The Arlington Historical Society has unveiled the first-ever interactive “Storymap” showcasing photos of how Arlington looked in 1920, the year a state law changed its name from Alexandria County to Arlington.
Coordinated by local columnist, AHS member and history enthusiast Charlie Clark and numerous volunteers, the Storymap shows homes, schools, churches, government buildings, stores and transportation infrastructure that would have been encountered by an Arlingtonian traveling local streets in 1920.
The Storymap uses the software created by Esri of Redlands, Calif., to present vintage and modern photographs in a format that allows the user to adjust sizes and zoom in on locations. “The map allows you to envision the scenes in their exact locations,” said AHS member Clark, who writes the “Our Man in Arlington” column for the News-Press. “And we went out of our way to include homes of all income levels in all neighborhoods, not just the storied and fancier ones.”
The Storymap was designed by Arlington-based Blue Raster LLC. It can be found on the website of the nonprofit Arlington Historical Society’s website at https://arlingtonhistoricalsociety.org. The project is part of a broader county effort that will unfold over the next year to commemorate the name change by revisiting Arlington’s rich history over the past century.
