On this day in Arlington history: November 19, 1914 Washington newspapers report that the recently deceased Samuel S. Burdett left in his will, the sum of $3,000 to establish a library in the Glencarlyn community. This will be the county’s first library.
Samuel Burdett was a lawyer from Iowa. Early in the Civil War, he enlisted in the Union army as a private and was promoted steadily to captain. After the war, he moved to Missouri to practice law and was elected to Congress. After two terms, he resumed his law practice in Missouri but in 1874, he moved to the DC area and settled in Glencarlyn.
In 1887, General Burdett and his partner, William W. Curtis bought land in Glencarlyn for $8,000. The two formed the Carlin Springs Cooperative Association, dividing the land into small affordable lots. Together the two men are credited for establishing the neighborhood.
When he died in 1914, Burdett bequeathed his personal library, land, and money for the construction and maintenance of a library in Glencarlyn. The library opened in 1922 to become Arlington’s 1st public library. In 1963, the current building was built to replace the original building. Some volumes of the original Burdett collection are preserved and on display in the Glencarlyn Branch of the Arlington County Library system
