watch ice melt in Alexandria

Sometimes the frenzied, red-hot nightlife of Rosslyn becomes exhausting.  If you would like just to chill quietly, you might go to Gatsbys Tavern in well-known, historic Alexandria.  A notable feature of the 1792 City Tavern is a subterranean, commercial-sized ice well.  A worthy project to restore this ice well is currently underway.  In conjunction with the ice well restoration project, a block of ice has been placed in the ice well.  Visitors to Gatsbys Tavern can watch the ice melt and attempt to guess the date on which the ice will be fully melted.  If you're not feeling active enough to travel to Alexandria, you can from the comfort of your couch enjoy watching the ice melt though an excellent ice well webcam.

Like Buffalo soldiers fighting fiercely or Orville Wright struggling to stay aloft, an ice well is an important part of our region's history.    

Rosslyn has long been an attractive place

Rosslyn's colorful history is beginning to attract the attention it deserves. Just today ARLnow had a front-page article on Rosslyn.  The Ode Street Tribune's Managing Editor was concerned about exaggeration and bias in that article (Rosslyn is a "ho-hum collection of office towers and apartment buildings"?!@#!), but quickly realized that Ode Street Tribune readers are fully trained to deal with exaggeration and bias.   Hence we recommend without reservation ARLnow's article on Rosslyn as well as its many comments, including one quite relevant to the article.

celebrating Rosslyn's renaissance

A new exhibit celebrating Rosslyn's past and future opened this week at Artisphere.  Rosslyn has a distinguished past: Orville Wright's pioneering flight, Buffalo soldiers at Fort Myer, and the roots of Arlington's black history, to mention just some of it.  But well-balanced reporting should also mention Rosslyn's historical difficulties.  As this exhibit forthrightly notes:

In years past, Rosslyn has been the place people love to hate.  In the late 1800's, farmers crossing Aqueduct Bridge from Georgetown into Virginia had to hire armed guards to protect them against marauders and thieves lurking in the Rosslyn darkness below.  Early in the 20'th century, an Arlington County supervisor, Crandall Mackey, led a righteous band of Rosslyn-haters to burn down the saloons and bawdy-houses besmirching our fair county's reputation.  In the 1940's and '50's, it was an industrial site, replete with unsightly pawnshops, oil tanks and lumber yards.

With the help of Rosslyn Renaissance and other local civic organizations, Rosslyn has become a center of office work, art, fashion, and clean living.  Rosslyn residents have deep appreciation for their location.  Among those surveyed, 100% believe that Rosslyn's best days are still yet to come.

Artiphere's exhibit, Rosslyn: A Work in Progess, will be on display in the WIP Gallery through March 13.

commander leading walking tour of historic Fort Myer

Update:  Due to a tornado watch, this walking tour has been rescheduled for the next day, Thursday.  Other arrangements as described below.

This Wednesday at 6pm, Colonel Coffman, Commander of Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall, will lead a walking tour of historic Fort Myer.  Arlington County neighbors are invited to gather in the Old Guard Lounge, on the basement level of the the Fort Myer's Officers' Club, for a "meet and greet" from 5:30 to 6:00pm.  Dress is casual and a cash bar will be available.  The walking tour will start promptly at 6pm, rain or shine.  If you're interested in attending, confirm a space with Leah Rubalcaba at 703 696-3283, email leah.rubalcaba at us.army.mil

Fort Myer has some major history.  Beginning in 1887, it housed the best of the nation's calvary, including the fabled Buffalo soldiers.   The first military test flight of a powered aircraft occurred at Fort Myer, as did the first powered-aviation fatality.  The U.S. Army Band and the U.S. Army Chorus are stationed at Fort Myer.  So too is the Army's oldest infantry unit, the 3rd U.S. Infantry, also known as The Old Guard.

Yup, Rosslyn has everything from the avant-garde to the Old Guard.  Come see a great part of Rosslyn -- historic Fort Myer -- this Wednesday evening.

Rosslyn defends Washington

In the trying times of 1861, President Abraham Lincoln ordered the Union Army to use Rosslyn to defend Washington.  Recognizing the future importance of Ode Street, army generals wisely chose to build a large fort, called Fort Corcoran, at the current location of Ode Street (the piece in north Rosslyn). 

In addition, a smaller fort, called Fort Haggerty, was built beside the historic Georgetown-(Rosslyn-)Alexandria road.  The Georgetown-(Rosslyn-)Alexandria road connected key settlements just outside the old city of Washington. The present site of Fort Haggerty is the intersection of Kent St. and Wilson Blvd., only about a hundred yards from the soon-to-be opened Artisphere.

historic Rosslyn

From a historical marker in Gateway Park, Rosslyn:

Rosslyn traditionally has served as a principal gateway to Arlington and to Virginia.  Captain John Smith explored this area in 1608.  Awbrey's ferry carried travelers across the Potomac for more than a century in the 1700s and 1800s.  The aqueduct bridge opened in 1843, linking the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal with the Alexandria Canal.  One pier of that bridge is visible today near the Virginia shore.  In the 1860s, William and Carolyn Ross had a farm in this area which they named Rosslyn. During the Civil War, federal forces also occupied the region, and Forts Bennett, Haggerty, and Corcoran were built nearby as part of the defensive line around the capital.  In the 1900s, Rosslyn was one of the several areas along the waterfront controlled by a lawless element.  In 1904, members of the Good Citizens' League succeeded in closing down the gambling houses and saloons, restoring peace and safety to Rosslyn.  In 1923, the Francis Scott Key Memorial Bridge replaced the aqueduct bridge.  Throughout the early 1900s Rosslyn evolved into a commercial and industrial area.  The 1960s marked the beginning of Rosslyn's transformation into a major urban center.

Annie King Philips, a life-long DC resident, a superb collage artist, and the creator of the Thurgood Marshall call box art, told me that, as a girl in the 1930s, she and her friends enjoyed riding the trolly out to Rosslyn.  But they wouldn't get off the trolly in Rosslyn, because they considered Rosslyn to be too dangerous and disreputable.