Arlington Hall, Government complex in Arlington County, United States.
Arlington Hall is a government complex in Arlington County, Virginia, comprising multiple buildings with Georgian Colonial architecture and red brick construction. The site now houses the Foreign Service Institute, which provides training for United States diplomatic personnel.
In 1942, the United States Army commandeered the former women's college campus to establish a critical cryptographic operations center during World War II. The facility became home to hundreds of codebreakers and intelligence staff who worked to intercept and decode enemy communications.
The Signal Intelligence Service employed numerous female cryptanalysts who decoded Japanese diplomatic messages during World War II. These women operated behind the scenes, their contributions to the war effort remaining largely hidden from public view for decades.
The complex is located on Arlington Boulevard and accessible by public transportation, though visitors should check current access policies beforehand. The site is expansive, so planning which areas to explore helps make the most of a visit.
Construction workers discovered an unexploded Civil War Parrott rifle shell during maintenance work in 2008. The discovery revealed that the site still held remnants from more than a century of earlier military conflict.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 60,000 contributors worldwide.
