Clarendon, Virginia
Encyclopedia
Clarendon is a neighborhood in Arlington County
, Virginia
, USA
, located between the Rosslyn
area and the Ballston
area. The main thoroughfares are Wilson
Boulevard
(one-way westbound) and Clarendon Boulevard (one-way eastbound).
The central geographic/cultural/economic features of Clarendon are the Clarendon Metro station
(on the Orange Line of the Metrorail system
at Wilson Boulevard and Highland Street), Market Common Clarendon and the Whole Foods Market
at Clarendon Boulevard and Edgewood Street. As Clarendon's profile both as a popular destination and marketing location have increased, its informal boundaries have expanded west toward Virginia Square and east toward Courthouse, two adjacent Metro station areas.
ted in 1900 at the top of a hill on the Georgetown
-Falls Church
Road (now Wilson Boulevard), Clarendon evolved into Arlington County's original "downtown" after the arrival of streetcars
into its area in 1896. During the early 20th century, two interurban trolley
lines converged in Clarendon a short distance west of today's Clarendon Metro station
.
One of these trolley lines traveled between Rosslyn and Clarendon along the present routes of Lynn Street, Fairfax Drive and Clarendon Boulevard to a station
at the present intersection of Clarendon Boulevard and Washington
Boulevard. Metrorail's Orange Line
now closely follows this line's former route.
The other line traveled from downtown Washington
, crossed the Potomac River
over the Highway Bridge and traveled along Washington Boulevard to reach the Clarendon station. Trolleys from both lines traveled between Clarendon, Ballston and Falls Church along the present routes of Fairfax Drive, I-66
and the Orange Line. Some of these trolleys traveled as far as the towns of Vienna
and Fairfax
. Like many other interurbans around the country, these lines were to remain in service until the mid-1930s, when they succumbed to the automobile
and Depression
-era economics.
In 1920, the same year in which Arlington County adopted its name, a movement to incorporate Clarendon as a town was defeated in the courts.
Over time, Clarendon became Northern Virginia
's retail center. Department stores including J.C. Penney
and Sears
opened stores in Clarendon, and other retailers extended west along Wilson Blvd and Fairfax Drive to Virginia Square (anchored by Kann's Department Store) and, farther west, the Parkington Shopping Center anchored by the Hecht Company, which was later enlarged and renamed as the Ballston Common Mall
.
Built in 1937, the Arlington Post Office
was the first federal building constructed in the county. Previously Arlington's mail was handled in Washington, D.C.
. Lobby murals depicting scenes about Arlington history were painted by Auriel Bessemer in 1939. In 2000, it was named in honor of Joseph L. Fisher
, former U.S. representative from Virginia's 10th district. The building is a designated Arlington County landmark and is listed on the national register of historic places.
By early 1975, two Vietnamese grocery stores had been opened in Clarendon. Clarendon came to be known as "Little Saigon" - restaurants, shops and a large Vietnamese community. Vietnamese restaurants adjacent to Clarendon Metro like Queen Bee, and Cafe Dalat, closed in the end of 2005 and Little Viet Garden closed at the end of 2008. Nam Viet seems to be all that remains.http://www.ncvaonline.org/archive/HP612_Final_Project_Part1.pdf
Since the opening of the Clarendon Metro station
in the early 1980s, Clarendon has become well-known for its eclectic mix of unique shops, trendy bars, and small restaurant
s. More recently, luxury apartments, office buildings and upscale chain stores have been constructed and gentrified
the area, although some of the original businesses do remain. The former Sears store's parking lot and automotive department, briefly considered as a site for a Home Depot, was developed as a mixed residential/commercial project that now includes townhouses, luxury apartments, and national chain retail stores.
A farmer's market at Clarendon's Central Park is held Wednesday afternoons from Memorial Day until Labor Day and features organic produce, baked goods, plants and herbs, homemade soaps and other items for sale.
Arlington County, Virginia
Arlington County is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The land that became Arlington was originally donated by Virginia to the United States government to form part of the new federal capital district. On February 27, 1801, the United States Congress organized the area as a subdivision of...
, Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
, USA
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, located between the Rosslyn
Rosslyn, Virginia
Rosslyn is an unincorporated area in Northern Virginia located in the northeastern corner of Arlington County, Virginia, north of Arlington National Cemetery and directly across the Potomac River from Georgetown in Washington, D.C. Rosslyn encompasses the Arlington neighborhoods of North Rosslyn...
area and the Ballston
Ballston, Virginia
Ballston is a neighborhood in Arlington County, Virginia and is home to the Ballston-MU station on the Orange Line of the Metrorail subway system.-History:...
area. The main thoroughfares are Wilson
Woodrow Wilson
Thomas Woodrow Wilson was the 28th President of the United States, from 1913 to 1921. A leader of the Progressive Movement, he served as President of Princeton University from 1902 to 1910, and then as the Governor of New Jersey from 1911 to 1913...
Boulevard
Boulevard
A Boulevard is type of road, usually a wide, multi-lane arterial thoroughfare, divided with a median down the centre, and roadways along each side designed as slow travel and parking lanes and for bicycle and pedestrian usage, often with an above-average quality of landscaping and scenery...
(one-way westbound) and Clarendon Boulevard (one-way eastbound).
Boundaries and geography
Because of the local street network configuration, many of Clarendon's 40-45 blocks resemble triangles rather than squares. The precise dimensions of Clarendon are not defined, and several different sets of boundaries are often used. These include:- Arlington County's Clarendon sector plan area (bounded roughly by Cleveland Street, 11th Street, Kirkwood Street, 13th Street, Highland Street and Wilson Boulevard)
- the boundaries of the civic associationsNeighborhood associationA neighborhood association is a group of residents or property owners who advocate for or organize activities within a neighborhood. An association may have elected leaders and voluntary dues....
comprising the Clarendon Alliance association (i.e. Ashton Heights, Clarendon-Courthouse, Lyon Park and Lyon Village, and bounded by Lee Highway, Veitch Street, Wilson Boulevard, Arlington Boulevard, Glebe Road, Wilson Boulevard, and Kirkwood Street) - the area unsuccessfully proposed to have been incorporatedMunicipal corporationA municipal corporation is the legal term for a local governing body, including cities, counties, towns, townships, charter townships, villages, and boroughs. Municipal incorporation occurs when such municipalities become self-governing entities under the laws of the state or province in which...
as a city in the 1930s - the boundaries of the Clarendon-Courthouse Civic Association (Wilson Boulevard, N. Courthouse Road, Arlington Boulevard, and N. 10th Street)
The central geographic/cultural/economic features of Clarendon are the Clarendon Metro station
Clarendon (Washington Metro)
Clarendon is a side platformed Washington Metro station in the Clarendon neighborhood of Arlington, Virginia, United States. The station was opened on December 1, 1979, and is operated by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority...
(on the Orange Line of the Metrorail system
Washington Metro
The Washington Metro, commonly called Metro, and unofficially Metrorail, is the rapid transit system in Washington, D.C., United States, and its surrounding suburbs. It is administered by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority , which also operates Metrobus service under the Metro name...
at Wilson Boulevard and Highland Street), Market Common Clarendon and the Whole Foods Market
Whole Foods Market
Whole Foods Market is a foods supermarket chain based in Austin, Texas which emphasizes "natural and organic products." The company has been ranked among the most socially responsible businesses and placed third on the U.S...
at Clarendon Boulevard and Edgewood Street. As Clarendon's profile both as a popular destination and marketing location have increased, its informal boundaries have expanded west toward Virginia Square and east toward Courthouse, two adjacent Metro station areas.
History
First platPlat
A plat in the U.S. is a map, drawn to scale, showing the divisions of a piece of land. Other English-speaking countries generally call such documents a cadastral map or plan....
ted in 1900 at the top of a hill on the Georgetown
Georgetown, Washington, D.C.
Georgetown is a neighborhood located in northwest Washington, D.C., situated along the Potomac River. Founded in 1751, the port of Georgetown predated the establishment of the federal district and the City of Washington by 40 years...
-Falls Church
Falls Church, Virginia
The City of Falls Church is an independent city in Virginia, United States, in the Washington Metropolitan Area. The city population was 12,332 in 2010, up from 10,377 in 2000. Taking its name from The Falls Church, an 18th-century Anglican parish, Falls Church gained township status within...
Road (now Wilson Boulevard), Clarendon evolved into Arlington County's original "downtown" after the arrival of streetcars
Northern Virginia trolleys
The earliest electric railway, or streetcar line, in Northern Virginia opened in 1892. At their peak, when merged into a single interurban system , the successors of this and several other lines ran between downtown Washington, D.C., Rosslyn and Arlington Junction – present day Crystal City...
into its area in 1896. During the early 20th century, two interurban trolley
Interurban
An interurban, also called a radial railway in parts of Canada, is a type of electric passenger railroad; in short a hybrid between tram and train. Interurbans enjoyed widespread popularity in the first three decades of the twentieth century in North America. Until the early 1920s, most roads were...
lines converged in Clarendon a short distance west of today's Clarendon Metro station
Clarendon (Washington Metro)
Clarendon is a side platformed Washington Metro station in the Clarendon neighborhood of Arlington, Virginia, United States. The station was opened on December 1, 1979, and is operated by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority...
.
One of these trolley lines traveled between Rosslyn and Clarendon along the present routes of Lynn Street, Fairfax Drive and Clarendon Boulevard to a station
Train station
A train station, also called a railroad station or railway station and often shortened to just station,"Station" is commonly understood to mean "train station" unless otherwise qualified. This is evident from dictionary entries e.g...
at the present intersection of Clarendon Boulevard and Washington
George Washington
George Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...
Boulevard. Metrorail's Orange Line
Orange Line (Washington Metro)
The Orange Line of the Washington Metro consists of 26 rapid transit stations from Vienna to New Carrollton. It has stations in Fairfax County and Arlington, Virginia, the District of Columbia, and Prince George's County, Maryland. Half of the line's stations are shared with the Blue Line, and over...
now closely follows this line's former route.
The other line traveled from downtown Washington
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, crossed the Potomac River
Potomac River
The Potomac River flows into the Chesapeake Bay, located along the mid-Atlantic coast of the United States. The river is approximately long, with a drainage area of about 14,700 square miles...
over the Highway Bridge and traveled along Washington Boulevard to reach the Clarendon station. Trolleys from both lines traveled between Clarendon, Ballston and Falls Church along the present routes of Fairfax Drive, I-66
Interstate 66
Interstate 66 is an Interstate Highway in the eastern United States. As indicated by its even route number, it runs in an east–west direction. Its western terminus is at Middletown, Virginia, at an intersection with Interstate 81; its eastern terminus is in Washington, D.C., at an...
and the Orange Line. Some of these trolleys traveled as far as the towns of Vienna
Vienna, Virginia
Vienna is a town in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, it had a population of 15,687. Significantly more people live in zip codes with the Vienna postal addresses bordered approximately by Interstate 66 on the south, Interstate 495 on the east, Route 7 to...
and Fairfax
Fairfax, Virginia
The City of Fairfax is an independent city forming an enclave within the confines of Fairfax County, in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. Although politically independent of the surrounding county, the City is nevertheless the county seat....
. Like many other interurbans around the country, these lines were to remain in service until the mid-1930s, when they succumbed to the automobile
Automobile
An automobile, autocar, motor car or car is a wheeled motor vehicle used for transporting passengers, which also carries its own engine or motor...
and Depression
Great Depression in the United States
The Great Depression began with the Wall Street Crash of October, 1929 and rapidly spread worldwide. The market crash marked the beginning of a decade of high unemployment, poverty, low profits, deflation, plunging farm incomes, and lost opportunities for economic growth and personal advancement...
-era economics.
In 1920, the same year in which Arlington County adopted its name, a movement to incorporate Clarendon as a town was defeated in the courts.
Over time, Clarendon became Northern Virginia
Northern Virginia
Northern Virginia consists of several counties and independent cities in the Commonwealth of Virginia, in a widespread region generally radiating southerly and westward from Washington, D.C...
's retail center. Department stores including J.C. Penney
J.C. Penney
J. C. Penney Company, Inc. is a chain of American mid-range department stores based in Plano, Texas, a suburb north of Dallas. The company operates 1,107 department stores in all 50 U.S. states and Puerto Rico. JCPenney also operates catalog sales merchant offices nationwide in many...
and Sears
Sears, Roebuck and Company
Sears, officially named Sears, Roebuck and Co., is an American chain of department stores which was founded by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck in the late 19th century...
opened stores in Clarendon, and other retailers extended west along Wilson Blvd and Fairfax Drive to Virginia Square (anchored by Kann's Department Store) and, farther west, the Parkington Shopping Center anchored by the Hecht Company, which was later enlarged and renamed as the Ballston Common Mall
Ballston Common Mall
Ballston Common Mall, which originally opened as Parkington Shopping Center in 1951, was one of the first major suburban shopping centers in the Washington D.C. area. It was the first shopping center built around a multi-story parking garage in the United States...
.
Built in 1937, the Arlington Post Office
Post office
A post office is a facility forming part of a postal system for the posting, receipt, sorting, handling, transmission or delivery of mail.Post offices offer mail-related services such as post office boxes, postage and packaging supplies...
was the first federal building constructed in the county. Previously Arlington's mail was handled in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
. Lobby murals depicting scenes about Arlington history were painted by Auriel Bessemer in 1939. In 2000, it was named in honor of Joseph L. Fisher
Joseph L. Fisher
Joseph Lyman Fisher is a former member of the United States House of Representatives. He was a Democrat from Virginia....
, former U.S. representative from Virginia's 10th district. The building is a designated Arlington County landmark and is listed on the national register of historic places.
By early 1975, two Vietnamese grocery stores had been opened in Clarendon. Clarendon came to be known as "Little Saigon" - restaurants, shops and a large Vietnamese community. Vietnamese restaurants adjacent to Clarendon Metro like Queen Bee, and Cafe Dalat, closed in the end of 2005 and Little Viet Garden closed at the end of 2008. Nam Viet seems to be all that remains.http://www.ncvaonline.org/archive/HP612_Final_Project_Part1.pdf
Since the opening of the Clarendon Metro station
Clarendon (Washington Metro)
Clarendon is a side platformed Washington Metro station in the Clarendon neighborhood of Arlington, Virginia, United States. The station was opened on December 1, 1979, and is operated by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority...
in the early 1980s, Clarendon has become well-known for its eclectic mix of unique shops, trendy bars, and small restaurant
Restaurant
A restaurant is an establishment which prepares and serves food and drink to customers in return for money. Meals are generally served and eaten on premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services...
s. More recently, luxury apartments, office buildings and upscale chain stores have been constructed and gentrified
Gentrification
Gentrification and urban gentrification refer to the changes that result when wealthier people acquire or rent property in low income and working class communities. Urban gentrification is associated with movement. Consequent to gentrification, the average income increases and average family size...
the area, although some of the original businesses do remain. The former Sears store's parking lot and automotive department, briefly considered as a site for a Home Depot, was developed as a mixed residential/commercial project that now includes townhouses, luxury apartments, and national chain retail stores.
Clarendon today
Clarendon is also host to several local and County-wide events each year, including Arlington's Neighborhood Day parade (held the second Saturday in May), the Mardi Gras parade and Tax Blues Night. The largest annual event, "Clarendon Day," is held on a Saturday in mid-October and features four live music stages, local restaurant and coffee house booths, clothing, jewelry, antiques and collectibles sales, children's games and rides, an ice-cream eating contest and other local traditions. Additionally, each spring Clarendon is host to the CSC Invitational, one of the largest one-day professional and amateur bicycle races in the U.S.A farmer's market at Clarendon's Central Park is held Wednesday afternoons from Memorial Day until Labor Day and features organic produce, baked goods, plants and herbs, homemade soaps and other items for sale.
External links
- Clarendon Metro Station Area Data, Statistics and Development
- Arlington's Urban Villages - Clarendon
- Clarendon Alliance
- Clarendon Sector Plan
- Clarendon, Arlington, Virginia is at coordinates 38°53′09"N 77°05′49"W