{"nrhp_refnum":"95000927","name":"Cherrydale Volunteer Fire House","other_names":["VDHR No. 00-82"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"3900 N. Lee Hwy.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Arlington","county":"Arlington County","state":"VA","lat":38.88733833100008,"lon":-77.10697081899997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1995-07-28","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Social History"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-and-a-half-story brick fire house at 3900 North Lee Highway in the Cherrydale neighborhood of Arlington, Virginia, built in 1919 and finished by 1921. The architect and builder are unknown.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the fire house is tied to Cherrydale's 20th-century growth as a commuter suburb. It was the first permanent fire house in Arlington County and is home to the county's first officially organized fire department. It also serves as evidence of advances in firefighting technology and the emergence of firefighting as a discipline. It has long worked as a community center as well.","narrative":"Built in 1919 at 3900 North Lee Highway, this modest brick building served the Cherrydale neighborhood of Arlington County, Virginia, as a fire house, community center, movie theater and specialty shop. It has a hipped roof, gabled dormers, belt courses and jack-arched lintels, all in a Colonial Revival manner, and it keeps most of its early appearance despite some exterior changes and 1980s interior renovations. Residents paid for it through a community fund drive in which individual bricks were bought in the buyers' names, and the Ladies' Auxiliary held suppers, raffles and bazaars. Completed by 1921, it was the first permanent fire house in Arlington County and is now the oldest surviving one. It houses the Cherrydale Volunteer Fire Department, the first officially organized department in the county. It was listed for its link to Cherrydale's growth as a commuter suburb and its record of early firefighting. The upstairs hall is still used by the community.","period_of_significance":"1919","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Late 19th and 20th Century Revivals/Colonial Revival","criteria":["A"],"status_note":"Still in use as a fire station and community hall, with weekly bingo games held in the hall; interior renovated in the 1980s with minimal exterior alterations.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:52:00.851103-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/34/6796/41679634/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/95000927.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/95000927/bc3ae57842-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/95000927/bc3ae57842-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Daysleeper47","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cherrydale_Volunteer_Fire_House.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Daysleeper47</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cherrydale_Volunteer_Fire_House.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41679634","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cherrydale_Volunteer_Fire_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5092536"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/arlington-county/cherrydale-volunteer-fire-house-95000927/"}