The Little Tea House
The Little Tea House Restaurant, located on Arlington Ridge Road, opened in 1920 and remained there until 1963 when it was demolished to make room for a high-rise apartment building. During its heyday, many famous people ate at the restaurant, including Eleanor Roosevelt, Amelia Earhart, and Oliver Wendell Holmes. Known for its lovely gardens and views, it was also one of the first places in Arlington where racially mixed groups could meet. Gertrude Crocker, who started the restaurant, was active in women's issues throughout her life and started the restaurant so she could be independent and her own "boss." When Mrs. Crocker leased, and later sold, the business to Gertrude Allison, it became known for a period as Allison's Little Tea House.
A postcard produced for the Little Tea House described the restaurant with this caption:
1301 South Arlington Ridge Road. Reminiscent of early American days with its brass and copper antiques, its shelves of rare old cook books, its tinkling Swiss music box, Allison's Little Tea House has been devoted for the past quarter of a century to the art of gracious eating.
The only remaining remnant of the Little Tea House that is visible today is a small stone tower located at the intersection South Lynn Street, now used as a small maintenance building for an adjacent swimming pool.
Read more about this topic: Arlington Ridge, Virginia
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