What an unbelievably powerful photo that speaks for itself. Click on it for a more detailed version. 1916 Slaves reunion. Lewis Martin, age 100; Martha Elizabeth Banks, age 104; Amy Ware, age 103;...
Why Is It Named...? / 16.02.2012
Why Is It Named Arlington?
Arlington is the epicenter of recent college graduates working as paralegals, consultants or in information technology. They fill the high-rise apartments or group homes lining Wilson Blvd., Fairfax Dr. and the Orange Line from Rosslyn out to Ballston.
Every Thursday night, the 20-somethings descend upon Clarendon, living the dream of being out of college and having enough money to blow on too much booze (and maybe run into neighbors Ryan Zimmerman or Alex Ovechkin). Then, every Friday and Saturday night will be a mass migration to Buffalo Billiards, Adams Morgan or the edgier Bloomingdale for a little taste of the District.
Arlington County has one of the highest percentages of college graduates in America and the greater share of them are from somewhere else (i.e., it's fully of some seriously educated peeps). They all seem to have attended Penn State, Michigan State, Duke, Virginia Tech, Ohio State, Carnegie Mellon, or the one that seems to dominate every bar, JMU.
What is slightly depressing is that approximately 95% of these graduates wouldn't be able to explain why it's named Arlington County -- even though 43% of them love going to Monday trivia night.
Lucky for them, after this post, they will be prepped for tonight's shenanigans in Clarendon and be able to impress their non-@GhostsofDC following friends.
So, let's start from the beginning ... way back when the original G-Dub was around.
The Grand Review of the Armies happened on May 23rd and 24th, 1865 after the formal end of The Civil War. Much of the Union Army paraded through the streets of Washington (most importantly, Pennsylvania Ave.), much to the cheers and adulation of the crowd. The country had just been through four horrible years of war, capped off by the assassination of their beloved president at Ford's Theatre just a month earlier.
Three of the armies were able to make it back to Washington City to take part in the parades. The Army of the Tennessee and The Army of Georgia marched 250 miles under the command of General William T. Sherman to arrive in time. The Army of the Potomac, led by General George Meade had just been victorious over Robert E. Lee in Virginia and was just across the river from the District
The officers in these armies had not seen each other for many years and were able to reconnect in the city, while enlisted infantrymen spent their time eating and drinking in the local establishments, often coming to blows over which army was superior.