800 S Buchanan St
Arlington, VA, USA

National Register of Historic Places -Barcroft Community House

Statement of Significant:

The Barcroft Community House is historically significant for its association with the 20th century development of the community of Barcroft, one of Arlington County's earliest suburban subdivisions. Since its construction in 1908, the Community House has been the single most important structure in community affairs, serving as the school, church, and community center. Historically referred to as the Barcroft School House, the building is believed to be the only one-room wooden frame school building remaining in Arlington. The modest building continues to serve the community as a meeting hall and church. Therefore, the Barcroft Community House meets Criteria A and C of the National Register of Historic Places.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
ARLINGTON COUNTY AND ITS TWENTIETH CENTURY DEVELOPMENT
During the years before the turn-of-the-century Arlington County maintained its rural character. Few formalized services or community provisions such as water and sewer systems enhanced the quality of life usually associated with suburban areas. Public utilities such as gas and electricity were not available to the majority of Arlington County residents until 1910. Much of the County was still rural farmland, and its residents continued to transport produce along dirt roads into the District of Columbia for distribution.

The commencement of the 20th century heralded major civic, social and governmental improvements throughout the county. By the 1920s the character of the County had dramatically changed with rapid subdivision and development of suburbs such as Ballston, Cherry dale, and Barcroft. This suburban development is evidenced by the increase in the county's population, from 6,430 in 1900 to 16,040 in 1920. During the 1930s and 1940s, large numbers of houses and garden apartments were constructed, throughout the county as Arlington kept pace with the expansion of Federal activities and the demand for housing throughout the metropolitan area.

The rapid expansion and enormous development activity of the Northern Virginia suburbs in the 1960s and 1970s transformed the rural, community-based character of Arlington County to a predominately transient urban/suburban area. The resultant population increase and augmented traffic in the residential and commercial sections of the County have strained the cohesiveness and capacity of the

County's communities as well as public services. Many of the County's civic associations and community groups have banded together to ensure that important neighborhood structures are maintained as figurative points of reference within these rapidly changing environments.

Despite the overall change in the County's historic context over the last 100 years, the neighborhood buildings such as the Cherry dale Fire Station, the Barcroft Community House and the Clarendon School, retain their land use context and the communities have remained very much the same. Consequently, these structures have achieved significance and importance in their communities as the social relationship between the buildings and their neighborhoods has gotten stronger over time.