Arlington Ridge Road (originally known as Mount Vernon Avenue) is a street through residential areas and business districts in Arlington County, Virginia in the United States. South Arlington Ridge Road is roughly 1.5 miles in length and extends from Prospect Hill Park/Army-Navy Drive in the north to Glebe Road and Four Mile Run creek in the south. As it crosses the creek it turns into Mount Vernon Avenue. Arlington Ridge Road was first constructed in 1840, and formerly extended north through Arlington National Cemetery to Rosslyn, Virginia near Francis Scott Key Bridge and the Potomac River.
Arlington Ridge Road was a single street from 1840 to 1966. After the closure of the central portion of the road, two sections were created: South Arlington Ridge Road, and North Arlington Ridge Road. The northern road began at Lee Boulevard (now known as Arlington Boulevard) and proceeded north along what is now Wilson Boulevard to 19th Street North. It incorporated a portion of what was informally known as Oil Plant Road (also known as "Oil Road"). North Arlington Ridge Road was eliminated in the early 1960s when interchanges and connections for the Theodore Roosevelt Bridge were constructed.
History of the name
Creating a county At the time of European encounter, the inhabitants of the area that became Arlington County were the Doeg, an Algonquian-speaking sub-group of the Powhatan tribal confederation.Swanton, p. 69. Colonists from England usurped Native American title to the land, and began creating their own political divisions on the area in the 1600s. York County, Virginia, was created by the Virginia General Assembly in 1634, displacing Native American claims to the land.Loth, p. 559. Northumberland County was carved out of York County in 1648,Kashuba, p. 55. Westmoreland County from Northumberland County in 1653,Kretzschmar, p. 317. Stafford County, Virginia from Westmoreland County in 1664,Dodd and Lee, p. ix. Prince William County out of Stafford County (and a portion of King George County) in 1731,Patterson, p. 12. and Fairfax County in 1742 from Prince William County.Kretzschmar, p. 312.
In 1790, Congress enacted the Residence Act, which provided for the seat of the United States federal government to be sited on the Potomac River. George Washington chose the site of Washington, D.C., in 1791. Subsequently, that portion of Fairfax County consisting of modern Arlington County and the city of Alexandria, Virginia, became part of the District of Columbia. Congress enacted the District of Columbia Organic Act in 1801.Dilworth, p. 116. The Organic Act placed the incorporated towns of Washington, D.C.; Georgetown, D.C. and Alexandria, Virginia, under the direct control of Congress. Unincorporated territory in the District of Columbia north of the Potomac River was organized into Washington County; that territory in the District south of the river was organized into Alexandria County (after the town of Alexandria).Hansen, p. 22.
The area would have remained known as Alexandria County had it not been for the creation of Arlington Estate, which lent its name not only to the soon-to-be-built road but also to the county itself.Citizens of Alexandria County, like all citizens of the District of Columbia, did not have representation in Congress. George Washington was concerned that choosing the location for the city so close to land he owned might appear unseemly, so he successfully urged Congress to bar the federal government from erecting federal buildings in Alexandria County. Furthermore, Congress frequently declined to spend federal dollars to improve the District of Columbia. Unhappy with these issues, the citizens of Alexandria County, D.C., petitioned the federal government to retrocede their county to the state of Virginia. This petition was successful, and on July 9, 1846, Alexandria County rejoined Virginia. The city of Alexandria seceded from Alexandria County in 1870, and Alexandria County was renamed Arlington County (after Arlington House) in 1920.
Creating Arlington Estate In 1774, John Parke Custis (oldest heir in a wealthy Maryland family which owned extensive estates) married Eleanor Calvert (daughter of one of the richest men in Maryland).Wayland, p. 352. John and Eleanor Custis lived at Mount Vernon with John's mother, Martha Washington, and his foster father, George Washington.Perry, p. 24-25. The Custises had two children, George Washington Parke Custis ("G.W.P.") and Eleanor ("Nelly") Custis. John purchased an tract of forested land on the Potomac River north of the town of Alexandria in 1778.Perry, p. 25-26. John Parke Custis died on November 5, 1781. His widow, Eleanor, married Dr. David Stuart in 1783, and the Stuarts moved to Mount Vernon where George and Martha Washington helped to raise G.W.P. and Nelly.Perry, p. 27. Under the terms of Custis' will, George Washington received a life estate in two-thirds of Custis' property. G.W.P. would inherit only upon Washington's death. The remaining one-third went to Martha Washington.Cultural Landscape Program, p. 22. Accessed 2013-05-29.
George Washington died on December 14, 1799, and G.W.P. inherited his father's estate. Martha Washington died in 1802, allowing G.W.P. to inherit the rest of his father's property as well as nearly all of George Washington's holdings as well. This included what later became the Arlington estate. G.W.P. moved out of Mount Vernon and into an existing four-room house on some marshy flats on the Potomac River estate.Cultural Landscape Program, p. 23. Accessed 2013-05-29. In 1802, G.W.P. began construction on the north wing of Arlington House.Cultural Landscape Program, p. 28. Accessed 2013-05-29. He named his new estate "Mount Washington" after his foster father.Cultural Landscape Program, p. 29. Accessed 2013-05-29.
Custis' estate consisted of highly varied topography. Near the river, the land was flat and lush. But about inland, a ridge ran roughly parallel to the shoreline. Another or so beyond the ridge, the land rose sharply by nearly to reach the Virginia uplands. Mount Washington was too small to be self-supporting as a working farm, so Custis sought to make Arlington into a family seat — complete with a large park, a forest, and gardens. Farming occurred primarily on the lush lowland by the river, where G.W.P. engaged in experimental farming and animal husbandry.Cultural Landscape Program, p. 35. Accessed 2013-05-29. G.W.P. put 57 African slaves to work building log cabins for themselves on the lowlands and working the farm. From 1804 to about 1840, Custis worked to create what he called "the Park". Patterned on the English landscape park, "the Park" was bordered by the carriage drive on the south, native forest on the north, uplands and the house on the west, and the ridge in the east.Cultural Landscape Program, p. 52. Accessed 2013-05-29.
In late 1803 or early 1804, Custis hired local architect George Hadfield to design the remainder of his mansion on the hill.Sutton, p. 21; Poole, p. 11. Construction had already begun on the south wing of the mansion by this time,Cultural Landscape Program, p. 36. Accessed 2013-05-29. so Hadfield contributed mainly to the center section. Unfortunately, the central part of the mansion remained unbuilt until 1815 due to a lack of funds.
On July 7, 1804, G.W.P. Custis married Mary Lee Fitzhugh, daughter of one of the wealthiest landowners in northern Virginia.Rose, p. 68. Shortly after their marriage, the Custises began to refer to their estate and home as Arlington rather than Mount WashingtonCultural Landscape Program, p. 39. Accessed 2013-05-29. — an homage to Arlington in the United Kingdom from whence his family emigrated.Aiken and Kane, p. 10.
Building Arlington Ridge Road
First roads in the area The first known road through what would eventually become Arlington County was a barely-cleared path through the forest along what is now the Henry G. Shirley Memorial Highway. Created in 1743, it began near Glebe Road and continued roughly northeast until it reached the ferry landing near what is now Virginia State Route 110.Templeman, p. 52.
G.W.P. Custis began operating a ferry between his estate and the growing city of Washington, D.C., in 1807. In 1808, the Washington and Alexandria Turnpike was authorized by Congress,Bryan, p. 532-533. Accessed 2013-06-02. and constructed on Custis' land near the river bank. This toll road extended from the Long Bridge (south of the estate) down to Alexandria.
Arlington Ridge Road In 1840, Custis agreed to allow a second road to be cut across his land. This road was covered in gravel, rather than dirt like the turnpike. It began in the south near the junction of what is now Virginia State Route 27 and Shirley Highway, and continued in a nearly straight line north-northwest until it reached what is now the intersection of North Fort Myer Drive and U.S. Route 29. For many years, this gravel road was known as Mount Vernon Avenue, but it later became known as Arlington Ridge Road after the great estate through which it passed.
The nature of Arlington Estate changed abruptly in 1861. G.W.P. Custis died on October 10, 1857, leaving the estate to his daughter, Mary. She had married United States Army officer Robert E. Lee on June 30, 1831. At the outbreak of the American Civil War, Robert E. Lee resigned his commission and joined the army of the Confederate States of America. The U.S. Army occupied Arlington on May 24, 1861.Chase, p. 176. The estate served as headquarters for a portion of the regional defenses of Washington, D.C., and the Arlington Line of forts lined the upland: Forts Cass, Craig, DeKalb, Tillinghast, and Woodbury.Cultural Landscape Program, p. 74-75. Accessed 2013-05-29. South of the estate, north of what is now Overlook Park, Fort Albany was built on the side of Arlington Ridge Road.Connery, p. 57. Extensive horse and mule corrals were built east of the road (near the current Visitors Center and parking lots and the area just south of them).Cultural Landscape Program, p. 79. Accessed 2013-05-29. In August 1862, Fort Whipple (now known as Fort Myer) was constructed in the northwest part of the estate.Cultural Landscape Program, p. 78. Accessed 2013-05-29. Freedmen's Village, a housing development for escaped slaves ("contraband") and free blacks, was constructed in May 1863 the very southern part of the estate immediately west of Arlington Ridge Road.Cultural Landscape Program, p. 84. Accessed 2013-05-29. East across Arlington Ridge Road from Freedmen's Village was Hell's Bottom,Carroll, p. 22. a site at the foot of the Long Bridge. A horse racing track occupied the bottom."Field In Arlington to be Air Terminal." Washington Post. June 28, 1926.
History of Arlington Ridge Road within Arlington National Cemetery
1800s
With a desperate need to bury war dead, the United States government authorized the burial of dead at Arlington Estate on June 15, 1864,Cultural Landscape Program, p. 85. Accessed 2013-05-29. effectively creating Arlington National Cemetery. But not all of the estate was used for burials. Although some burials occurred around Arlington House, most of the dead were buried in what is now sections 27, 29, 41, and 42 in the far northern part of the estate and in sections 1 and 13 (the "Field of the Dead") in the west-northwestern part of the estate.
The entirety of Arlington Estate remained under the control of the United States Department of War.United States Department of Agriculture, p. 11.Cultural Landscape Program, p. 100. Accessed 2013-05-29. About of the estate were not being used by the cemetery, and of this land was being cultivated by former slaves at Freedman's Village, who farmed it as subsistence farmers and grew fruits, vegetables, hay, and grain for consumption at nearby Fort Whipple.Cultural Landscape Program, p. 100-101. Accessed 2013-05-29.