Design and Construction of the Stratford Building

After World War II, the population of Arlington increased 137% by 1950 and was continuing to expand. More schools were needed. Stratford, named after Robert E. Lee’s birthplace in Virginia, was one of the twenty-four new schools built between 1946 and 1960. It was the first of four junior high schools constructed during the 1950s, followed by Williamsburg in 1954, Kenmore in 1956, and Gunston in 1959.

It was decided that the building would be built on Vacation Lane, the site of an old YMCA campus. Stratford Jr. High was designed by architect Rhees Evans Burket, Sr. in 1949 and constructed by the Wise Contracting Company in 1950. The building was built to house 1,000 students. The school was formally dedicated in 1951. The total cost of the project was $1,676,909, which raised controversy. The “tax payers wondered whether” Arlington can afford to continue to build “gold-plated schools.” (National Register of Historic Places- page 20).”

-Matt Beckwith