Modern-day Arlington County is a center for government institutions and a critical part of the Washington, D.C. community. But the identity of the area goes far beyond the influence of the nation’s capital. During the War of 1812, the original copy of the Declaration of Independence was hidden from the British in a local area gristmill. Arlington was the only county in Virginia to vote against secession, despite being home to Robert E. Lee. In the...

Glencarlyn was perhaps the most interesting of all of the rural communities in the Arlington area in the early part of the twentieth century. It had become a well known picnic area and summer resort for Washingtonians, because it was easy to reach by railroad. It was not unusual to find in the surrounding woods arrowheads and tomahawks left by the indians and canteens, bayonets, and slugs left b;y the Civil War soldiers. In the yards of some of...