Old Town in Alexandria, Virginia — The American South (Mid-Atlantic)
Alexandria Waterfront
Alexandrians created waterfront land by banking out the shoreline using timber cribbing and old ships including three discovered on this site.
For over two centuries this land embodied Alexandria's working waterfront with an evolving mix of residential, commercial and industrial buildings.
Early Alexandrians built warehouses and commodious wharfs to ship tobacco, wheat and flour to other states and ports throughout the Atlantic.
Goods arrived by ship from around the world and were sold in Alexandria and across Northern Virginia.
Merchants, tradesmen & laborers - free and enslaved - lived & worked here.
Ship Building Bakery Shops & Taverns Flour Mill Lumber Yard Steam Pumps Engines Monoplanes
Merchants & seamen brought commerce to the site.
1700s New land was created at the river front.
Carpenters, sailmakers & coopers plied their trades.
1700s: Enslaved people lived & worked here.
1751: Thomas Fleming - shipbuilding
1791: Andrew Jamieson - bakery
New railroad lines supported commerce here.
1800s wharves & piers extended farther into the river.
Tailors, weavers, sailors, & shoemakers lived here.
1800smillers & coopers worked in the flour mill.
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1854: Pioneer Mills - flour
1856: Pioneer Mills Cooper Shop - barrels
1892: W.S. Moore Sons Machine Shop & Foundry
Ship builders, machinists & mechanics worked here.
1900s Industrialization transformed the waterfront.
Buildings covered archeological sites below.
1900s warehouses replaced factories & homes.
1917: Alexandria Aircraft Corporation - hydroplanes
1937: Southern Iron Works - structural steel
1939: Robinson Terminal - paper warehouses
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: African Americans • Agriculture • Colonial Era • Industry & Commerce • Settlements & Settlers • Waterways & Vessels. A significant historical year for this entry is 1751.
Location. 38° 48.081′ N, 77° 2.369′ W. Marker is in Alexandria, Virginia. It is in Old Town. It is on Pioneer Mill Way just east of The Strand, in the median. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 3 Duke St, Alexandria VA 22304, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in the Washington Metropolitan Area and in Northern Virginia. It is also in the American South, specifically in the Upper South, and in the Mid-Atlantic. Globally, it is in the North Atlantic Region, North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture, one of the original Thirteen Colonies, one of the Confederate States of America, and the Antebellum South.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Shipbuilding at Point Lumley (within shouting distance of this marker); Shipyard Park (about 400 feet away, measured in a direct line); Waterfront Archaeology
Credits. This page was last revised on January 28, 2023. It was originally submitted on August 21, 2022, by Devry Becker Jones of Washington, District of Columbia. This page has been viewed 679 times since then and 26 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. submitted on August 21, 2022, by Devry Becker Jones of Washington, District of Columbia.
