Shuter's Hill

Shuter's Hill, a high bluff overlooking King Street, is probably named for the a local resident named Shuter who lived nearby in the 1740s. The site has been visited by people for more than 5,000 years. In fact, archaeologists have uncovered evidence of Native Americans living on the site, vestiges of a late 18th century plantation, a mid-19th century estate, and Union troops from Civil War times., Mills Lee Dulany Plantation 1780s-1850s , John Mills, a merchant, constructed an elegant mansion on the hilltop in 1781. By 1800, the property was sold to the Lee, and then Dulany, family. Benjamin Dulany, a wealthy planter, used the property as a summer home. City archaeologists have excavated the plantation laundry. The mansion burned in 1842 and was replaced by several smaller houses in subsequent years., Civil War 1861-1865 , During the Civil War, Shuter's Hill was a focal point of military activities, when Alexandria served as a center for Union troop supplies, transport, and medical care. Two fortifications were built atop Shuter's Hill--Fort Dahigren and Fort Ellsworth -- part of a series of 160 forts and batteries built to protect the nation's capital, known as the Defenses of Washington., Twentieth Century , The Wright brothers flew over Shuter's Hill after taking off from nearby Fort Myer in 1909., Construction of the George Washington National Memorial began in 1922, and the official dedication took place a decade later. The building is now open for public tours, and the view from the Memorial's observatory deck is one of the best in the Washington, D.C. area.