Evening star., 1927-05-29

borhood used to pick up pailfuls of
bullets there with which to make
slugs to shoot birds. There were two
houses near the town site-the Mes.
meth farmhouse and the home of
Clarence Welch.
BY 1900 the foundations Of the
present Clarendon had been laid. The
Spanish-American War had produced
a suburban boom somewhat Of the
proportions, than that which came
later to the environs of Washington
with the World War. A few Gov.
ernment clerks began to take up
homes in Clarendon. Other subdi-
visions were started in the neighbor.
hood, most of the land titles coming
from DR.. A. A. Z. Taylor of st.
Louis, who had come into the prop.
erty through marriage.
1t Is difficult to draw a line today
between Clarendon and Ballston.
They run into each other. For all
practical purposes there is one
thickly settled community running
from Fort Myer Heights through
Ballston, with its business center in
Clarendon. Here is the post office, a
branch of the Washington office, with
city mail delivery, all the chain stores,
ment and five or six churches.
Throughout this section there is
the constant ring of the carpenters
hammer as new homes are construct.
ed on new subdivisions. All these
clusters Of population converge on
Clarendon, which will be the mercan-
tile and financial district of the city
of the future. Here Is located the
county Chamber of Commerce. which
Is striving to advertise throughout the
United States the advantages of the
area for homes and for small manu-
featuring.
Fight for Recognition.
Just down the road, a part Of the
same general community, Is Fort
Myer Heights, where Is located the
Arlington County Courthouse. When
the territory was ceded back to Vir-
ginia from the District of Columbia,
as Alexandria County, the courthouse
was located at Alexandria. But the
city was an entirely separate political
unit. 1t was particularly CALLING to
the county residents that they should
be obliged to go out Of their own ter
ritory to transact public business.
Alexandria had no particular desire
to thwart their wishes. Mr.. Douglas
was a leader in the fight for the re.
moval of the courthouse, which re-
suited in victory through bill passed
by the Virginia Legislature 80 years
ago.
The matter of location was a bone
OF some contention. Ordinarily the
courthouse becomes the nucleus of
the largest and most thriving town in
the county. This is particularly true
In Virginia and Maryland.
1t finally was located on the rtwly
established subdivision of Fort Myer
Heights. Land was donated by Dan
lei X. Truman and George p. Robin.
son. But the courthouse acted more
or less as boomerang. Fort Myer
Heights did not become a thriving
town. Instead the business center
grew up a mile farther on the road.
at Clarendon. 1t brought only
string of lawyers offices. Suburban
ties did not fancy the neighborhood Of
the Jail.
The new and thriving communities of
Lyon Park and Ashton Heights, taking
their names from the respective de.
velopers, form integral parts of the
suburban development of which Clar-
endon is the business center. Clar.
endon's great rival is Cherrydale, on
the Lee Highway, with Lee Heights
and Lyon Village from which it's
stores can draw trade and it's churches
membership. Cherrydale, established
about 1900, is the first born child of
the Washington & Old Dominion Rail.
road. 1t sprang up on the first avail.
able site beyond the District line on
the Falls Church branch.
Wild Cherry Trees.
AT first the new community grew
very rapidly. The railway sold COM
mutation tickets, six for a quarter,
from the Fairfax County line to
Georgetown, where free transfers were
Issued to the Capital Traction system.
This policy almost spelled ruin for real |
estate developers in other sections of |
the county. They could offer no such !
cheap transportation to home seekers |
and their lots went long without pur- |
chasers.
The name "Cherrydale. according |
to the older Inhabitants, has a real |
local significance. When the develop. |
ment started there were large patches |
OF Wild cherry trees in the vicinity and |
the earlier settlers planted small Or
chards or cultivated varieties from the |
sale Of which they increased their |
meager incomes as Government clerks. |
Through some popularity of the soil |
1t was especially adapted for cherries. |
In common with other Arlington /
County towns Cherrydale and the con.
tiguous territory has seen its great de-
velopment since the World War. 1t /
now has a bank, three churches and
every variety of store. 1t enjoys city
mail delivery.
This Ballston- Clarendon Cherrydale
district Is the hub of Arlington
County. 1t will be the business center
Of the coming city. The otner villas ges