Committee Reports will…

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Upcoming Hearing:
County Board, Nov. 5
RTA Ball Cemetery Historic Designation

Upcoming Hearing:
County Board, Nov. 5
RTA Ball Cemetery Historic Designation

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This Saturday, November 5, the Arlington County Board will consider a request to advertise (RTA) public hearings at the Planning Commission and the County Board for the proposed Local Historic District Designation of the Robert Ball Sr. Burial Ground, at 4201 Fairfax Drive in Ballston. On October 19, the Historical Affairs and Landmark Review Board recommended that the County Board hold public hearings to designate the local historic district. This RTA is the next step in that process. This is…

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Arlington Bookshelf:
A Guide to the African American Heritage of Arlington County, Virginia

Arlington Bookshelf:
A Guide to the African American Heritage of Arlington County, Virginia

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“A Guide to the African American Heritage of Arlington County, Virginia” is now in print and available online from the County’s Historic Preservation Program. The full-color, 64-page work is a much-expanded version of the original guide published in 2001 as part of the County’s bicentennial celebration. The original booklet was in such demand that print copies ran out several years ago. The updated publication, written and designed by County historic preservation planner John Liebertz, features captivating new information about African…

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Guest Post: Arlington Cemetery Then and Now

Guest Post: Arlington Cemetery Then and Now

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Preservation Arlington welcomes this guest post from Dean DeRosa, a National Park Service volunteer at Arlington House, the Robert E. Lee Memorial, regarding the changing landscape of Arlington Cemetery, as viewed through period and modern stereographs. (In 2014, DeRosa made the remarkable discovery of a never-before-published stereograph of Selina Gray, the enslaved housekeeper at Arlington House.) In May 1869, President Ulysses S. Grant headed 20- to 30 thousand Memorial Day visitors to Arlington National Cemetery to pay homage to the…

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NPS Panel: Interpreting Arlington House

NPS Panel: Interpreting Arlington House

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Last week, a group of prominent historians gathered at Arlington Cemetery for a roundtable discussion focusing on the future of interpretation for Arlington House, the Robert E. Lee Memorial. The discussion took place over two days (October 29-30) and was facilitated by Dean Herrin, Chief Historian for the National Park Service (NPS) National Capital region. Presenters included Dana Shoaf, editor in chief of Civil War Times magazine; Steve Hammond, a descendant of the historic Syphax family who were enslaved at…

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New Bridge Honors Freedmans Village

New Bridge Honors Freedmans Village

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Celebrating “a community connected,” as one transportation official put it, the new Freedmans Village Bridge was dedicated on Thursday before a crowd of dignitaries, descendants, and local residents. Carrying Washington Boulevard over Columbia Pike, the bridge is named for the Civil War-era community that was established for emancipated and fugitive slaves on the grounds of the Arlington estate. More than 20 years in the making, the bridge replaces a 70-year-old span that was severely deteriorated and a cause for concern…

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Guest Post: A “Living Museum” about
Little Saigon

Guest Post: A “Living Museum” about
Little Saigon

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April 30, 2015, marked the 40th anniversary of the fall of Saigon and the end of the Vietnam War. After the war, many Vietnamese refugees settled in Arlington, Virginia, and the Clarendon neighborhood briefly became known as “Little Saigon.” On Saturday, a cultural heritage event took place in Clarendon to recognize this important history. The event featured a County Board proclamation, a temporary public art installation by Vietnamese-American artist Khánh H. Lê (now on view at the Center for Local…

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Clarendon Event May 9 Will Commemorate Arlington’s Little Saigon

Clarendon Event May 9 Will Commemorate Arlington’s Little Saigon

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On Saturday, May 9, 2015, as part of Clarendon’s Neighborhood Day celebration, the Arlington County Board, county staff, local artists and students, and members of the Vietnamese community will participate in a special program to honor Clarendon’s Vietnamese history, particularly the period of the late 1970s and 1980s when it was known as “Little Saigon.” All are invited to take part in this special event that will include a hands-on public art activity and self-guided smartphone tours of historic buildings…

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I Love My Historic Neighborhood: Kim in Aurora Highlands

I Love My Historic Neighborhood: Kim in Aurora Highlands

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We have expanded our “I Love My Historic House” series to invite homeowners to answer five short questions about living in a historic Arlington neighborhood. Our first entry in this new, related series comes from Kim O’Connell, who has lived in the Aurora Highlands neighborhood for 15 years. The neighborhood was recently featured in The Washington Post and is included in the National Register of Historic Places as a historic district. Q: Briefly describe your house. My family and I…

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