The open vistas, recreational fields, or fishing pier may be what drew you to Jones Point Park, but archaeological and historical evidence shows that this land has been attracting people for a multitude of reasons during the last 9,000 years. Over . . . — — Map (db m127766) HM
According to Lord Baltimore's land grant from King Charles I in 1632, Maryland owns the "River of Pattowmack...unto the further Bank of said River." But with Virginia's shoreline constantly shifting how could the border be fixed? In 1929, a survey . . . — — Map (db m60179) HM
The Wilkes Street Tunnel was part of the Orange & Alexandria Railroad, founded in 1848 to promote trade with western Virginia. The Orange and Alexandria inaugurated its track in Alexandria on May 7, 1851 with a run to the north end of Union Street . . . — — Map (db m72346) HM
The Wilkes Street Tunnel was part of the eastern division of the Orange & Alexandria Railroad, founded in 1848 to promote trade with western Virginia. The Orange & Alexandria inaugurated its track in Alexandria on May 7, 1851 with a run from the . . . — — Map (db m143378) HM
Now a city park, Windmill Hill got its name from the windmill built here on Miller's Cliff by inventor John R. Remington in 1843. With soothing winds and a grand view of the busy port, the hill was the scene of fashionable promenades and numerous . . . — — Map (db m143377) HM
Here, on April 16, 1789 George Washington was for the first time publicly addressed as President of the United States the first and greatest of many distinguished successors in that high and honorable office. This tablet was erected in commemoration . . . — — Map (db m156476) HM
In honor of all from the City of Alexandria who served and died during World War I
Robert Adams
George Anderton
Stanley Bernard
Herbert Bernhard
William Bradley
Bernard Brock
William Brown
Christopher Cloxom . . . — — Map (db m129195) WM
In May 2000, this rudder was recovered along the banks of the Potomac River near Jones Point. Measuring over 22 feet high and 4.5 feet wide, the rudder is of the variety used to outfit steel cargo ships constructed between 1918 and 1920 at the . . . — — Map (db m61952) HM
In the 20th century, Jones Point continued to be shaped by the changing needs of the federal government. With proximity to the capital and access to land and river transportation, the peninsula was chosen as the site for several military . . . — — Map (db m62030) HM
A small group of Christian believers established Zion Baptist Church in 1864 on the corner of Wolfe and South Union Streets, northeast of the Wilkes Street Tunnel. At the end of the Civil War, Zion Baptist was one of five African American Baptist . . . — — Map (db m239753) HM
Buried beneath this canal stone lies Lock #3 of the Alexandria Canal, which connected the Harbor of Alexandria with the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal in Georgetown, D.C. between 1843 and 1886. After Crossing the Potomac on an aqueduct bridge near the . . . — — Map (db m80668) HM
The Alexandria Canal officially opened on December 2, 1843. The seven-mile long canal extended from the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal in Georgetown to Alexandria's ports on the Potomac River. Boats brought coal, limestone, iron ore, port and . . . — — Map (db m147123) HM
This building, originally built as a bottling plant for the Robert Portner Brewing Company in 1912, was purchased along with the land surrounding it by the American National Red Cross in the spring of 1941. It served as the organization's Eastern . . . — — Map (db m134971) HM
This area, called "Cross Canal," was a neighborhood of black residents who settled across from the canal shortly after the Civil War. The canal, located just north of this marker, extended from the Potomac River to Washington Street, thence north to . . . — — Map (db m129476) HM
During the Civil War, thousands of African Americans fled to the Union-controlled city, either moving into government-run freedmen camps; settling into historically black neighborhoods such as the Bottoms, or seeking out affordable housing on the . . . — — Map (db m237644) HM
Populated almost exclusively by Black residents, the racially segregated neighborhood of The Berg evolved by necessity to have its own set of dwellings, amenities, and social institutions. Houses like the "five frame shanties" that stood on this . . . — — Map (db m204836) HM
Neighborhoods function as support networks and knit people together. For Alexandria's Black residents in the late-19th and early-20th centuries, establishing neighborly bonds was essential for survival within a racist, segregated society.
In . . . — — Map (db m204833) HM
During the Civil War, an influx of self-emancipated slaves (often referred to as "contrabands") arrived in Alexandria. For several decades thereafter, this population, along with other free Black migrants, changed the racial character of both the . . . — — Map (db m204837) HM
These stones are remnants of Lock #4 of the Alexandria Canal which once occupied this site. Completed in 1843, the canal linked the Alexandria waterfront with the C & O Canal in Georgetown. — — Map (db m131390) HM
Beneath this block lies Lock and Pool No. 2 of the Alexandria Canal. Construction of this seven-mile section of the canal began on the 4th of July, 1831 under the direction of Captain William Turnbull of the U.S. Army Topographical Engineers, and . . . — — Map (db m237641) HM
Located on both sides of Montgomery Street between North Fairfax and North Lee Streets, the Old Dominion Glass Company opened its doors in 1901 to produce high quality soda, beer, and medicine bottles. Along with the Belle Pre Bottle Company, the . . . — — Map (db m237636) HM
This tide lock of the Alexandria Canal was one of four lock that together lowered boats about 38 feet to the Potomac River and raised them for their return trip. The remains of the other locks are now buried under modern construction.
This . . . — — Map (db m129199) HM
The rails embedded in the brick sidewalk along this block of Fayette Street come from the Alexandria and Fredericksburg Railroad. Chartered in 1864 and completed to Quantico by 1872, this rail line ran in the street and spurred industrial growth in . . . — — Map (db m115685) HM
This is the original entrance to the Robert H. Robinson Library, built in 1940 as the segregated facility for Alexandria's African American residents. — — Map (db m188812) HM
On August 21, 1939, five young African-American men, William Evans, Edward Gaddis, Morris Murray, Clarence Strange and Otto Tucker entered the Barrett Library, then a whites-only segregated, public facility. When they requested library cards and . . . — — Map (db m195649) HM
On 21 August 1939, five young African American men applied for library cards at the new Alexandria Library to protest its whites-only policy. After being denied, William Evans, Edward Gaddis, Morris Murray, Clarence Strange, and Otto L. Tucker each . . . — — Map (db m82774) HM
This modest, wood-frame building has played an important role in the segregated history of Alexandria. During World War II, the federal government encouraged women to join the war effort by providing safe and affordable day care. In Alexandria, . . . — — Map (db m129190) HM
For over a century, this two-acre block was occupied by a mansion known as Colross. Built in 1800 by John Potts, the mansion, with its outbuildings, gardens, orchard, and a "clover lot" was in effect a small plantation.
Colross's owners . . . — — Map (db m72384) HM
Earl Lloyd, a Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famer, grew up on this block, attended the segregated Parker-Gray High School, and graduated from West Virginia State College. On 31 Oct. 1950, as a member of the Washington Capitols, he became the . . . — — Map (db m195657) HM
Alexandria's First Cotton Factory
On April 19, 1847, the Mount Vernon Manufacturing Company purchased this lot along North Washington Street. The present building on this site was completed a year later in 1848, becoming the city's first . . . — — Map (db m127782) HM
Over the course of the Civil War (1861-1865), the Union Army Surgeon General of Alexandria opened over 30 military hospitals with 6,500 beds within the city limits. Grosvenor Hospital was added as a branch of Mansion House on August 17, 1862, and . . . — — Map (db m185293) HM
In the 1790's many Alexandria streets were paved with cobblestones. According to legend, Hessian soldiers provided the labor to cobble Princess Street. These cobbles remained essentially untouched until 1979, when the street was restored using the . . . — — Map (db m71813) HM
Eminent lawyer, he lived here until 1837. His son, Cassius Francis Lee until 1865. Edmund Jennings Lee served as Vestryman and Warden of Christ Church, whose Glebe lands he successfully defended from confiscation after the Revolutionary War. Major . . . — — Map (db m8566) HM
Funded by the U.S. Public Housing Administration and built by the Alexandria Housing and Redevelopment Authority (ARHA) between 1954 and 1959, the James Bland Homes was Alexandria's fourth public housing project, and it more than doubled the . . . — — Map (db m72374) HM
Built by Philip Richard Fendall in 1785 on land purchased from Henry (Light Horse Harry) Lee. Lee was a brilliant cavalry officer in the Revolution, close friend of George Washington, Virginia Assemblyman, member of Congress and Governor of . . . — — Map (db m128768) HM
“Light Horse Harry” Lee, Revolutionary War officer, owned this land in 1784. The house was built in 1785 by Phillip Fendall, a Lee relative. Renovated in 1850 in the Greek Revival style, the house remained in the Lee family until 1903. . . . — — Map (db m8567) HM
Built 1797 by John Wise, tavern keeper, and his residence, until 1799. Rental property when sold to Major Jacob Hoffman 1810–1825, included outbuildings, gardens, small sugar refinery. Next owner Elizabeth Thacker Hooe leased house to Benjamin . . . — — Map (db m8613) HM
The first story was built in 1812 as the first female free school in Virginia endowed by Mrs. Martha Washington and Mr. W. B. Dandredge.
Potomac Lodge No. 38 of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows purchased the property on November 15, 1841 and . . . — — Map (db m67083) HM
The 1990 enlargement of this church is dedicated to God's glory and to the memory of the Afro-American Christians, many of them emancipated slaves, who became the congregation of Meade Church by Action of the vestry of Christ Church in 1873, two . . . — — Map (db m129187) HM
Parker-Gray School opened on Wythe Street in 1920 to serve African American students in grades 1-8. Until upper-level classes were added in 1932, African Americans had to travel to the District of Columbia to attend high school. Civil rights . . . — — Map (db m98083) HM
In 1941, the United States Housing Authority (USHA), under the Federal Works Agency, began to plan for the construction of permanent housing for Black defense workers in the Uptown neighborhood. Then known as the Lanham Act Alexandria Defense . . . — — Map (db m182231) HM
Panel 1:
In the summer of 1939, Attorney Samuel W. Tucker organized six youths — William Evans, Otto Tucker, Edward Caddis, Morris Murray, Clarence Strange, and Robert Strange — for a “sit-in” at the segregated . . . — — Map (db m141636) HM
Under the guidance of the Most Reverend Denis J. O'Connell, Bishop of Richmond, Saint Joseph's Church was built by Father Joseph J. Kelly, of the Society of Saint Joseph (the Josephites) with the assistance of many benefactors, among them being the . . . — — Map (db m129200) HM
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 . . . — — Map (db m115785) HM
On this site stood Beth El Hebrew Congregations synagogue, the first structure built as Jewish house of worship in the Washington metropolitan area. Founded in 1859, Beth El, the first reform Jewish congregation in the Washington area, is northern . . . — — Map (db m8604) HM
The Smoot Lumber Company Planing Mill was located in the southwest portion of this block. It was constructed in 1912 with W.A. Smoot & Co., Inc. and was designed by H.A. Riggs, a local Alexandria architect. This mill replaced an earlier mill . . . — — Map (db m129201) HM
A small slaughterhouse stood on this spot in the 1870s and 1880s. Its discovery occurred when the City of Alexandria made plans to rebuild Jefferson-Houston School. A City ordinance requires archaeological research to take place prior to . . . — — Map (db m195662) HM
About 100 years before Ramsey Homes was built, prominent Alexandrian Henry Daingerfield purchased this parcel of land. In 1849, prominent Alexandrian Henry Daingerfield purchased a parcel of land upon which the Ramsey Homes would eventually be . . . — — Map (db m188811) HM
Enforced racial segregation in Alexandria meant separate, poorly funded schools for the City's African American students. Here, in the African American neighborhood then known as Uptown, a new school was built in 1920 at 901 Wythe Street for . . . — — Map (db m182228) HM
The racially integrated working-class neighborhood known as the Hump, named for the high ground at its northern boundary, once spanned three blocks, centering on the 800 block of Montgomery Street. The Hump was first settled in the decade . . . — — Map (db m72500) HM
African Americans in Alexandria suffered, along with other of their race, when a segregated system prevented them from enjoying recreation facilities in their hometown.
From 1926 to 1951, the city had a municipal pool for white residents . . . — — Map (db m80843) HM
Parker-Gray High School served Alexandria's African American studentsfirst on Wythe Street and later on Madison Streetduring the City's years of enforced school segregation. With little support from the City, the school's faculty and coaches . . . — — Map (db m195656) HM
Alexandria, occupied by Union troops in 1861, attracted many African Americans escaping slavery. In Jan. 1864, a group of formerly enslaved people organized Third Freedmen's Baptist Church (later Third Baptist Church). The congregation moved to this . . . — — Map (db m140583) HM
This city block became part of the Alexandria town grid in 1798. Near the rural outskirts of the developing town, the block remained vacant throughout the nineteenth century. Colross, a country estate, was established in the vicinity, and outside . . . — — Map (db m70671) HM
Most of the American and French armies set sail from three ports in Maryland—Annapolis, Baltimore, and Head of Elk—in mid-Sept. 1781 to besiege the British army in Yorktown. The allied supply-wagon traln proceeded overland to Yorktown, . . . — — Map (db m8570) HM
The Alexandria War Memorial in front of Alexandria Union Station was dedicated on November 11, 1940, before a crowd of 3,000 people. A nearby flag pole was also dedicated in the ceremony. Numerous dignitaries attended, including the City's mayor, . . . — — Map (db m216133) HM
Captain Rocky Versace Plaza
and
Vietnam Veterans Memorial
[In the center of the memorial:]
★ My son is ★ was ★ he often did ★ does ★ his eyes are ★ were brown ★
Tere Rios Versace . . . — — Map (db m115677) WM
Charles W. Hill was born on February 22, 1949, in Suffolk County, New York. Charlie, as he was known to his friends, grew up on Long Island where he met his wife, Virginia. They married in 1971. Charlie was hired as a New York City Police Officer . . . — — Map (db m115684) HM
Betty King was a scientist, teacher, community activist, photographer, mother, grandmother, neighbor, and friend who lived in the Hume Springs neighborhood in north Alexandria from the early 1980's until she passed away in her home on Mark Drive on . . . — — Map (db m130985) HM
Dedicated to the memory of those of our boys who served in World War II and did not come back
Erected by the graduating classes of 1943**1944**1945**1946**1947
(west side)
Robert Rumshin Herbert Joseph Petrello Benjamin J. . . . — — Map (db m80571) WM
The City of Alexandria purchased 15.5 acres here in 1933 and opened George Washington High School in 1935. For two decades this was the city's only public high school for white students. The Art Deco-style building was constructed with funding from . . . — — Map (db m202869) HM
Four Mile Run and the course of its namesake waterway have changed dramatically over the centuries, partly due to natural events and partly to modern human engineering. Although a setting for a rich abundance of plant and animal . . . — — Map (db m130987) HM
Charles A. Watson, an African-American, purchased this land in 1870. In 1905, three years after the passing of the "Jim Crow" Laws in Virginia, his wife Laura and sons Frank and Attorney Thomas M. Watson dedicated and subdivided the land to . . . — — Map (db m211888) HM
Original Federal Boundary Stone
District of Columbia
Placed 1791-1792
Protected by Mt. Vernon Chapter
Daughters of the American Revolution
1916 — — Map (db m154753) HM
Local citizens formed the Town of Potomac on March 13, 1908, to provide better services and promote growth. Taxes paid for police and public works projects, such as water and sewer service to replace polluted wells and outhouses. Electric . . . — — Map (db m146442) HM
English settlers built several plantations on the site in the 18th century. The land, much owned by the Swann and Daingerfield families, became part of Alexandria County, D.C. with the creation of the District of Columbia in 1791, and retroceded . . . — — Map (db m115145) HM
Rosemont began as a streetcar suburb just outside the City of Alexandria. It remains an excellent example of this type of early 20th century development. By 1908, investors from Philadelphia; Washington, D.C.; and northern Virginia operating as . . . — — Map (db m191970) HM
Known as the "Queen of Lynhaven", Ruby Tucker lived not far from this park on Lynhaven Drive for most of her adult life. She was an ardent advocate for her neighborhood and the City of Alexandria.
Ruby Tucker was a caring mother, grandmother . . . — — Map (db m184533) HM
In September 1900, Alexandria County opened the original Mount Vernon School on this property to educate children up to the 8th grade. In spite of continual expansion, crowding was always a problem. By 1932, it was necessary to rent the bank . . . — — Map (db m115682) HM
The Alexandria Gentleman's Driving Club laid out a track just north of here that was operating by 1894, colloquially known as "the St. Asaph Track." In 1897, however, Virginia banned horse race betting, so the track was never as profitable as . . . — — Map (db m115144) HM
The Alexandria Gentleman's Driving Club laid out a track just north of here that was operating by 1894, colloquially known as "the St. Asaph Track." In 1897, however, Virginia banned horse race betting, so the track was never as profitable as . . . — — Map (db m195769) HM
The Alexandria Almshouse was a publicly-funded poorhouse and workhouse where the needy could find refuge and the courts often sentenced people for vagrancy or indebtedness. Residents worked hard for their sustenance. The Almshouse was built about . . . — — Map (db m133930) HM
The Alexandria, Loudoun & Hampshire Railroad was formed in 1847 to carry the agricultural produce of the Shenandoah Valley and western Virginia coal to the port of Alexandria. Financial difficulties, however, meant that the line never got farther . . . — — Map (db m73579) HM
The columns
of this portico
were used in the
Inaugural stand on which
President
Franklin D. Roosevelt
took his oath of office
March 3, 1937 — — Map (db m134454) HM
The interurban streetcar caused a revolution in American life, permitting for the first time a suburban lifestyle. "Streetcar suburbs" became the 20th-century ideal of American middle-class family life with a home, yard and commute to work in the . . . — — Map (db m115680) HM
The Town of Potomac
When the Washington, Alexandria & Mount Vernon Railway announced plans in 1892 that included tracks between Washington, D.C. and Alexandria, the flat, open land north of Alexandria became a logical site for a new community. . . . — — Map (db m115147) HM
The location of Del Ray Central apartments is often referred to as The Triangle Site. Both the topography of this place and transportation corridors defined the site's shape. The eastern side drops sharply down to the flat plain on which Potomac . . . — — Map (db m115676) HM
Prince Hall Masonry originated in Massachusetts in 1775 when a lodge attached to the British army initiated Prince Hall and 14 other free black men as Freemasons. Universal Lodge No. 1, the first Prince Hall lodge in Virginia, was established in . . . — — Map (db m134455) HM
In honor of all from the City of Alexandria who served and died during World War I
Robert Adams
George Anderton
Stanley Bernard
Herbert Bernhard
William Bradley
Bernard Brock
William Brown
Christopher Cloxom . . . — — Map (db m216132) WM
Potomac Yard was located between Washington D.C. and Alexandria because the site already served as the confluence of many shipping routes; was centrally located on the eastern seaboard; and would alleviate troublesome train congestion from . . . — — Map (db m115669) HM
The Potomac Yard site has historically been an intersection for transportation because of its location between Washington D.C. and Alexandria and the availability of open, level land near the river. Even before Potomac Yard was built, the . . . — — Map (db m115667) HM
Despite its function as a major rail classification yard for many years, Potomac Yard was not immune to the economic pressures and competition from other modes of transportation. Trucks and airplanes eventually reduced the need for goods and . . . — — Map (db m115650) HM
Potomac Yard was once part of a vast, wooded landscape overlooking the Potomac River. The original 6,000-acre tract (about 9 square miles) was passed down through generations of the John Alexander family and divided among surviving spouses and . . . — — Map (db m115672) HM
When Potomac Yard opened in 1906, it employed 1,200 people. At its peak during World War II (19411945), yard expansion increased the workforce to almost 1,500 people. Inspectors, brakemen, switch operators, locomotive engineers, mechanics, and . . . — — Map (db m115668) HM
Certain rail classification yards depended on a simple landform called the "hump." Potomac Yard had two humps: one for the northbound trains and one for the southbound trains. Trains first entered a receiving yard where locomotives were detached . . . — — Map (db m115665) HM
When Native Americans moved into the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States they traveled on the waterways created overland routes for hunting, migration, and trade. In essence, they were Virginia's first highways. These routes often followed . . . — — Map (db m115675) HM
(North Side):
This monument marks the trail taken by the army of General Braddock which left Alexandria on April 20, 1755 to defend the western frontier against the French and Indians.
Erected by the Society of Colonial Dames of . . . — — Map (db m7567) HM
This forest has long been a natural playground for children growing up in the area. The woods around the village extended to Quaker Lane and janney's Lane. During World War II, when the Chinquapin Village children took a break from playing ball . . . — — Map (db m150814) HM
African Americans established "The Fort," a community that continued here after the Civil War (1861-1864) for nearly a century into the Civil Rights Era of the 1960s. The place received its name from The Fort's location around the remnants of . . . — — Map (db m149722) HM
The Civil War (1861-1865) opened the door for opportunity and civil rights for African American Virginians, about 90 percent of whom were enslaved in 1860. The upheaval from battles and the federal presence in Alexandria and eastern Fairfax . . . — — Map (db m149734) HM
Two bombproofs, each measuring 200 feet long by 12.5 feet wide, were located in the center of Fort Ward. During normal operations the bombproofs were used as meeting rooms, storage facilities, and sometimes as a prison. In the event of an attack, . . . — — Map (db m7716) HM
The Fort Ward entrance gate, completed in May 1865, provided the only access to the interior of the fort. The gate's decorative details include stands of cannonballs and the insignia (castle) of the Army Corps of Engineers which designed and . . . — — Map (db m194339) HM
On May 24, 1861, when Virginia's secession from the Union became effective, Federal forces immediately occupied Northern Virginia to protect the City of Washington, D.C. After the Confederate victory at the Battle of First Bull Run (First Manassas) . . . — — Map (db m7676) HM
This stairway leads up the west wall of Fort Ward between the Northwest Bastion (to the left) and the Southwest Bastion (to the right). Fort Ward had 14 cannon emplacements along this area of the wall that created overlapping fields of fire. . . . — — Map (db m7709) HM
Historical Site Defenses of Washington 1861-1865 Fort Ward Here stands Fort Ward, constructed in 1861 to protect the approaches to Alexandria by Little River Turnpike and Leesburg Turnpike. In 1864, the fort was enlarged to a perimeter of 818 . . . — — Map (db m41117) HM
Historical Site
Defenses of Washington
1861 - 1865
100 yards to the west stood Fort Williams, built in 1863 to guard the approaches to Alexandria by Little River Turnpike and Telegraph Road. It had a perimeter of 250 yards and emplacements . . . — — Map (db m80467) HM
