The Hill & Black Arlington

For most of Arlington's first century, a roughly five-block rise northwest of downtown was the only part of the railroad town set aside for its African American residents. They called it The Hill, and from the 1890s onward the people who lived there built — out of necessity and pride — a complete community of their own: churches that doubled as schools, a commercial district of groceries and cafes, and the institutions that carried Black Arlington through the long decades of segregation. This short, respectful walk visits the heart of The Hill. You'll stand where the neighborhood's story is told in a state historical marker at a park named for a beloved principal, pass the churches that were its spiritual and social backbone, and reach the school that for generations was the place Arlington's Black children could call their own. It is a history that is both proud and painful, and it is best walked slowly, with attention to the lives it represents. Several of these are active churches and a working park — please be respectful of services and residents.