South Post Fort Myer was on the verge of being completed in these 5 photos taken by the Signal Corps in 1941. At this time, and for most of the 1940's, the area was known as Arlington Cantonment, later renamed South Post Fort Myer, with some referring to it as 'South Area'. ABOVE LEFT: This overview shows a very large portion of the post, looking northeast. The lane in the foreground is in Arlington Cemetery and you can see a bit of Arlington Ridge Road inbetween the lane and the new barracks. Columbia Pike is to the right, out of the picture. The nearest barracks in the photo were finished by 1941 and were already razed by the early 1960s, though those seen in the background made it to the early 70's. As for many photos taken on the post, the Washington Monument can be seen in the background. ABOVE RIGHT: An exact opposite view, this time looking southwest toward the cemetery, and you can see the 'wireless radio towers' on North Post in the background. These were installed around 1915 and taken down a few decades later and reinstalled in Annapolis. Apparently, the first usage of the word 'radio' was when these towers were built, and you can find several more views of the towers on postcards for sale on eBay. More on this for a future posting, with more exact text. Regarding the lane in the foreground- if you walk to the left for one block, you would come to the South Post pool, then the tunnel leading under Washington Boulevard to the Mall Entrance of the Pentagon. Today, both of these views would show gravestones only, and, this exact area has just been in the news recently (June 2010) as this location is 'Sections' 59 and 60 of Arlington Cemetery, where mismarked graves have been discovered.

THREE PHOTOS BELOW: Not sure what the structure in the lower left was used for, but the barracks in the other two photos are nearly ready to house those attached to Headquarters Company, with duty in The Pentagon.