Crystal City in Arlington in Arlington County, Virginia — The American South (Mid-Atlantic)
Transportation
Photographed by Richard E. Miller, August 30, 2009
1. Transportation Marker
Near this point the Alexandria Canal crossed Four Mile Run, connecting Alexandria docks and railyards to Georgetown and western Maryland from 1843 to 1886. To the east were the turnpike and railroad. In 1896 the Washington, Alexandria and Mount Vernon Railway began to run electric trolleys beside the abandoned canal in this area, where it also built a car barn, repair shops and a power house. In 1906 the trolley line opened and operated Luna Park west of the tracks, providing a ballroom, roller coaster, water slide and other amusements. Parts of this complex survived until 1993, when the trolley barn was torn down after serving as a bus garage since the 1930s. Eads Street traces the canal and trolley line.
Erected by Arlington County.
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Entertainment • Railroads & Streetcars • Waterways & Vessels. A significant historical year for this entry is 1843.
Location. 38° 50.579′ N, 77° 3.273′ W. Marker is in Arlington, Virginia, in Arlington County. It is in Crystal City. It is at the intersection of Eads Street and South Glebe Road (Virginia Route 120), on the right when traveling north on Eads Street. Marker is at the corner (just inside the fence of the bus maintenance facility),
this page online
Regionally, this marker is in the Washington Metropolitan Area and in Northern Virginia. It is also in the American South, specifically in the Upper South, and in the Mid-Atlantic. Globally, it is in the North Atlantic Region, North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture, one of the original Thirteen Colonies, one of the Confederate States of America, and the Antebellum South.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Four Mile Run and Flooding / The Restoration Project / I Live Here...Can You Find Me? / Public Art (approx. 0.2 miles away); History at Four Mile Run Park (approx. Ό mile away); Dr. Betty Louise Josephson King (approx. 0.3 miles away); Four Mile Run Park Wetland (approx. 0.4 miles away); Mount Vernon Trail (approx. 0.4 miles away); Fort Scott (approx. 0.4 miles away); Ruby Tucker (approx. half a mile away); Shirley N. Tyler (approx. half a mile away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Arlington.
Additional commentary.
1. New fence in front of marker
It is now difficult to read this marker. The marker is behind a new security fence that is higher and denser than was the former fence that the photographs on this page show.
— Submitted March 2, 2014, by Bernard H. Berne of Arlington, Virginia.
Photographed by Richard E. Miller, August 30, 2009
2. Transportation Marker at Eads and Glebe
Photographed by Richard E. Miller, August 30, 2009
3. Intersection of Eads Street (once the Alexandria Canal) and So. Glebe Rd.
- marker is below the light post, across So. Glebe Rd., at the far right.
Photographed by Roberto Bernate, January 27, 2019
4. Transportation Marker Behind Fence Obscuring View
Credits. This page was last revised on February 1, 2023. It was originally submitted on September 15, 2009, by Richard E. Miller of Oxon Hill, Maryland. This page has been viewed 2,247 times since then and 33 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on September 15, 2009, by Richard E. Miller of Oxon Hill, Maryland. 4. submitted on March 24, 2021, by Roberto Bernate of Arlington, Virginia. • Craig Swain was the editor who published this page.
