Frank Lyon (December 30, 1867 – November 29, 1955) was an American lawyer, newspaper publisher and land developer in

Arlington County, Virginia Arlington County is a County (United States), county in the Virginia, Commonwealth of Virginia. The county is situated in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from the Washington, D.C., District of Co ...

. He developed the land in modern-day

Clarendon, Virginia Clarendon is an urbanized, upper-class neighborhood in Arlington County, Virginia, located between the Rosslyn area and the Ballston area. It was named after Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon, a leading statesman and historian of the English Ci ...

, Lyon Park and Lyon Village.

Early life and education

Frank Lyon was born on December 30, 1867, in

Petersburg, Virginia Petersburg is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 33,458. The Bureau of Economic Analysis combines Petersburg (along with the city of Colonial Heights) with Din ...

to Mary Margaret (née Springs) and John Lyon. His father was a lawyer in Petersburg and served in the office of the Advocate General of the Confederacy during the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

. The family moved to

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

in 1875. He was educated in public schools in Richmond and graduated high school in 1884. He attended Richmond College for 18 months. Later when Lyon moved to

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, he attended

Georgetown University Law School The Georgetown University Law Center (Georgetown Law) is the law school of Georgetown University, a private research university in Washington, D.C. It was established in 1870 and is the largest law school in the United States by enrollment and t ...

. He graduated with a

Bachelor of Laws Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

in 1889 and a

Master of Laws A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is an advanced postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in a related subject. In mos ...

in 1890. He was also a member of

Beta Theta Pi Beta Theta Pi (), commonly known as Beta, is a North American social fraternity that was founded in 1839 at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. One of North America's oldest fraternities, as of 2022 it consists of 144 active chapters in the Unite ...

Career

Early career

After Richmond College, Lyon worked as a clerk for the Richmond and Danville Railroad Company in

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...

. He later transferred to Richmond and worked as a private secretary to a railroad official. In 1886, the Southern Railroad was formed and Lyon moved to

to work in its offices. On June 1, 1887, Lyon became a private secretary to Walter L. Bragg of Alabama, a commissioner of the

Interstate Commerce Commission The Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) was a regulatory agency in the United States created by the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887. The agency's original purpose was to regulate railroads (and later trucking) to ensure fair rates, to eliminat ...

(ICC). He then became a stenographer with the ICC and remained there until 1899. After studying at Georgetown, Lyon served from 1900 to 1902 as a stenographer for the Constitutional Convention of Virginia.

Law and public career

Around 1902, Lyon began to practice law in

Alexandria County, Virginia Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandria ...

. Between 1901 and 1906, Lyon started to publish the ''Alexandria County Monitor'' and continued with the paper until 1928. The paper was used to combat gambling and liquor in Rosslyn. Lyon argued legal cases against the open sale of liquor and open saloons in Alexandria County. He also participated in the raids in Rosslyn and Jackson City in May 1904 with

Crandal Mackey Crandal Mackey (December 15, 1865 – March 31, 1957), sometimes spelled Crandall, was an American lawyer and newspaper publisher. He served as the commonwealth attorney of Alexandria County, Virginia from 1904 to 1916, and led raids in Rosslyn, ...

. In 1907, Commissioner

Franklin K. Lane Franklin Knight Lane (July 15, 1864 – May 18, 1921) was an American progressive politician from California. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as United States Secretary of the Interior from 1913 ...

of the ICC appointed Lyon to the semi-judicial position of examiner. In 1912, he resigned this position to practice exclusively before the ICC in matters concerning steamship lines and coal companies.

Land development career

Lyon then became a law partner with Robert W. Moore. He became involved in the development of Moore's Addition to Clarendon and then bought out Moore's interest in the property and started his own development firm. When Lyon sold land in Clarendon, he would have the buyer agree that "liquor shall never be sold or dispensed on the property or from any building erected thereon, nor shall said property be used for the conducting of any business that constitutes a nuisance to other lot owners in the subdivision, such as a soap factory or like industry." His development firm bore his own name until 1920 when he partnered with C. Walton Fitch. Then, the firm was called Lyon and Finch. Later it was renamed to Lyon Properties Inc. In 1919, Lyon Properties started developing Lyon Park, a project to develop a 300-acre tract of land into 1,200 building lots in

Arlington County Arlington County is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The county is situated in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from the District of Columbia, of which it was once a part. The county is ...

. The project was completed around 1922. Following the development of Lyon Park, Lyon acquired rights to the tract adjoining Clarendon. In 1923, the firm started development of Lyon Village, a 191-acre tract of land. The properties sold well until the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

in the 1930s. With the depression, Lyon and Fitch dissolved and Fitch moved to Chicago. The firm of Lyon Properties Inc. would continue into the 1940s and the Lyon Village Shopping Center was managed by the Lyon family after Frank Lyon's death. Lyon used techniques to keep

people of color The term "person of color" ( : people of color or persons of color; abbreviated POC) is primarily used to describe any person who is not considered "white". In its current meaning, the term originated in, and is primarily associated with, the U ...

from settling in his developments. These practices included

restrictive covenant A covenant, in its most general sense and historical sense, is a solemn promise to engage in or refrain from a specified action. Under historical English common law, a covenant was distinguished from an ordinary contract by the presence of a se ...

s with buyers to prevent people of color from living on the land, except as servants. He also required housing built on the land he sold to be expensive and designed the streets with cars in mind, not for pedestrians. In 1933, Lyon turned down a nomination on the

Prohibition Party The Prohibition Party (PRO) is a political party in the United States known for its historic opposition to the sale or consumption of alcoholic beverages and as an integral part of the temperance movement. It is the oldest existing third party ...

ticket for Lieutenant Governor of Virginia.

Personal life

In 1889, Lyon and Georgie Hays Wright moved to Alexandria County and built a small house on Lubber Run near

Ballston, Virginia Ballston is a neighborhood in Arlington County, Virginia. Ballston is located at the western end of the Rosslyn-Ballston corridor. It is a major transportation hub and boasts one of the nation's highest concentrations of scientific research agenci ...

. They were married on August 5, 1890, near

Manassas, Virginia Manassas (), formerly Manassas Junction, is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States. The population was 42,772 at the 2020 Census. It is the county seat of Prince William County, although the two are separate jurisdi ...

. She was the daughter of John V. Wright, a member of the

U.S. Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is Bicameralism, bicameral, composed of a lower body, the United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives, and an upper body, ...

, member of the

Confederate States Congress The Confederate States Congress was both the provisional and permanent legislative assembly of the Confederate States of America that existed from 1861 to 1865. Its actions were for the most part concerned with measures to establish a new nat ...

, colonel in the

Confederate States Army The Confederate States Army, also called the Confederate Army or the Southern Army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fighting ...

and circuit judge of

Columbia, Tennessee Columbia is a city in and the county seat of Maury County, Tennessee. The population was 41,690 as of the 2020 United States census. Columbia is included in the Nashville metropolitan area. The self-proclaimed "mule capital of the world," Colum ...

. Together, they had three children who survived childhood and one son who died from water pollution: * Georgie Hays – married

Jacob L. Devers Jacob Loucks Devers (; 8 September 1887 – 15 October 1979) was a general in the United States Army who commanded the 6th Army Group in the European Theater during World War II. He was involved in the development and adoption of numerous w ...

* John – lieutenant in the 29th Infantry Division of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. He died on October 16, 1918. John Lyon is remembered on the War Memorial in Clarendon Circle. * Margaret Springs – married Charles W. Smith, a business associate of Frank Lyon. Their daughter Mary Bittinger and grandson Charles Bittinger III continued the property management business in Arlington County In the early 1900s, the Lyons moved to the "Ohmstead" House on Kirkwood Road in Arlington County. In 1907, Lyon built a house he called Lyonhurst (now Missonhurst). The family lived there until 1923. In 1923, Lyon moved to

Langley, Virginia Langley is an unincorporated community in the census-designated place of McLean in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. Langley is often used as a metonym for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), as it is home to its headquarters, the Geor ...

and bought 169 acres of land and built a stone house called Ballantrae on the land. Due to the depression, Lyon had to sell Ballantrae and instead moved into Hickory Hill, a house on the same tract of land he purchased in Langley.

Death

Lyon died on November 29, 1955, at the

Georgetown University Hospital MedStar Georgetown University Hospital is one of the Washington, D.C. area's oldest academic teaching hospitals. It is a not-for-profit, acute care teaching and research facility located in the Georgetown neighborhood of the Northwest Quadrant ...

in Washington, D.C. He was buried at

Blandford Cemetery Blandford Cemetery is a historic cemetery located in Petersburg, Virginia. The oldest stone, marking the grave of Richard Yarbrough, reads 1702. It is located adjacent to the People's Memorial Cemetery, a historic African-American cemetery. Alt ...

Legacy

Lyon Hall, a restaurant in Clarendon, was named after Frank Lyon. He built the

Streamline Moderne Streamline Moderne is an international style of Art Deco architecture and design that emerged in the 1930s. Inspired by aerodynamic design, it emphasized curving forms, long horizontal lines, and sometimes nautical elements. In industrial design ...

building in the mid-1940s. It was previously called the Dan Kain Building, and the restaurant took over the space in 2010.

References

External links

Architectural drawings for four-family apartment houses for Frank Lyon, Lyon Village, Arlington, Virginia
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lyon, Frank 1867 births 1955 deaths People from Petersburg, Virginia People from Arlington County, Virginia Georgetown University Law Center alumni People of the Interstate Commerce Commission Virginia lawyers 19th-century American lawyers 20th-century American lawyers American temperance activists Real estate and property developers