Walk the Earthworks and Discover Arlington’s Hidden Civil War History

Arlington was the front line of the Civil War from the moment Virginia seceded in April 1861, and the county’s landscape still bears the physical marks of that history in ways that most residents have never seen. Fort C.F. Smith Park contains the best preserved ruins of the 22 forts that were located in Arlington during the Civil War, including the bombproof, the fort well, the North magazine, and 11 of the 22 original gun emplacements   — all set within a beautiful 19-acre park with a lush tree canopy, open meadow, ornamental peace garden, and the restored Hendry House available for weddings and events. Built in 1863 as a second-generation fort to bolster the existing defenses of the nation’s capital, Fort C.F. Smith was named to honor Major General Charles Ferguson Smith — one of Ulysses S. Grant’s favorites, who died from a leg infection that same year  , never seeing the ultimate Union victory his strategic thinking helped make possible.

The Civil War Visitor Center — open 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays from April through fall — features displays about Union soldiers and the Defenses of Washington, artifacts from archaeological studies at Forts Ethan Allen and C.F. Smith, and replica Civil War uniforms children can try on  . The park sits at 2411 N. 24th Street in a quiet residential neighborhood near Interstate 66. Fort C.F. Smith is the most accessible of Arlington’s Civil War sites, but it’s far from the only one: Fort Ethan Allen near Chain Bridge, Fort Bennett Park overlooking the Potomac and Key Bridge, and Fort Corcoran in Rosslyn all preserve pieces of Arlington’s role in the broader ring of 68 fortifications that encircled Washington during the war  . Virginia Civil War Trails has erected historic markers at each site. Together, they form one of the most rewarding and underappreciated historic itineraries in the county. Free admission; learn more at arlingtonva.us/fort-cf-smith.