It is time for another monthly column that I have been calling my “Front-Page News” columns, where I choose a specific time from the past and review the news events that folks in Arlington might have been reading about (and living through). I think I will make a change and refer to these columns as my “Wayback Machine” columns.

First, I feel it probably is necessary to explain to some of you the genesis of that phrase. Let me start with a little history from the 1960s. The Wayback Machine was a term used for a plot device from the 1960s cartoon series “The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends.” Each episode included a segment called “Peabody’s Improbable History.” The Wayback Machine was used by the main characters, Mr. Peabody and Sherman, to travel back in time and visit important events in history. The cartoon was very popular with us young Boomers in the 1960s.

So, let’s jump into the Wayback Machine and visit Arlington in March 1930, when its citizens were starting to feel the effects of the stock market crash from a few months earlier. Though they did not know it at the time, this was the beginning of the Great Depression. Let me share some stories from the Washington Evening Star that month, starting with international news. One subheadline, in an article about Britain’s response to the “business slump,” stated that “Signs of Despair Are Absent as Optimistic Leaders Predict Return to Economic Heights.”

On the national front, a headline addressed the economic issues in America: “350 Jobless Seek Legislators’ Help for All of Nation.” An “Unemployed Conference” drew delegates from all over the nation, organized by the International Brotherhood Welfare Association. They met with Sen. Wagner of New York regarding proposed legislation to help the unemployed. Meanwhile, the future of Prohibition was being debated in Congress and throughout the nation, with the “drys” and “wets” both weighing in. Locally, civic leader (and former state senator) Frank Ball was a “dry” advocate seeking to retain Prohibition. In his failed 1929 campaign for Congress, it is thought that his position was a factor in his loss to Judge Howard Smith. By 1933, Prohibition was fully repealed.

On the local front, the Star had a stinging editorial denouncing a recent County Board rezoning, calling it “An Ill-Timed Threat.” The board rezoned property to “light industrial” in the general area immediately north of the Highway Bridge (now known as the 14th Street bridges). There was a federal bill drafted to turn that area — around Columbia Island and part of what is now the Pentagon — into a park. The Star suspected the county action would torpedo the existing bill and then result in a new airport being built in that area. Fortunately, cooler heads prevailed, and ultimately all parties agreed to place the airport in the area south of the bridge, at Gravelly Point.

The Star covered local news carefully, as seen in its coverage of activity in the area known as Virginia Highlands. The civic association had a special meeting with the county engineer to discuss obtaining its water supply from the District, which a few years earlier had begun supplying water to Arlington over Chain Bridge and into North Arlington. It was also noted that, due to the success of dances sponsored by the Jefferson District Fire Department, dances would continue each Saturday night at the Jefferson Auditorium. The Star even covered bowling news, reporting that Oscar Swain’s 180 game, rolled at Clarendon Boulevard, was the best ever recorded in organized competition in Arlington.

Serious political news came from local representatives to the General Assembly. Two bills for referendums had been passed: (i) to incorporate as a city; and/or (ii) to move to a commissioner or county manager form of government. In the next few months, there was a flurry of activity that resulted in the November vote to adopt the county manager form of government. Ninety-six years later, the County Board is now reviewing the legacy of that moment from the Wayback Machine of 1930.