Browse Items (16 items total)
The Lomax Afro Methodist Episcopal (AME) Zion Church is a 45' x 72' two-story, gabled roof, brick structure. The church features a small cemetery to the right side where approximately 50 church members and community leaders were interred from the 1880s to 1965.
The church first began as Little Zion Methodist Church in Freedman's Village in 1866. In the 1880s the congregation moved to Green Valley. Before a new church building could be created services were held in the home of community leaders Levi and Sarah Ann Jones. In 1876 a one acre plot was purchased for $75 and a new church, now called Lomax AME Zion, was constructed, using wood preserved from the original Freedman's Village structure. The church was expanded in 1889 and in 1922 the present building was completed.
The church first began as Little Zion Methodist Church in Freedman's Village in 1866. In the 1880s the congregation moved to Green Valley. Before a new church building could be created services were held in the home of community leaders Levi and Sarah Ann Jones. In 1876 a one acre plot was purchased for $75 and a new church, now called Lomax AME Zion, was constructed, using wood preserved from the original Freedman's Village structure. The church was expanded in 1889 and in 1922 the present building was completed.
Collection: Community Institutions
In 1861 the Fort Barnard Fortifications were constructed as part of the Civil War defenses of Washington in Green Valley. The fort was named for General J.G. Barnard, the chief engineer for the defenses of Washington. The fort had significant earth works and gun platforms which featured twelve 24-32 pounder guns. During the war the fort was occupied by the 3rd Artillery Battery of the New York and the 14th of Massachusetts.
In 1902 the site was preserved as a park and community playground.
In 1902 the site was preserved as a park and community playground.
Collection: Community Institutions
This plan for the Freedman's Village headquarters was created by the War Department in 1865. The government's continued investment in the Village and its infrastructure shows how even though the Village was created as a war aim, Freedman's Village continued to expand as an African American community in peace. The Four Square architectural style of the house was popular in Arlington and across the county in suburban landscapes of the late nineteenth century. The style is associated with early streetcar suburbs, like the ones which were just beginning to emerge in Arlington at the close of the Civil War.
Collection: Community Institutions
During the 1920s Arlington had a bathing beach on the Potomac River. The beach featured swimming, concessions, canoes, and a ferris wheel. Despite being located near the African American neighborhoods of East Arlington and Queen City, the Arlington Bathing Beach was segregated. Here you can see all-white bathers enjoying the facility. James "Jimmy" E. Taylor, who lived in Hall's Hill, said that black children swam in a "creek out on Route 50... called 'Blue Man Junction'" since more formal swimming locations were not open to them. The beach was closed down in 1929 to make way for expansions to Hoover Airport, today known as National Airport.
Collection: Community Institutions
During the 1920s Arlington had a bathing beach along the Potomac River, near the present-day Pentagon. A 1923 brochure for the beach hoped to entice visitors from Washington by highlighting "parking facilities such as are seldom found." The beach featured swimming, concessions, canoes, and a ferris wheel. Despite being located near the African American neighborhoods of East Arlington and Queen City, the Arlington Bathing Beach was a segregated whites-only environment. It was closed down in 1929 to make way for expansions to Hoover Airport, today known as National Airport.
Collection: Community Institutions
Luna Park was an amusement park in Arlington County in operation from 1906 to 1915.
The Park was owned and operated by the Washington, Alexandria, and Mt. Vernon Railway Company. The Company commissioned Ingersoll Company of Pittsburgh to build the park after Arlington Prosecutor Crandal Mackey closed Arlington's gambling houses. Fearing a drop off in patronage on their line, Luna Park was meant to act as a more family friendly draw. The Park featured water rides, side shows, and animal acts.
The architecture of the venue was Ionic. The style also had many international inspirations, including Egyptian, Byzantine, Moorish, Japanese, Arabic, Gothic, French, Renaissance, and Corinthian designs.
Like almost all recreation activities in Arlington at the time, Luna Park was segregated.
The Park was owned and operated by the Washington, Alexandria, and Mt. Vernon Railway Company. The Company commissioned Ingersoll Company of Pittsburgh to build the park after Arlington Prosecutor Crandal Mackey closed Arlington's gambling houses. Fearing a drop off in patronage on their line, Luna Park was meant to act as a more family friendly draw. The Park featured water rides, side shows, and animal acts.
The architecture of the venue was Ionic. The style also had many international inspirations, including Egyptian, Byzantine, Moorish, Japanese, Arabic, Gothic, French, Renaissance, and Corinthian designs.
Like almost all recreation activities in Arlington at the time, Luna Park was segregated.
Collection: Community Institutions