Arlington Hall Station, Main Building, 4000 Arlington Boulevard, Arlington, Arlington County, Virginia

Significance: The Main Building (Building 1) is associated with the development, between 1927 and 1942, of Arlington Hall as a women's junior college and, after 1942, as the headquarters of United States Army intelligence activities. Constructed in 1927, the Main Building was the first building at Arlington Hall intended to serve a strictly educational purpose. It originally housed administrative offices, reception rooms, classrooms, and dormitory rooms for the students. Within a year the college built a wing on the east side of the original building. Presently known as Building 1, the Main Building is representative of the development of women's post-secondary educational institutions in the first quarter of the twentieth century. In 1942 the United States Army took over Arlington Hall Junior College and established its Signal Intelligence Service (SIS) in the former school buildings. The Main Building, renamed Building 1 or the Headquarters Building, became the site for all SIS operations. After the completion of additional buildings on the site, Building 1 was devoted entirely to administrative functions. Since World War II Army intelligence agencies have continued to use Building 1. These activities are largely cloaked in secrecy.

Survey number: HABS VA-1270-A