Crandal Mackey

Crandal Mackey was born on December 15, 1865, in Shreveport, Louisiana to Thomas Jefferson Mackey.[2][3] His father was a lawyer, captain of engineers during the Civil War and judge of a circuit court. Later, the family moved to Chester, South Carolina.[3]

Mackey attended the North Carolina Military Institute.[2] Mackey occasionally worked in cotton fields while growing up in South Carolina.[3] The family moved to Washington, D.C. when he turned 18.[3] He attended Randolph Macon College and participated in football and boxing sports while there. He graduated from the Georgetown University Law School with a law degree in 1889.[2][3]

In 1885, Mackey was appointed a clerk in the U.S. Department of War. He then became an examiner of pensions and started to practice law.[2] On June 21, 1898, Mackey was appointed a captain of the 10th U.S. Volunteer Infantry Regiment during the Spanish–American War. After the war, he returned to practicing law in Washington, D.C.[2][3]

Mackey was elected as the commonwealth attorney of Alexandria County, Virginia by one vote in 1904.[1] He ran as the anti-gambling candidate against Dick Johnson.[3] He assumed office in January 1904 and served until 1916, replaced by Frank L. Ball.[3][4] While commonwealth attorney, he led raids on gambling dens and houses in Rosslyn, Jackson City and St. Asaph's in May 1904.[1][3][4][5][6] Frank Lyon was also a member of the raids.[7] The raids caused gambling houses in Rosslyn and Jackson City to shutter, including the poolroom at St. Asaph Racetrack.[2][8]

Mackey was opposed to the county manager style of government that Arlington County imposed in 1930.[3] He later ran for the U.S. Congress in 1930, on a platform of states' rights and calling for the repeal of the 18th Amendment in favor of statewide control of liquor. He lost the Democratic primary to Howard W. Smith.[3][5]

Mackey was an editor and publisher of a newspaper in Arlington called The Chronicle.[3][4] He was one of the charter members of the Arlington County Bar Association.[9] He was also a director of the Arlington National Bank and the National Mortgage and Investment Company. He was one of the organizers of the Arlington Trust Company and was a member of the Board of Trustees of George Washington University.[3]

Mackey married Mary, and had seven children, including Argyle, Joseph, Darlington, Thomas, Alice and Virginia.[5][3][4] Mackey lived on a hill above Rosslyn called "Mackey's Hill".[3]

Mackey moved to Alexandria County around 1896.[2] Mackey and his family were in an automobile accident in 1912. Mackey jumped out of his car before it fell over an embankment.[10] He later broke his hip in an automobile accident in 1951.[3]

Mackey died on March 31, 1957. He was buried at Arlington National Cemetery.[3][4]

Virginia would later assume statewide control over liquor, a stance that Mackey supported later in his career.[5]

Arlington County named a 70,000 square foot park after Mackey on the block where Mackey shut down gambling houses. In 2014, Crandal Mackey Park was replaced by the Central Place housing development.[11]