A History of the Donaldson Run Neighborhood

Military Road was built by the Union Army to connect them with the fortifications to the south protecting the Capital. 

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Military Road reportedly was built in three days through what was described as broken and densely wooded country. An etching of the Civil War period shows Military Road as a muddy rutted swath. Most of the trees in the area were cut down to give a clear line of sight to the defenders and to remove cover for attacking enemies. Much topsoil washed away and erosion gullies soon formed. The origin of Military Road is noted on the historical marker in front of the Cherrydale Library. 

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As the war dragged on, the encamped soldiers destroyed woods, barns, furniture and homes for firewood. The end of the war left the inhabitants exhausted and impoverished. Although many of the locals had supported the South, some of the Yankee soldiers stayed and married local women. 

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In the next decade newcomers trickled into the area and civilization slowly took hold. A little community grew up on the periphery of our neighborhood where Glebe Road crossed what is now Lee Highway. The first public school that served our neighborhood’s children was built in 1871 on Glebe Road. It was a one-room school, with one schoolmaster and about ninety pupils of assorted ages. It was replaced by a larger building with several teachers in 1885. A general store was located next door to the school. 

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Gentry, Trolley Lines and the Beginning of a Commuter Community (1890-1929) 

After the war, the Commonwealth and local government were weak and unable to confront the gambling and criminal element which operated along the riverfront. Rosslyn was such a rough area that Donaldson Run area farmers returning from market in Georgetown often traveled through it in armed convoys. The election of a reform government in 1902 brought better public order and encouraged wealthy Washingtonians, in search of cooler locations for summer homes, to consider our area. Among these was Dr. Presley M. Rixey, the personal physician of President William McKinley, who was with McKinley when he was shot in 1901. Rixey later became Surgeon General and a member of Theodore Roosevelt’s inner circle. Rixey bought the property on the periphery of our neighborhood now occupied by Marymount University and the Washington Golf and Country Club. When the Washington and Old Dominion Railway (trolley) line was built along what is now Old Dominion Drive, Rixey built a whistle stop for his family and guests. It was “the flossiest on the line” with a sign in foot high brass letters that said, “Rixey Station”.  Roosevelt was a frequent guest and often went riding in the surrounding woods. 

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Rixey had an African-American valet named Richard Wallace, who had been a chauffeur for the Roosevelt family. Wallace discovered the abandoned Birch cabin (now at the intersection of North 26th and North Wakefield Streets) and asked Rixey if he could fix it up and use it as his cottage. Rixey agreed. In 1908, Rixey sold 75 acres to the Washington Golf and Country Club, one of the earliest golf clubs in the Washington area. When the new golf course was being laid out, Richard Wallace, who was assisting the surveyors, realized that one of the greens was to be located at his cottage. Wallace moved the markers so that his cottage would be spared. Rixey realized what Wallace had done but did not move the markers back. Rixey later deeded that portion of the estate to Wallace. Had Wallace not moved the marker, a chunk of our neighborhood would now be part of the golf course. The gnarled apple trees in front of the now remodeled cabin are said to have been planted by Wallace. 

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Development of the electric trolley lines, which ran from Rosslyn through Cherrydale and out to Great Falls, brought other touches of upscale urbanization to North Arlington. Frank Lyon, a newspaper publisher who later developed Lyon Park and Lyon Village, built a handsome residence in 1907 at what is now 4651 North 25th Street. This residence, called Lyonhurst, was the first home in the County to use electricity, which was tapped from the trolley line which ran along what is now Old Dominion Drive. Since 1946, when the Lyonhurst property became the headquarters of the Immaculate Heart Mission Fathers, it has been known as Missionhurst. The Joseph Tabor Johnson House at 4014 Lorcom Lane dates from 1907. Dr. Johnson named his residence Lorcom Farm, a combination of the names of his two sons Loren and Bascom, for whom he also built homes nearby. One of these later became the site of a Washington YWCA summer camp. The H-B Woodlawn School now occupies that site. The street name Vacation Lane has come down from the days of the summer camp. 

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Growth of the Federal City during the First World War brought more newcomers. Better roads and the advent of private automobiles soon began to shape North Arlington. The scattering of rural communities and summer residences was on its way to becoming a place of suburban neighborhoods whose residents lived in Arlington year round and commuted across the river to work. A public school opened in Cherrydale in 1916.

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A significant milestone was the inauguration in 1925 of Washington-Lee High School, built about half a mile south of our neighborhood. Before then, County students wishing to attend public high schools commuted to the District of Columbia.

Despite the urbanization on its periphery, our immediate neighborhood still retained its rural character. Except for Military Road and Lorcom Lane few roads cut across our neighborhood. Yet change was coming. In 1927, a public water supply connecting Arlington with the District of Columbia water system was turned on. Prior to that Arlington’s water had come from springs and wells. Among those who campaigned most avidly for the water bond were real estate developers who were buying farms and properties in our neighborhood.

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The Depression and World War II (1929-1946)

The Great Depression caused a dramatic fall in real estate values and the postponement of the subdivision developments envisioned for our neighborhood. The Washington Golf and Country Club lost members, operated in the red and came very close to bankruptcy and closure.

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In 1932 the County Board began the rationalization of street names. Prior to the renaming of the streets, each neighborhood named its own streets. As a result there were eleven Washington Streets, ten Arlington Streets and five Lee Streets scattered about the County. The committee undertaking the task divided the streets into a north and a south area divided by Arlington Boulevard. Streets paralleling the Boulevard were numbered from the Boulevard. Perpendicular streets were named alphabetically starting in the east, beginning with a one- syllable, then a two-syllable, and finally a three-syllable name. This rational system would result in strange anomalies when it was applied in the 1950s to the winding streets of our neighborhood's new subdivisions. A zoning ordinance, the County's first, was adopted in 1930, which would greatly influence the development of Donaldson Run. The plan was part of a larger effort to guide the growth of the Washington metropolitan region that was championed by the National Capital Park and Planning Commission. Adopting the ideas of landscape architects like Frederick Law Olmstead, it encouraged residential subdivision planning which would plat streets to natural topography rather than to a grid. While a few earlier subdivisions in Arlington, such as Lyon Village, include some curvilinear roads with the development, their reliance on topography to guide street layout is minimal. Donaldson Run's street layout takes full advantage of the hilly terrain, unusual for an Arlington subdivision at that time. 

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Although the subdivision was now platted, new house construction was very slow throughout the 1930s. An exception was the complex of a dozen houses on winding streets and wooded lots called Beechwood Hills, developed in the mid- 1930s. A stand of native beech trees there has been preserved. Beechwood Hills is the oldest subdivision in the neighborhood. It is an example of garden city urban design concepts that were popular during the 1930s. During World War II home building came to a standstill.

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1946 to the Present

After the war, our neighborhood as we know it today developed swiftly. Housing starts burgeoned and the hillsides soon were covered by one-family suburban homes. The principal builder was Marvin T. Broyhill and Sons. Although the Broyhills built a wide variety of houses, the typical Broyhill house was a three- bedroom rambler which sold for about twenty thousand dollars. Most of the houses in the neighborhood today are ramblers built in the 1950s. The biggest problem confronted by Broyhill builders was our extremely hilly terrain. Moving the earth around cost more than the construction of the houses. The Broyhill houses had the reputation of being well constructed and were often purchased sight unseen. Most featured all electric GE kitchens, with the latest appliances including dishwashers.​​