The News Media Alliance (formerly known as the Newspaper Association of America (NAA) until 2016; stylized as News/Media Alliance ) is a trade association representing approximately 2,000 news media organizations in the United States and in Canada . Member newspapers represented by the Alliance include large daily papers, non-daily and small-market publications, and digital and multiplatform products. The organization has organized and hosted mediaXchange, the newspaper industry's annual conference.
104-579: Headquartered in Arlington, Virginia , just outside Washington, D.C. , the News Media Alliance focuses on the foremost issues shaping the newspaper industry today. Among the association's top priorities are public policy and legal matters, as well as revenue and audience development for the broad range of products and digital platforms now offered by the newspaper industry. On June 1, 1992, seven newspaper-industry associations merged to create
208-466: A bay number (00 to 99), so office numbers range from 100 to 1099. These corridors radiate out from the central courtyard, with corridor 1 beginning with the Concourse's south end. Each numbered radial corridor intersects with the corresponding numbered group of offices. Corridor 5, for instance, divides the 500 series office block. There are a number of historical displays in the building, particularly in
312-629: A below ground rapid transit system, now the Washington Metro , which included two lines in Arlington. Initial plans called for what became the Orange Line to parallel I-66 , which would have mainly benefited Fairfax County . Arlington County officials called for the stations in Arlington to be placed along the decaying commercial corridor between Rosslyn and Ballston that included Clarendon. A new regional transportation planning entity
416-843: A cash contribution, in order to obtain the highest allowable amounts of increased building density in new development projects, most of which are planned near Metrorail station areas. A number of the county's residential neighborhoods and larger garden-style apartment complexes are listed in the National Register of Historic Places and/or designated under the County government's zoning ordinance as local historic preservation districts . These include Arlington Village, Arlington Forest, Ashton Heights, Buckingham, Cherrydale, Claremont, Colonial Village, Fairlington , Lyon Park, Lyon Village, Maywood, Nauck , Penrose, Waverly Hills and Westover. Many of Arlington County's neighborhoods participate in
520-584: A congressional hearing took place, organized by Representative Clifton Woodrum (D-VA), regarding proposals for new War Department buildings. Woodrum pressed Brigadier General Eugene Reybold , who represented the War Department at the hearing, for an "overall solution" to the department's "space problem", rather than building yet more temporary buildings. Reybold agreed to report back to Congress within five days. The War Department called upon its construction chief, General Brehon Somervell , to come up with
624-553: A continuous structure through all of the Pentagon's five floors, kept that section of the building from collapsing for 30 minutes—enough time for hundreds of people to crawl out to safety. The area struck by the plane also had blast-resistant windows—2 inches (5 cm) thick and 2,500 pounds (1,100 kg) each—that stayed intact during the crash and fire. It had fire doors that opened automatically and newly built exits that allowed people to get out. Contractors already involved with
728-654: A federal lawsuit to recover the property. James A. Garfield , a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives who was a brigadier general in the Union Army during the Civil War and later became the 20th President of the United States , was an attorney on Hunter's legal team. In 1870, the U.S. Supreme Court found that the U.S. federal government had illegally confiscated the property and ordered that it be returned to Hunter. The property included
832-770: A group of 20 demonstrators held a sit-in outside the Joint Chiefs of Staff's office, which lasted four days before they were arrested. In one of the better known incidents, on 21 October 1967, some 35,000 anti-war protesters organized by the National Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam , gathered for a demonstration at the Defense Department (the " March on the Pentagon "). They were confronted by some 2,500 armed soldiers. During
936-445: A lagoon was also created beneath the Pentagon's river entrance. To minimize steel usage, concrete ramps were built rather than installing elevators. Indiana limestone was used for the building's façade. Architectural and structural design work for the Pentagon proceeded simultaneously with construction, with initial drawings provided in early October 1941, and most of the design work completed by 1 June 1942. At times
1040-472: A landing dock was used until the late 1960s to ferry personnel between Bolling Air Force Base and the Pentagon. The main entrance for visitors is on the southeast side, as are the Pentagon Metro station and the bus station. There is also a concourse on the southeast side of the second floor of the building, which contains a mini-shopping mall. The south parking lot adjoins the southwest façade, and
1144-457: A long-range benefit. Citizen input and county planners came up with a workable compromise, with some limits on development. The two lines in Arlington were inaugurated in 1977. The Orange Line's creation was more problematic than the Blue Line's. The Blue Line served the Pentagon and National Airport and boosted the commercial development of Crystal City and Pentagon City. Property values along
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#17327725225571248-559: A memorial to Robert E. Lee. Confederate incursions from Falls Church , Minor's Hill and Upton's Hill , then securely in Confederate hands, occurred as far east as the present-day Ballston . On August 17, 1861, 600 Confederate soldiers engaged the 23rd New York Infantry Regiment near Ballston, killing a Union Army soldier. Later that month, on August 27, another large incursion of 600 to 800 Confederate soldiers clashed with Union soldiers at Ball's Crossroads, Hall's Hill, and at
1352-416: A model revitalization for older suburbs. In 1965, after years of negotiations, Arlington swapped some land in the south end with Alexandria, though less than originally planned. The land was located along King Street and Four Mile Run. The exchange allowed the two jurisdictions to straighten out the boundary and helped highway and sewer projects to go forward. It moved into Arlington several acres of land to
1456-633: A movement grew to return Alexandria to Virginia from the District of Columbia. From 1840 to 1846, Alexandrians petitioned Congress and the Virginia legislature to approve such a transfer, known as retrocession . On February 3, 1846, the Virginia General Assembly agreed to accept the retrocession of Alexandria if Congress approved. Following additional lobbying by Alexandrians, Congress passed legislation on July 9, 1846 , to return all
1560-579: A plan. Government officials agreed that the War Department building, officially designated Federal Office Building No 1, should be constructed in Arlington County, Virginia , across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C. Requirements for the new building were that it be no more than four stories tall, and that it use a minimal amount of steel to reserve that resource for war needs. The requirements meant that, instead of rising vertically,
1664-459: A result of the 1862 law, the U.S. federal government confiscated the property, and transformed it into a military cemetery. After the Civil War ended and his parents died, George Washington Custis Lee , the Lees' eldest son, initiated a federal legal action in an attempt to recover the property. In December 1882, the U.S. Supreme Court found that the U.S. federal government illegally confiscated
1768-548: A symbol of the U.S. military , the phrase The Pentagon is often used as a metonym for the Department of Defense and its leadership. The building was designed by American architect George Bergstrom and built by contractor John McShain . Ground was broken on 11 September 1941, and the building was dedicated on 15 January 1943. General Brehon Somervell provided the major impetus to gain Congressional approval for
1872-516: A total of 17.5 mi (28.2 km) of corridors, with a central five-acre (2.0 ha) pentagonal plaza. About 23,000 military and civilian employees work in the Pentagon, as well as about 3,000 non-defense support personnel. In 2001, the Pentagon was damaged during the September 11 attacks . Five Al-Qaeda hijackers flew American Airlines Flight 77 into the western side of the building, killing themselves and 184 other people, including 59 on
1976-480: A type of housing that was heavily used by Black residents. By October 1942, not a single rental unit was available in the county. In the 1940s, the federal government evicted black neighborhoods to build the Pentagon and make room for highway construction. In 1908, Potomac was incorporated as a town in Alexandria County, and was annexed by Alexandria in 1930. In 1920, the Virginia legislature renamed
2080-501: A vote of 958–48. The vote indicates the degree to which its only town, Alexandria, was pro-secession and pro-Confederate. Rural county residents outside Alexandria were largely Union loyalists and voted against secession. For the duration of the Civil War, the Confederacy claimed the whole of antebellum Virginia, including the more staunchly Union-supporting northwestern counties that eventually broke away and were later admitted to
2184-645: A white-collar transplant population mostly of Northern stock. While a population of white-collar government transplant workers had always been present in the county, particularly in its far northern areas and in Lyon Village, the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s saw the complete dominance of this group over the majority of Arlington's residential neighborhoods, and mostly economically eliminated the former working-class residents of areas such as Cherrydale, Lyon Park, Rosslyn, Virginia Square, Claremont, and Arlington Forest, among other neighborhoods. The transformation of Clarendon
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#17327725225572288-461: Is particularly striking. This neighborhood, a downtown shopping area, fell into decay. It became home to a vibrant Vietnamese business community in the 1970s and 1980s known as Little Saigon . It has now been significantly gentrified. Its Vietnamese population is now barely visible, except for several holdout businesses. Arlington's careful planning for the Metro has transformed the county and has become
2392-462: Is the eighth-most populous county in the Washington metropolitan area with a population of 238,643 as of the 2020 census . If Arlington County were incorporated as a city, it would rank as the third-most populous city in the state. With a land area of 26 square miles (67 km ), Arlington County is the geographically smallest self-governing county in the nation. Arlington County is home to
2496-553: Is water. It is the smallest county by area in Virginia and is the smallest self-governing county in the United States. About 4.6 square miles (11.9 km ) (17.6%) of the county is federal property. The county courthouse and most government offices are located in the Courthouse neighborhood. Since the late 20th century, the county government has pursued a development strategy of concentrating much of its new development near transit facilities, such as Metrorail stations and
2600-617: The Abingdon estate, which was located on and near the present Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport , when its owner failed to pay the estate's property tax in person because he was serving in the Confederate States Army . The government then sold the property at auction, and the purchaser leased the property to a third party. In 1865, after the Civil War ended, the Abingdon estate's heir, Alexander Hunter , filed
2704-671: The Alexandria Canal , which would have increased competition with their home districts. Congress also prohibited the federal government from establishing any offices in Alexandria, which made the county less important to the functioning of the national government. Alexandria was a center for the slave trade ; Franklin and Armfield Office in Alexandria was once an office used in slave trading. Rumors circulated that abolitionists in Congress were attempting to end slavery in
2808-489: The Boeing 757 airliner into the western side of the Pentagon at 9:37 am EDT as part of the September 11 attacks . The impact of the plane severely damaged the outer ring of one wing of the building and caused its partial collapse. At the time of the attacks, the Pentagon was under renovation and many offices were unoccupied, resulting in fewer casualties. Due to the renovation work, only 800 people were there, as opposed to
2912-638: The Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution , and Schar School of Policy and Government . Graduate programs, research, and non-traditional student education centers affiliated with the University of Virginia and Virginia Tech are also located in the county. Corporations based in the county include the co-headquarters of Amazon , several consulting firms , and the global headquarters of Boeing , Raytheon Technologies and BAE Systems Platforms & Services . Present-day Arlington County
3016-685: The County of Washington to the east of the Potomac River and the County of Alexandria to the west. It included almost all of present-day Arlington County and part of present-day Alexandria. The Act established the borders of the area that eventually became Arlington, but the citizens in Washington, D.C., were no longer considered residents of Maryland or Virginia, which represented the end of their federal representation in Congress. Prior to retrocession, residents of Alexandria County expected
3120-529: The Earl of Arlington , which was a plantation along the Potomac River , and Arlington House , the family residence on that property. George Washington Parke Custis , grandson of First Lady Martha Washington , acquired the land in 1802. The estate was later passed down to Mary Anna Custis Lee , wife of Robert E. Lee , a Confederate general during the American Civil War , and then later seized by
3224-640: The International Press Telecommunications Council . Arlington County, Virginia Arlington County , or simply Arlington , is a county in the U.S. state of Virginia . The county is located in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from Washington, D.C. , the national capital. Arlington County is coextensive with the U.S. Census Bureau 's census-designated place of Arlington. Arlington County
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3328-582: The Iraq War by marching from the Lincoln Memorial to the Pentagon's north parking lot. On September 11, 2001 , coincidentally the 60th anniversary of the Pentagon’s start of construction, five al-Qaeda affiliated hijackers took control of American Airlines Flight 77 , en route from Washington Dulles International Airport to Los Angeles International Airport , and deliberately crashed
3432-854: The Jefferson Memorial in Washington, and the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland , along with Wise Contracting Company, Inc. and Doyle and Russell, both from Virginia. In addition to the Hoover Airport site and other government-owned land, construction of the Pentagon required an additional 287 acres (1.16 km ), which were acquired at a cost of $ 2.2 million (equivalent to $ 35.2 million in 2023 ). The Hell's Bottom neighborhood, consisting of numerous pawnshops, factories, approximately 150 homes, and other buildings around Columbia Pike ,
3536-660: The Rosslyn neighborhood, was completed. At the time of completion, the Turnberry Tower was the tallest residential building in the Washington metropolitan area . In 2017, Nestlé USA chose 1812 N Moore in Rosslyn as their U.S. headquarters. In 2018, Amazon.com, Inc. announced that it would build its co-headquarters in the Crystal City neighborhood, anchoring a broader area of Arlington and Alexandria that
3640-692: The U.S. federal government in a tax sale. The property later became the Arlington National Cemetery . Present-day Arlington County and most of present-day Alexandria were ceded to the new federal government by Virginia . On July 16, 1790, the Congress passed the Residence Act , which authorized the relocation of the capital from Philadelphia to a location to be selected on the Potomac River by U.S. President George Washington . The Residence Act originally only allowed
3744-518: The "A" and "E" rings. Subterranean floors in the Pentagon are lettered "B" for Basement and "M" for Mezzanine . The concourse is on the second floor at the Metro entrance. Above-ground floors are numbered 1 to 5. Room numbers are given as the floor, concentric ring, and office number (which is in turn the nearest corridor number followed by the bay number). Thus, office 2B315 is on the second floor, B ring, and nearest to corridor 3 (between corridors 2 and 3). One way to get to this office would be to go to
3848-523: The "erection of the public buildings otherwise than on the Maryland side of the River Potomac." The initial shape of the federal district was a square, measuring 10 miles (16 km) on each side, totaling 100 square miles (260 km ). In 1791 and 1792, Andrew Ellicott and several assistants placed boundary stones at every mile point. Fourteen of these markers were in Virginia, and many of
3952-507: The 2018 ParkScore ranking of the top 100 park systems across the United States, according to the ranking methodologies of Trust for Public Land . The Pentagon The Pentagon is the headquarters building of the United States Department of Defense , in Arlington County, Virginia , across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C. The building was constructed on an accelerated schedule during World War II . As
4056-522: The Arlington County government's Neighborhood Conservation Program (NCP). Each of these neighborhoods has a Neighborhood Conservation Plan that describes the neighborhood's characteristics, history and recommendations for capital improvement projects that the County government funds through the NCP. Arlington is often spoken of as divided between North Arlington and South Arlington, which designate
4160-414: The District's territory south of the Potomac River back to Virginia, pursuant to a referendum, and President James K. Polk signed the legislation the next day. A referendum on retrocession was held on September 1 and 2, 1846, and the voters in Alexandria voted in favor of the retrocession by a margin of 734 to 116, while those in the rest of Alexandria County voted against retrocession 106 to 29. Pursuant to
4264-482: The District, an act that, at the time, would have further depressed Alexandria's slavery-based economy. At the same time, an active abolitionist movement arose in Virginia that created a division on the question of slavery in the Virginia General Assembly . Pro-slavery Virginians recognized that if Alexandria were returned to Virginia, it could provide two new representatives who favored slavery in
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4368-593: The Heliport. On the north side of the building, the Mall Entrance, which also features a portico, leads out to a 600 ft-long (180 m) terrace that is used for ceremonies. The River Entrance, which features a portico projecting out twenty ft (6 m), is on the northeast side, overlooking the lagoon and facing Washington. A stepped terrace on the River Entrance leads down to the lagoon; and
4472-576: The Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the four service branches each have their own ZIP Code. Until the Pentagon was built, the United States Department of War was headquartered in the Munitions Building , a temporary structure erected during World War I along Constitution Avenue on the National Mall . The War Department, which was a civilian agency created to administer the U.S. Army , was spread out in additional temporary buildings on
4576-442: The Metro lines increased significantly for both residential and commercial property. The ensuing gentrification caused the mostly working and lower middle class white Southern residents to either be priced out of rent or in some cases sell their homes. This permanently changed the character of the city, and ultimately resulted in the virtual eradication of this group over the coming 30 years, being replaced with an increasing presence of
4680-578: The NAA represented more than 1,600 newspapers in the U.S. and Canada. In 2016, the Newspaper Association of America changed its name to the News Media Alliance. After this change the Alliance no longer required that members produce a printed paper, with the organization now also accepting digital news sites as members. However, all members must still produce original journalism. In July 2017,
4784-767: The National Mall, as well as dozens of other buildings in Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia . In the late 1930s, during the Great Depression and federal construction program, a new War Department Building was constructed at 21st and C Streets in Foggy Bottom but, upon completion, the new building did not solve the department's space problem. It became the headquarters of the Department of State . When World War II broke out in Europe in 1939,
4888-528: The News Media Alliance and MPA – The Association of Magazine Media have merged to create the News/Media Alliance , "a nonprofit organization representing more than 2,000 news and magazine media organizations and their multiplatform businesses in the United States and globally." The News Alliance hosted a Support Journalism to advocate for higher quality of publishing. This event was in conjunction with over 80 participating publishers from across
4992-465: The News Media Alliance announced they were trying to get a limited antitrust exemption from Congress, to let them negotiate collectively with internet companies. In June 2019, in an apparent effort to promote this bill, now named the "Journalism Competition and Preservation Act", it published a report estimating that in 2018, Google had made around $ 4.7 billion from news content. The NMA's head David Chavern argued that part of that sum should be shared with
5096-1046: The Newspaper Association of America. The associations included the American Newspaper Publishers Association (founded in 1887), the Newspaper Advertising Bureau, the Association of Newspaper Classified Advertising Managers, the International Circulation Managers Association, the International Newspapers Advertising and Marketing Executives, the Newspaper Advertising Co-op Network, and the Newspaper Research Council. By 1997,
5200-587: The Pentagon , the world's second-largest office structure, which houses the headquarters of the U.S. Department of Defense . Other notable locations are DARPA , the Drug Enforcement Administration 's headquarters, Reagan National Airport , and Arlington National Cemetery . Colleges and universities in the county include Marymount University and George Mason University 's Antonin Scalia Law School , School of Business ,
5304-401: The Pentagon are Pentagon City and Crystal City , extensive shopping, business, and high-density residential districts in Arlington . Arlington National Cemetery is to the north. The Pentagon is surrounded by the relatively complex Pentagon road network . The Pentagon has six Washington, D.C., ZIP Codes despite its location in Arlington County, Virginia . The U.S. Secretary of Defense,
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#17327725225575408-657: The Pentagon victims of the September 11 attacks was opened directly southwest of the Pentagon. The Pentagon building spans 28.7 acres (116,000 m ), and includes an additional 5.1 acres (21,000 m ) as a central courtyard. Starting with the north side and moving clockwise , its five façade entrances are the Mall Terrace, the River Terrace, the Concourse (or Metro Station), the South Parking, and
5512-655: The President to select a location in Maryland as far east as the Anacostia River . President Washington, however, shifted the federal territory's borders to the southeast in order to include the existing town of Alexandria. In 1791, Congress , at Washington's request, amended the Residence Act to approve the new site, including the territory ceded by Virginia. The amendment to the Residence Act prohibited
5616-460: The September 11 attacks, a memorial of 184 beams of light shone up from the center courtyard of the Pentagon, one light for each victim of the attack. In addition, an American flag is hung each year on the side of the Pentagon damaged in the attacks, and the side of the building is illuminated at night with blue lights. After the attacks, plans were developed for an outdoor memorial, with construction underway in 2006. This Pentagon Memorial consists of
5720-401: The Union in 1863 as West Virginia . However, the Confederacy never fully controlled all of present-day Northern Virginia . In 1862, the U.S. Congress passed a law that required that obligated owners of property in districts where active Confederate insurrections were occurring to pay their real estate taxes in person. In 1864, during the Civil War, the U.S. federal government confiscated
5824-401: The United States. The Alliance previously partnered with the Newspaper National Network (now closed), a print and online advertising sales partnership, and the NAA Foundation , which emphasizes youth readership and the cultivation of a more diverse media work force. The Alliance is a member of the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers , the World Press Freedom Committee and
5928-439: The War Department rapidly expanded to deal with current issues and in anticipation that the United States would be drawn into the conflict. Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson found the situation unacceptable, with the Munitions Building overcrowded and department offices spread out in additional sites. Stimson told U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt in May 1941 that the War Department needed additional space. On 17 July 1941,
6032-473: The airplane and 125 in the Pentagon. It was the first significant foreign attack on federal facilities in the capital area since the burning of Washington during the War of 1812 . Following the attacks, the western side of the building was repaired, with a small indoor memorial and chapel added at the point of impact. The coordinated attacks, which killed 2,977 people, were the deadliest terrorist attack in history . In 2009, an outdoor memorial dedicated to
6136-482: The area Arlington County to avoid confusion with the City of Alexandria which had become an independent city in 1870 under the new Virginia Constitution adopted after the Civil War. In the 1930s, Hoover Field was established on the present site of the Pentagon; in that decade, Buckingham, Colonial Village, and other apartment communities also opened. World War II brought a boom to the county, but one that could not be met by new construction due to rationing imposed by
6240-451: The building was occupied. On the building's main concourse is the Hall of Heroes, opened 1968 and dedicated to the more than 3,460 recipients of the Medal of Honor , the United States' highest military decoration. The three versions of the Medal of Honor – Army, Sea Service (for the Marine Corps , Navy , and Coast Guard ), and Air Force (for the Air Force and Space Force ) – are on display along with
6344-418: The building would be sprawling over a large area. Possible sites for the building included the Department of Agriculture 's Arlington Experimental Farm , adjacent to Arlington National Cemetery , and the obsolete Hoover Field site. The site first chosen was Arlington Farms , which had an asymmetric, roughly pentagonal shape, so the building was planned accordingly as an irregular pentagon. Concerned that
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#17327725225576448-433: The construction work got ahead of the design, with materials used other than those specified in the plans. Pressure to speed up design and construction intensified after the attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941, with Somervell demanding that 1 million sq ft (9.3 ha) of space at the Pentagon be available for occupation by 1 April 1943. Chief architect Bergstrom resigned in April 1942 after he
6552-431: The counties with which they had previously been a part. Confusion between the city and the county of Alexandria having the same name led to a movement to rename Alexandria County. In 1896, an electric trolley line was built from Washington, D.C. through Ballston ; Northern Virginia trolleys were a significant factor in the county's growth. In 1920, the trolley was named Arlington County , named after Arlington House ,
6656-456: The county's right to an elected school board. The Arlington County Board , the ruling body for the county, appointed segregationists to the school board and blocked plans for desegregation. Lawyers for the local chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) filed suit on behalf of a group of parents of both white and black students to end segregation. Black pupils were still denied admission to white schools, but
6760-415: The county. In 2024, Arlington County circuit court judge David Schell overturned this zoning change after a small group of NIMBY homeowners filed a lawsuit against the county. Schell ruled that Arlington County did not study the potential impacts adequately. Arlington County is located in Northern Virginia and is surrounded by Fairfax County and Falls Church to the west, the city of Alexandria to
6864-688: The desegregation struggle in the county. During the 1960s, Arlington experienced challenges related to a large influx of newcomers during the 1950s. M.T. Broyhill & Sons Corporation was at the forefront of building the new communities for these newcomers, which would lead to the election of Joel Broyhill as the representative of Virginia's 10th congressional district for 11 terms. The old commercial districts did not have ample off-street parking and many shoppers were taking their business to new commercial centers, such as Parkington and Seven Corners. Suburbs further out in Virginia and Maryland were expanding, and Arlington's main commercial center in Clarendon
6968-407: The design requirements, Somervell required that the structural design accommodate floor loads of up to 150 psi (1,000 kPa), in case the building became a records storage facility after the end of the war. A minimal amount of steel was used as it was in short supply. Instead, the Pentagon was built as a reinforced concrete structure, using 680,000 tons of sand dredged from the Potomac River ;
7072-431: The elevation variations, and cast-in-place piles were used to deal with the soil conditions. Construction of the Pentagon was completed in approximately 16 months at a total cost of $ 83 million (equivalent to $ 1.33 billion in 2023 ). The building's approximate height is 77 ft (23 m), and each of the five sides is 921 ft (281 m) in length. The building was built wedge by wedge; each wedge
7176-611: The facility before its dedication, he ordered removal of the "Whites Only" signs in segregated areas. When the Governor of Virginia protested, Roosevelt's administration responded that the Pentagon, although on Virginia land, was under federal jurisdiction. In addition, its military and civilian federal employees were going to comply with the President's policies. As a result, the Pentagon was the only building in Virginia where racial segregation laws were not enforced (these laws were not overturned until 1965). The side-by-side sets of restrooms still exist, but have been integrated in practice since
7280-439: The former residence of Confederate General Robert E. Lee 's family at and around Arlington House , which had been subjected to an appraisal of $ 26,810, on which a real estate tax of $ 92.07 was assessed. Likely fearing an encounter with Union officials, Lee's wife, Mary Anna Custis Lee , the owner of the property, chose not pay the tax in person. She instead sent an agent on her behalf, but Union officials refused to accept it. As
7384-472: The gunpowder age . On 28 July, Congress authorized funding for a new Department of War building in Arlington , which would house the entire department under one roof. President Roosevelt officially approved the Hoover Airport site on 2 September. While the project went through the approval process in late July 1941, Somervell selected the contractors, including John McShain, Inc. of Philadelphia , which had built Washington National Airport in Arlington,
7488-652: The high-volume bus lines of Columbia Pike . Within the transit areas, the government has a policy of encouraging mixed-use and pedestrian- and transit-oriented development . Some of these " urban village " communities include: In 2002, Arlington received the EPA 's National Award for Smart Growth Achievement for "Overall Excellence in Smart Growth ." In 2005, the County implemented an affordable housing ordinance that requires most developers to contribute significant affordable housing resources, either in units or through
7592-645: The home of the American Civil War Confederate general Robert E. Lee later seized by the Union in a tax sale, is located on the grounds of Arlington National Cemetery . In 1900, Blacks were more than a third of Arlington County's population. Over the course of the century, the Black population dwindled. Neighborhoods in Arlington set up racial covenants and forbade Blacks from owning or domiciling property. In 1938, Arlington banned row houses,
7696-511: The lawsuit went before the U.S. District Court, which ruled that Arlington schools were to be desegregated by the 1958–59 academic year. In January 1959 both the U.S. District Court and the Virginia Supreme Court had ruled against Virginia's massive resistance movement, which opposed racial integration. The Arlington County Central Library's collections include written materials as well as accounts in its Oral History Project of
7800-659: The names of recipients. The Hall is also used for promotions, retirements, and other ceremonies. From 1998 to 2011, the Pentagon was completely gutted and reconstructed in phases to bring it up to modern standards and improve security and efficiency. Asbestos was removed and all office windows were sealed. As originally built, most Pentagon office space consisted of open bays which spanned an entire ring. These offices used cross-ventilation from operable windows instead of air conditioning for cooling. Gradually, bays were subdivided into private offices with many using window air conditioning units . With renovations now complete,
7904-497: The new building could obstruct the view of Washington, D.C., from Arlington Cemetery, President Roosevelt selected the Hoover Airport site instead. The building retained the pentagonal layout because Roosevelt liked it and a major redesign at that stage would have been costly. Freed of the constraints of the Arlington Farms site, the building was modified as a regular pentagon . It resembled star forts constructed during
8008-477: The new space includes a return to open office bays, and a new Universal Space Plan of standardized office furniture and partitions. During the late 1960s, the Pentagon became a focal point for protests against the Vietnam War . A group of 2,500 women, organized by Women Strike for Peace , demonstrated outside Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara 's office at the Pentagon on 15 February 1967. In May 1967,
8112-535: The news industry. As summarized by the Columbia Journalism Review , the accuracy of the NMA's claims was widely questioned, with "a number of prominent journalists and media-industry observers [scoffing] at both the number and the report itself". The Nieman Journalism Lab criticized the NMA's report as "based on math reasoning that would be embarrassing from a bright middle schooler". In July 2022,
8216-630: The present-day border between the Falls Church and Arlington. A number of soldiers on both sides were killed. However, the territory in present-day Arlington never fell under Confederate control and was not attacked. In 1870, the City of Alexandria was legally separated from Alexandria County by an amendment to the Virginia Constitution that made all Virginia incorporated cities (though not incorporated towns ) independent of
8320-490: The previous ruling on racial segregation Plessy v. Ferguson that held that facilities could be racially "separate but equal". Brown v. Board of Education ruled that "racially separate educational facilities were inherently unequal". The elected Arlington County School Board presumed that the state would defer to localities and in January 1956 announced plans to integrate Arlington schools. The state responded by suspending
8424-463: The project; Colonel Leslie Groves was responsible for overseeing the project for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers , which supervised it. The Pentagon is the world's second-largest office building , with about 6.5 million square feet (600,000 m ) of floor space, 3.7 million square feet (340,000 m ) of which are used as offices. It has five sides, five floors above ground, two basement levels, and five ring corridors per floor with
8528-606: The property without due process, and the property was returned to Custis Lee. In 1883, the U.S. Congress purchased the property from Lee for its fair market value of $ 150,000, whereupon the property became a military reservation and eventually Arlington National Cemetery . Although Arlington House is within the National Cemetery, the National Park Service presently administers the House and its grounds as
8632-613: The protest, a famous picture was taken, where George Harris placed carnations into the soldiers' gun barrels. The march concluded with an attempt to "exorcise" the building. On 19 May 1972, the Weather Underground Organization bombed a fourth-floor women's restroom, in "retaliation" for the Nixon administration 's bombing of Hanoi in the final stages of the Vietnam War . On 17 March 2007, 4,000 to 15,000 people (estimates vary significantly) protested
8736-546: The proximity of the federal capital to result in higher land prices and the growth of regional commerce. The county instead found itself struggling to compete with the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal in Georgetown , which was farther inland and on the northern side of the Potomac River next to Washington, D.C. Members of Congress from other areas of Virginia used their influence to prohibit funding for projects, including
8840-402: The referendum, President Polk issued a proclamation of transfer on September 7, 1846. However, the Virginia legislature did not immediately accept the retrocession offer. Virginia legislators were concerned that Alexandria County residents had not been properly included in the retrocession proceedings. After months of debate, on March 13, 1847, the Virginia General Assembly voted to formally accept
8944-412: The renovation were given the added task of rebuilding the sections damaged in the attacks. This additional project was named the " Phoenix Project " and was charged with having the outermost offices of the damaged section occupied by 11 September 2002. When the damaged section of the Pentagon was repaired, a small indoor memorial and chapel were added at the point of impact. For the fifth anniversary of
9048-551: The retrocession legislation. In 1852, the Virginia legislature voted to incorporate a portion of Alexandria County as the City of Alexandria, which until then had been administered only as an unincorporated town within the political boundaries of Alexandria County. During the American Civil War , Virginia seceded from the Union following a statewide referendum on May 23, 1861; the voters from Alexandria County approved secession by
9152-432: The second floor, get to the A (innermost) ring, go to and take corridor 3, and then turn left on ring B to get to bay 15. It is possible to walk between any two points in the Pentagon in less than ten minutes, though the optimal route may involve a brisk walk, routing through the open-air central courtyard, or both. The complex includes eating and exercise facilities as well as meditation and prayer rooms. Just south of
9256-465: The sections of the county that lie north and south of Arlington Boulevard . Places in Arlington are often identified by their location in one or the other. Much consideration is given to socioeconomic and demographic differences between these two portions of the county and the respective amounts of attention they receive in the way of public services. Arlington ranks fourth in the nation, immediately after Washington, D.C. , for park access and quality in
9360-484: The south of the old county line that had not been a part of the District of Columbia. On September 11, 2001 , five al-Qaeda hijackers deliberately crashed American Airlines Flight 77 into the Pentagon , killing 115 Pentagon employees and 10 contractors in the building, and all 53 passengers, six crew members, and five hijackers on board the aircraft. The coordinated attacks were the most deadly terrorist attack in world history. In 2009, Turnberry Tower, located in
9464-432: The southeast, and the national capital of Washington, D.C. to the northeast across the Potomac River , which forms the county's northern border. Minor's Hill and Upton's Hill represent the county's western borders. According to the U.S. Census Bureau , the county has a total area of 26.1 square miles (67.6 km ), 26.0 square miles (67.3 km ) of which is land and 0.1 square miles (0.3 km ) (0.4%) of which
9568-400: The state legislature. Some time after retrocession, during the American Civil War , this division led to the formation of West Virginia as a state, which comprised what then 51 counties in the northwest part of the state that favored abolitionism. Largely as a result of the economic neglect by Congress, divisions over slavery, and the lack of voting rights for the residents of the District,
9672-483: The stones are still standing. When Congress arrived in the new capital from Philadelphia , one of their first acts was to pass the Organic Act of 1801 , officially organizing the District of Columbia and placing the entire federal territory, including present-day Washington, D.C., Georgetown , and Alexandria under the exclusive control of Congress. The territory in the District was organized into two counties:
9776-512: The usual 4,500. Furthermore, the area hit, on the side of the Heliport façade, was the section best prepared for such an attack. The renovation there, improvements which resulted from the Oklahoma City bombing , had nearly been completed. It was the only area of the Pentagon with a sprinkler system, and it had been reconstructed with a web of steel columns and bars to withstand bomb blasts. The steel reinforcement, bolted together to form
9880-701: The war effort. In October 1949, the University of Virginia in Charlottesville created an extension center in the county named Northern Virginia University Center of the University of Virginia. This campus was subsequently renamed University College, then the Northern Virginia Branch of the University of Virginia, then George Mason College of the University of Virginia, and finally to its present name, George Mason University . The Henry G. Shirley Highway, also known as Interstate 395 ,
9984-412: The west side of the Pentagon faces Washington Boulevard . The concentric rings are designated from the center out as "A" through "E" with additional "F" and "G" rings in the basement. "E" Ring offices are the only ones with outside views and are generally occupied by senior officials. Office numbers go clockwise around each of the rings, and have two parts: a nearest-corridor number (1 to 10), followed by
10088-565: Was charged with unrelated improper conduct as president of the American Institute of Architects . David J. Witmer replaced Bergstrom on 11 April. Construction was completed 15 January 1943. Soil conditions of the site – on the Potomac River floodplain – presented challenges, as did the varying elevations across the site, which ranged from ten to forty ft (3 to 12 m) above sea level. Two retaining walls were built to compensate for
10192-416: Was cleared to make way for the Pentagon. Later, 300 acres (1.2 km ) of land were transferred to Arlington National Cemetery and to Fort Myer , leaving 280 acres (1.1 km ) for the Pentagon. Contracts totaling $ 31,100,000 (equivalent to $ 497 million in 2023 ) were finalized with McShain and the other contractors on 11 September 1941, and ground was broken for the Pentagon the same day. Among
10296-483: Was constructed during World War II , along with adjacent developments such as Shirlington , Fairlington , and Parkfairfax . In February 1959, Arlington Public Schools desegregated racially at Stratford Junior High School, which is now Dorothy Hamm Middle School, with the admission of black pupils Donald Deskins, Michael Jones, Lance Newman, and Gloria Thompson. The U.S. Supreme Court 's ruling in 1954, Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka , Kansas had struck down
10400-575: Was declining, similar to what happened in other downtown centers. With the growth of these other suburbs, some planners and politicians pushed for highway expansion. The Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956 would have enabled that expansion in Arlington. The administrator of the National Capital Transportation Agency, economist C. Darwin Stolzenbach, saw the benefits of rapid transit for the region and oversaw plans for
10504-534: Was formed, the Washington Metropolitan Transit Authority. Arlington officials renewed their push for a route that benefited the commercial corridor along Wilson Boulevard, which prevailed. There were neighborhood concerns that there would be high-density development along the corridor that would disrupt the character of old neighborhoods. With the population in the county declining, political leaders saw economic development as
10608-433: Was occupied as soon as it was completed, even as construction continued on the remaining wedges. The Pentagon was designed in accordance with the racial segregation laws in force in the state of Virginia at the time, with separate eating and lavatory accommodations for white and black persons. While the sets of lavatories were side by side, the dining areas for blacks were located in the basement. When Roosevelt visited
10712-520: Was part of Fairfax County in the Colony of Virginia during the colonial era . Land grants from the British Crown were awarded to prominent Englishmen in exchange for political favors and efforts as part of the county's early development. One of the grantees was Thomas Fairfax for whom both Fairfax County and the City of Fairfax are named. The county's name was derived from Henry Bennet ,
10816-482: Was simultaneously rebranded as National Landing . By 2020, single-family detached homes accounted for nearly 75% of zoned property in Arlington. In 2023, the Arlington County city council unanimously approved a modest zoning change to permit sixplexes (so-called " missing middle " housing) on lots previously zoned exclusively for single-family homes. The change reversed exclusionary zoning laws that were initially erected to keep low-income people and minorities out of
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