Shirlington Crest formerly Dunbar Mutual Homes Association
During World War Two the federal government created six segregated barracks style wartime emergency housing neighborhoods. One of these facilities was the 11-acre Paul Dunbar Homes complex in the Green Valley community, today called Nauck.
Here 86 African American households build a community. Following the war, Arlington officials wanted to tear the neighborhood down. Dunbar residents created the Dunbar Mutual Homes Association which they used to pool their resources, secure a loan, and turn Dunbar Homes into a community dedicated to providing affordable housing. Dunbar Homes was demolished in 2005 to make way for luxury town-homes.
Excerpted from lindseybestebreurtje.org/arlingtonhistory