Visit the Clarendon War Memorial

Tucked in plain sight at the convergence of Washington, Wilson, and Clarendon Boulevards in the heart of Clarendon, the Clarendon War Memorial is one of Arlington’s most historically layered public monuments — and one of its most traveled. Originally dedicated by the American Legion in 1932 at the intersection of Wilson Boulevard and Highland Street, the granite obelisk flanked by two historic cannons has since moved to Clarendon Circle, then to the Arlington Courthouse, and finally to its current home in Clarendon Central Park in 1986. It commemorates Arlingtonians who gave their lives in five conflicts: World War I, World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The memorial carries a powerful and sobering historical footnote: the World War I plaque lists the names of two Black soldiers — Arthur Morgan and Ralph Lowe — separately from the others, designated as “colored,” reflecting the racial segregation laws of 1930s Virginia. The names of those killed in World War II and later conflicts are not segregated. The county has debated the plaque over many years; Virginia law restricts alterations to erected memorials, and the decision has been made to leave it as a record of history rather than erase it. In 2019, a WWI plaque was briefly removed to correct an 88-year-old typo, and in the same year ten new historic marker panels were added to Clarendon Central Park to provide additional historical context. Admission is always free.