Original Inhabitants

Human occupancy of the Arlington area is thought to go back at least 10,000 years.  Various explorations have uncovered at least eleven Indian village sites in Arlington, with most of them concentrated near the banks of the Potomac.  It is estimated that the largest village had a population of some 300 people. About 3,000 Doeg and Necostin Indians were living in the region which was then covered by dense forests of red cedar, Virginia Pine and many varieties of hardwoods.

The British Invasion (Arlington is an indistinguishable part of Fairfax County)

In 1608, Captain John Smith explored the Potomac and found that the shores on both sides were inhabited. The local native Americans allowed Smith and his party to encamp with them as guests.  English settlers soon followed and by 1679, there were no longer any Indians living in Arlington.  By the end of the 17^th century, most of what is today Arlington County, had become the property of John Alexander (hence “Alexandria”) and Lord Fairfax.  By the time of the Revolutionary War, all land in Arlington County had been claimed.  It was divided into a dozen or so plantations that grew tobacco, wheat and vegetables.  The main roads were River Road (today’s Jeff Davis Highway), Glebe Road, and Awbry’s Road (today’s Wilson Boulevard).

America Wins Its Independence

Throughout the Revolution, Arlington continued to be an indistinguishable part of Fairfax County. This changed shortly after the new constitution was ratified in 1788.  When the new ten mile square capital city (the “Diamond”) was created, two-thirds of the land was ceded by Maryland and one-third was ceded by Virginia.  The former Virginia land (including the land the Astoria sits on) was now called Alexandria County and you may have seen old references to Alexandria, DC.

Life as Part of the Capital City (Arlington is part of Alexandria County, District of Columbia)

From its inception in 1801, there was a fair amount of dissatisfaction among the District of Columbia residents on the Virginia side of the river.  (A census taken in 1800 indicates a population of 978 in the Arlington area.)  Conflict grew out of the fact that no public buildings were to be erected on the Virginia side of the Potomac.  (George Washington had insisted on this condition to avoid any speculation that he might profit by sale of his land to the new government.)  The former (and future) Virginians also did not want to finance the Georgetown canal which they felt would only benefit the other side of the Potomac.  In 1846, forty-five years after The District’s creation, Congress directed freeholders on the Virginia side of the District to vote on the disposition of their land.  The vote was 763 to 222 for retrocession.  Alexandria County was returned to Virginia and consisted of the Town of Alexandria and the “country part,” i.e., current day Arlington.  In the 1840’s corn was the single most important crop in Arlington, accounting for slightly more than half of its grain crops.  The other half consisted of wheat, barley, oats, rye and buckwheat.  Other important activities included commercial fishing, milling and brick making.  The “country part of the county” at the time of retrocession was just that: the 1840 census showed no schools of any type in what is now Arlington.

Life as Part of the Union-Occupied Portion of the Confederacy (1861-1865)

Having rejoined Virginia, Alexandria County was a part of the Confederacy once Virginia seceded from the Union.  The Union, with its capital city facing a hostile shore, wasted little time in occupying the county with over 10,000 soldiers.  The occupation lasted for the duration of the Civil War and a large, elaborate defense system consisting of earthwork forts and batteries was constructed on the highlands of Virginia overlooking the Union capital.  If these sites were commanded by Confederate troops, it would allow them to shell the capital.  The land we currently live on was literally surrounded by forts.  The forts included:

·         Fort Woodbury - Near the courthouse (at Troy & 14^th Streets)

·         Fort Morton - On the grounds of Key Elementary School (where we vote)

·         Fort Corcoran - Just north of the Wilson School (and the firehouse) on Wilson Blvd.  (President Lincoln visited Fort Corcoran on several occasions.)

·         Fort Bennett - Near the 1600 block of 22^nd Street

·         Fort Strong - Near Lee Highway.  Just west of the Astoria:  go up Lee Hwy to the top of the ridge between Adams and Vance Streets.

·         Fort Smith a bit further to the west, and Fort Haggerty in Rosslyn further fortified the area

Back in the Union (Alexandria County, VA, U.S.A.) - The infamous Klondike

It took many years for the area to recover from the effects of the occupation, but it gradually returned to its role of providing farm goods to Washington City.  The close-in part of the county (e.g. current Rosslyn),  however, was slow to recover and when New Jersey outlawed gambling after the war, some of the gambling houses moved here.  Two race tracks were also built near the river.  The neighborhood of Rosslyn supported 14 saloons and several gambling houses.  The neighborhood was very unsafe and farmers returning from selling their produce in the city were often held up at the present site of the Key Bridge Marriott.  The location was then known as “Devil’s Hole” or “Dead Man’s Hollow.”  The most notorious saloon in Northern Virginia was the “Klondike” located nearby at what is now 19^th and Moore Streets.  In 1890 a “Good Citizens’ League” was formed to attempt to clean up the town.  When a trust company razed the Klondike and opened a bank on the site, Alexandria county officials declared, “We turn barrooms into banks.”

A Welcome Dose of Civilization - FORE!
 
Near the end of the 19^th century,  the current Colonial Village land (of which the Astoria land is a piece) was owned by a Hoover family who were butchers and bootmakers in Washington City.  In 1894, 165 acres of this land were leased to the newly formed Washington Golf Club (the first golf course in the Washington area).  The nine-hole course had its first hole near the site of the Woodrow Wilson School (by the firehouse) on Wilson Boulevard.  The course continued in a westerly direction until the fifth hole (near the current Colonial Place/Court House Metro station).  The course crossed the Road to Washington (now Wilson Boulevard) several times.  The club required its playing members to wear knickers and scarlet coats with green lapels.  By 1908, golf had become so popular that the club moved to a larger tract (for 18 holes) on North Glebe Road.

A New Court House

A new Alexandria County Court House had been constructed (near our new Court House) in 1898.  The community had decided it did not want to have to travel to what had become the City of Alexandria to conduct its legal affairs.

A New Name for the County and Astoria’s Holy History

With the County seat no longer in the City of Alexandria, the General Assembly of Virginia changed our county’s name from Alexandria to Arlington in 1920.  The choice of name was inspired by a desire to honor Gen. Robert Lee whose home had been Arlington House (now Arlington National Cemetery) for so long.  A 1927 Arlington County map shows that on the site of the current Astoria, there was located the Holiness Camp Meeting Grounds.  Unfortunately, there seems to be little information remaining regarding the camp grounds.

Colonial Village

Colonial Village opened as rental units between 1935 and 1940.  A county map from this period shows that 19^th Street continued east of Veitch, past the VFW where today one is forced to make a left onto Uhle Street.  The street continued through what today is Chelsea Landing condos and then onto Astoria land.  It then made a left turn, to become English Street and traversed land now occupied by our pool, our clubhouse and our building (at approximately the west elevator bank area) on its way to Lee Highway.

Enter Mobil

In 1977, Mobil Corporation acquired Colonial Village (including the land we currently occupy).  When tenants learned that Mobil wanted to demolish half of the apartment houses for commercial development, they fought to place the complex in the National Register of Historic Places.  In a compromise reached in 1979, Mobil agreed to raze only one-tenth of the apartment buildings.  This would provide the land for the three twelve-story “Colonial Place” office buildings near the Metro.  Mobil sold the land occupied by the Astoria and Chelsea Landing to Colonial Guardian Limited Partnership.  (More information on these developments can be gleaned from an old newsletter article available in the office.)

The Astoria is a “Best Address”

The newly constructed Astoria was included as a “Best Address” in the Smithsonian’s book entitled: Best Addresses:  A Century of Washington’s Distinguished Apartment Houses published in 1988.