Mapping Arlington’s History of Racially Restrictive Neighborhoods

Northern Virginia’s fraught history of racial discrimination is well-documented. Now, three researchers have mapped out just how prevalent “whites-only” housing was in the early 20th century—and how those exclusionary policies shaped the communities we live in today. Their hope is that their work will inspire current residents to investigate and learn from their property’s past.

Covenants preventing non-White people from owning or occupying land were once commonplace in this area. “[The practice] was pretty evenly spread across Arlington,” says Krystyn Moon, a researcher and a professor of history and American studies at the University of Mary Washington (UMW) in Fredericksburg. “More lots than not seem to have [had] them,” she says, citing well-known Arlington neighborhoods such as Bellevue Forest, Douglas Park, Arlington Forest and Addison Heights.

See more at arlingtonmagazine.com