Tanner Amphitheater
| James Tanner Amphitheater | |
|---|---|
| United States | |
Looking east at the dais and colonnade of Tanner Amphitheater
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| For James R. Tanner, disabled American Civil War veteran and civil servant | |
| Unveiled | May 29, 1873 |
| Location |
38°52′49″N 77°04′26″W / 38.880255°N 77.073878°WCoordinates: 38°52′49″N 77°04′26″W / 38.880255°N 77.073878°W near Arlington County, Virginia, U.S. |
The James Tanner Amphitheater is a historic wood and brick amphitheater located at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington County, Virginia, in the United States. The amphitheater, which was originally unnamed, was constructed in 1873 and served as the cemetery's main public meeting space until the completion of Memorial Amphitheater in 1920. The amphitheater was informally called the Old Amphitheater from 1920 to May 2014, when it was renamed the James R. Tanner Amphitheater in honor of James R. Tanner, a disabled American Civil War veteran and influential veterans' organization leader.
In 1778, John Parke Custis purchased an 1,100-acre (450 ha) tract of forested land on the Potomac River north of the town of Alexandria, Virginia. This land became the Arlington Estate. John Custis died in September 1781, and in 1799 his son, George Washington Parke Custis ("G.W.P.")—foster-grandson of George Washington—inherited the site. G.W.P Custis moved onto the estate in 1802, and between 1802 and 1818 constructed Arlington House. Custis also extensively developed the estate grounds. Much of the steep slope to the east of the house became a cultivated English landscape park, while a large flower garden with an arbor was constructed and planted south of the house.
To the west of Arlington House, tall grass and low native plants led down a slope into a natural area of close-growing trees the Custises called "the Grove." Located about 60 feet (18 m) west of the flower garden, "the Grove" contained tall elm and oak trees which formed a canopy. An informal flower garden was planted beneath the trees and maintained by the Custis daughters. It is not clear when "the Grove" began to be developed, but it was under way by at least 1853.
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