File:Looking W across Columbia Island down Memorial Drive at Arlington National Cemetery - 1930s.jpg

English: Standing on Columbia Island in the Potomac River, facing west across the Boundary Channel Bridge and down Memorial Drive to Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington County, Virginia, in the United States. The Hemicycle, the ceremonial entrance to the cemetery, can be seen at the end of the road. Arlington House, the Robert E. Lee National Memorial, is visible on the hill above. The road turning to the left leads to the Mount Vernon Memorial Parkway (now known as the George Washington Memorial Parkway). Behind the camera is Arlington Memorial Bridge.

Columbia Island was greatly expanded and heightened by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers between 1925 and 1928. As part of the Arlington Memorial Bridge project, Boundary Channel Bridge was constructed across the Boundary Channel between 1927 and 1930. The road connecting Columbia Island to the parkway in the south was constructed in 1932. Another park of the bridge project, the Hemicycle and Memorial Drive, began construction in 1924 and were finished in 1932. The Hemicycle was turned into the Women in Military Service for America Memorial in 1995, and dedicated in 1997.

Arlington House began construction in 1802, and the wings were finished in 1804. The center portion of the mansion began construction in 1815 and was finished a year later.

The Temple of Fame can be seen in the trees just to the left of Arlington House. This structure was ordered built by Brigadier General Montgomery C. Meigs, U.S. Army Quartermaster General, in 1874. Its columns were made from columns taken from the Patent Office, then undergoing renovation. The roof was made of tin molded to look like marble. The cornice of the roof was inscribed with the names of famous Union generals in the American Civil War. The Temple of Fame was constructed in the garden on the south side of Arlington House. It was torn down in 1967.

This image was taken after 1932, when the Boundary Channel Bridge and Memorial Drive were completed, but before September 1940, when a major traffic circle was added to Columbia Island between the memorial columns.