Here stood the birthplace of Henry Alexander Wise (1806-1876), Governor of Virginia (1856-1860) and general in the Confederate States Army. A talented orator and debator in an age of great orators, Wise was elected to six terms in Congress. He . . . — — Map (db m7823) HM
Born June 2, 1840. Died June 13, 1876. His life was gentle and the elements So mixed in him that Nature might stand up And say in all the World. This was a man. — — Map (db m7678) HM
Built in 1854, Cokesbury Church is the oldest church building in Onancock. Today it serves the community as a venue for religious services, meetings, and concerts. Key events in its history include:
Erected by Harmanson-West Camp Confederate Volunteers in memory of their dead comrades from Accomack and Northampton Counties
They died for the principles upon which all true republics are founded
They fought for conscience sake and died . . . — — Map (db m165074) WM
Civil War relic collectors found Stuarts winter camp and skirmish site (shaded area of map) long before the Rio Hill Shopping Center opened in 1989.
Metal detectors were used to search the area and artifacts—bullets, buttons, belt and . . . — — Map (db m7692) HM
In December 1863, Confederate troops established winter quarters here. The approximately 200 soldiers, under the command of Capt. Marcellus N. Moorman, were from Stuarts Horse Artillery Battalion and were equipped with 16 cannons. The men built . . . — — Map (db m7690) HM
The 19th-century mill village of Rio Mills stood 600 yards west of here, where the former Harrisonburg-Charlottesville Turnpike crossed the South Fork of the Rivanna River. Following the Battle of Rio Hill on 29 February 1864, Union General George . . . — — Map (db m106830) HM
On February 29, 1864, General George A. Custer and 1500 cavalrymen made a diversionary raid Into Albemarle County. Here, north of Charlottesville, he attacked the Confederate winter camp of four batteries of the Stuart Horse Artillery commanded by . . . — — Map (db m7685) HM
The Woolen Mills area of Charlottesville traces its roots back to the late 1700s. It was Thomas Jefferson who realized the Rivanna River's vitality was the key to economic growth in the area.
Originally a grist mill was started on this . . . — — Map (db m172975) HM
On 3 Mar. 1865, Maj. Gen. Philip H. Sheridans Union Army of the Shenandoah entered Charlottesville to destroy railroad facilities as the 3rd Cavalry Division led by Bvt. Maj. Gen. George A. Custer arrived from Waynesboro. Mayor Christopher H. . . . — — Map (db m95140) HM
On 3 Mar. 1865, after the Battle of Waynesboro, Maj. Gen. Philip H. Sheridan's Union Army of the Shenandoah entered Charlottesville. As Bvt. Maj. Gen. George A. Custer's 3d Cavalry Division arrived, Mayor Christopher L. Fowler, local officials, and . . . — — Map (db m170640) HM
Late in April 1862, Maj. Gen. Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson marched his army out of the Shenandoah Valley through the Blue Ridge Mountains to deceive Union Maj. Gen. John C. Fremont into thinking he was headed for Richmond. On 3 May, . . . — — Map (db m1797) HM
During the Shenandoah Valley Campaign (March - June 1862) Confederate Maj. Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson used deceptive maneuvers and sharp attacks to divert Union forces from the Peninsula Campaign against Richmond. Late in April, Jackson's . . . — — Map (db m170639) HM
At 3 p.m. on Monday, March 6, 1865, the first of Union Gen. Philip H. Sheridans 10,000 cavalrymen under Gens. Wesley Merritt, Thomas Devin, and George A. Custer entered Scottsville unopposed. To accomplish their mission—destroy the
James . . . — — Map (db m17844) HM
In memory of the soldiers who died in the Confederate General Hospital in Scottsville
1862-1863
Beattie, F.M. Co. H 23 NC
Boyle, Andrew Co. D 41 VA
Brashear, Denis P. Co. E 4 AL
Clark, Henry Co. E 15 AL
Clark, Hosey L. Co. F 2 MS . . . — — Map (db m22784) 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
Text, upper half of marker panel:
This house, built by Emmanuel Jones by 1888, stands at the corner of a block that witnessed the extremes of 19th century African American experience. From a slave trading company to significant . . . — — Map (db m46124) HM
Civil War Dead
An estimated 700,000 Union and Confederate soldiers died in the Civil War between April 1861 and April 1865. As the death toll rose, the U.S. government struggled with the urgent but unplanned need to bury fallen Union . . . — — Map (db m92115) 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
“Alexandria is ours,” declared Col. Orlando Wilcox of the 1st Michigan Vol. Inf. as his regiment captured the city on the morning of May 24, 1861. When Virginia's vote of secession became effective, Union forces immediately crossed the . . . — — Map (db m159) HM
13,000 years ago
The Paleoindian Period
A Native American hunter during the Paleoindian period discards a broken spear point, on a bluff overlooking a tributary to the Potomac River at the southern edge of present-day Alexandria. . . . — — Map (db m166409) HM
On 17 Dec. 1785, George Washington endowed a school here in the recently established Alexandria Academy for the purpose of educating orphan children. In 1812, an association of free African Americans founded its own school here in space vacated by . . . — — Map (db m813) HM
The launch of urban renewal in 1965 led to a boom of archaeological discoveries in Alexandria's Old and Historic District. As buildings were razed exposing artifact-laden layers of history, community outcry demanded that the City address and halt . . . — — Map (db m115770) HM
“Alexandria is ours,” declared Col. Orlando Wilcox of the 1st Michigan Infantry as his regiment captured the city on the morning of May 24, 1861, one day after Virginia officially left the Union. Due to its strategic location on the . . . — — Map (db m152570) HM
Securing the Capital
On May 24, 1861, Gen. Winfield Scott ordered eleven regiments of Union troops from Washington, D.C., across the Potomac River, where they captured Arlington and Alexandria.
After their defeat in July at Manassas, . . . — — Map (db m92113) HM
Three railroads developed in Alexandria during the mid-19th century, a period of limited industrial expansion for the City. Alexandrians had a invested heavily in the Alexandria Canal which opened in 1843, giving the city access to the rich . . . — — Map (db m72379) HM
Historical Site Defenses of Washington 1861-1865 Battery Rodgers
Here stood Battery Rodgers, built in 1863 to prevent enemy ships from passing up the Potomac River. The battery had a perimeter of 30 yards and mounted five 200 pounder Parrott . . . — — Map (db m41413) HM
This property
has been listed on the
National Register
of Historic Places
by the United States
Department of the Interior
Bayne-Fowle House
1854
[Additional plaques above:]
The Bayne-Fowle House
has been . . . — — Map (db m134975) HM
Henry A. Crump 60th Inf William M. David 62nd Inf George W.L. Francis 7th Cav William H. Haws 8th Inf George W. Herndon 13th Inf Elias M. Herring 18th Inf Elijah F. Hutchison 6th Cav Edward S. Jett 56th Inf John J. Knoxville 9th . . . — — Map (db m150721) HM WM
Brown, Alexander H. Carter, Merriwether T. Darley, William Jones, George W. Lawler, John Joseph Lewis, William L. Pitts, Henry Segar Pitts, Robert Tyler Proctor, John J. Roland, Richard N. Sutherland, John W. Turner, Albert . . . — — Map (db m150723) HM WM
African Americans escaping slavery found refuge in Alexandria after Union troops occupied the city in 1861. The Rev. Clement “Clem” Robinson established the First Select Colored School in 1862. Hundreds of students registered for day and . . . — — Map (db m98079) 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
Brigadier General Montgomery D. Corse, CSA
Born here in 1816, died Alexandria 1895.
Volunteer, Mexican War 1846-1848.
Prospector in California,
Commander, 17th Virginia Infantry Regiment, CSA.
Post-war civic leader and banker.
Buried . . . — — Map (db m65489) HM
Josiah Watson, a wealthy merchant and postmaster of Alexandria, established his 272-acre plantation, “Bush Hill”, in 1791. Richard Marshall Scott purchased the plantation in 1791; his family stayed here for 200 years. Scott was an . . . — — Map (db m2610) HM
Before the American Revolution, the Church of England was the established church of Virginia and part of the colonial government. For administrative purposes, the colony was divided into "parishes" and all residents paid taxes to maintain church . . . — — Map (db m115716) HM
Civil War Comes to Carlyle House
If you stood in this spot 150 years ago, you would be inside a building! In 1848 James Green purchased Carlyle House and the building in front of you, the first Bank of Alexandria. He turned it into a hotel . . . — — Map (db m129170) HM
This historic site is a section of the mill race that provided water power to Cloud's Mill which stood directly across Paxton street.
At the intersection of Beauregard and Morgan Streets, water diverted from the Holmes Run ran through the . . . — — Map (db m150801) HM
"How sleep the brave who sink to rest
By all their country's wishes blest"
Beneath this mound lie the remains of thirty-four
Confederate Soldiers
Which were disinterred from the Alexandria Soldiers' Cemetery (Federal) and reinterred . . . — — Map (db m129286) HM WM
The Contrabands and Freedmen Cemetery Memorial is dedicated to honoring more than 1,700 people of African descent buried here during and following the Civil War, as well as those who may have been laid to rest after the cemetery officially . . . — — Map (db m77244) HM WM
Courtesy of Bethel Cemetery,
Est. 1885
on whose grounds rests ten members of Col. John Singleton Mosby's Rangers, 43rd BN CSA. The area of Northern Virginia was known during the war and ever since as Mosby's Confederacy
Ayre, George . . . — — Map (db m150722) HM WM
One of King Street's greatest commercial buildings was built by one of Alexandria's most beloved citizens. Edgar Warfield, Jr. was born in 1842, and at the age of 18 he co-founded the "Old Dominion Rifles," a Confederate militia that served in . . . — — Map (db m115749) 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
Episcopal High School, on the hill to the southwest, was founded in 1839 as a boys' preparatory school, one of the first in the South; girls were admitted in 1991. The school was a pioneer in the establishment of student honor codes in preparatory . . . — — Map (db m7559) HM
We are not contrabands, but soldiers of the U.S. Army. We have cheerfully left the comforts of home, and entered into the field of conflict, fighting side by side with the white soldiers
As American citizens, we have a right . . . — — Map (db m87058) HM
Fort Ellsworth, one of 68 earthen forts built to protect Washington during the Civil War, was constructed in 1861. When completed, the fort had a perimeter of 618 yards and was an irregular Vauban-type star design of French origin. The fort was . . . — — Map (db m45046) HM
Here stood Fort Ellsworth, named for Colonel Elmer E. Ellsworth who was killed during the Union Army's occupation of Alexandria on May 24, 1861. Built in 1861, the fort had a perimeter of 618 yards and emplacement for 29 guns. — — Map (db m133932) 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
Historical Site
Defenses of Washington
1861 - 1865
Here stood Fort Worth, built in 1861. It had a commanding view of the Cameron Valley and guarded the approach to Alexandria by Little River Turnpike. The fort had a perimeter of 463 yards . . . — — Map (db m80466) HM
Isaac Franklin and John Armfield leased this brick building with access to the wharves and docks in 1828 as a holding pen for enslaved people being shipped from Northern Virginia to Louisiana. They purchased the building and three lots in 1832. From . . . — — Map (db m72628) HM
Federal authorities established a cemetery here for newly freed African Americans during the Civil War. In January 1864, the military governor of Alexandria confiscated for use as a burying ground an abandoned pasture from a family with Confederate . . . — — Map (db m122082) HM
The building at 1315 Duke Street, two blocks south of here, was originally built around 1812 as a residence for General Robert Young, commander of Alexandria's militia, who died in 1824. This three-story brick building then became the . . . — — Map (db m115706) 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
Gadsby's Tavern Museum consists of two buildings — the smaller c.1875 tavern and larger 1792 City Tavern and Hotel. While both were constructed by John Wise, they were made famous by John Gadsby, a rising tavern keeper who rented the buildings . . . — — Map (db m115755) HM
This building dates to 1801. Between 1852-1911 the Alexandria Gazette newspaper was printed here. In 1862 while Alexandria was occupied by the North during the Civil War, Union soldiers burned this building because it was reported here that St. Paul . . . — — Map (db m41832) HM
Many of the African Americans who fled to Alexandria to escape enslavement and those already living here succumbed to disease and deprivation during and shortly after the Civil War. Carts bearing the dead entered the cemetery along a path in this . . . — — Map (db m188795) HM
During the Civil War, Freedmen's Cemetery extended into the middle of South Washington Street. Each tan stone in the sidewalk marks a grave identified by archaeologists investigating the location of the original cemetery. — — Map (db m188794) 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
The area around Jones Point, which lies just south of the nations capital, was an obvious location for early defensive fortifications. During the Civil War (1861-1865), Battery Rodgers was built overlooking the cove to guard the river approach . . . — — Map (db m69911) HM
Alexandria was named for the family of John Alexander, a Virginia planter who in 1669 acquired the tract on which the town began. By 1732, the site was known as Hunting Creek Warehouse and in 1749 became Alexandria, thereafter a major 18th-century . . . — — Map (db m47) 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
The bridge is one of the last remnants of Alexandria's first railroad, the Orange & Alexandria. The “O&ARR,” as it was commonly called, opened in 1851 and had 148 miles of track in 1860. The bridge was constructed by the railroad as . . . — — Map (db m99330) HM
Named for Toussaint LOuverture, the Haitian
revolutionary. LOuverture Hospttal opened early
in 1864 near the Freedmens barracks in Alexandria
to serve sick and injured United States Colored
Troops (USCT). Designed by the U.S. Army, . . . — — Map (db m108153) HM
Robert E. Lee left this home that he loves so well to enter West Point. After Appomattox he returned and climbed the wall to see if the snowballs were in bloom. George Washington dined here when it was the home of William Fitzhugh, Lees kinsman . . . — — Map (db m8548) HM
Revolutionary War hero Henry "Light Horse Harry" Lee, father of Confederate General Robert E. Lee, purchased several lots on North Washington Street in Alexandria soon after the War for Independence. He lived with his family in a house on Cameron . . . — — Map (db m115721) HM
What is Succession?
The forest in this area of the Park is changing from primarily an evergreen (conifer) forest of white pine trees to a younger oak and hickory (deciduous) forest. The white pine forest began about 80 years ago . . . — — Map (db m150809) HM
Discover the spirit of Alexandria that has been making history for well over two centuries
Founded in 1749, Alexandria was the center of commercial and political activity for early patriots such as George Washington as the seeds of the . . . — — Map (db m115776) HM
During the Civil War, 217 was the headquarters of the L'Overture Hospital. It was named after Tousaint L'Overture — Hispaniola's (Haiti) slave revolt leader. Patients were African American Union Soldiers & “contrabands” (escaped . . . — — Map (db m74279) HM WM
In the early morning hours of May 24, 1861, the day after a public referendum in Virginia supported secession from the United States, Alexandria was invaded by Union forces crossing the Potomac. Colonel Elmer E. Ellsworth, the young commander of the . . . — — Map (db m115753) HM
The plan of Fort Ward consisted of five bastions with positions for 36 guns. The Northwest Bastion illustrates how the entire stronghold appeared in 1864. This bastion is armed with six reproduction weapons based on Fort Ward's original table of . . . — — Map (db m7713) HM
Orange & Alexandria Railroad roundhouse, formerly located near Duke and South Henry Streets. Engine named after Brigadier General Herman Haupt, Chief of Transportation, U.S. Military Railroads during the Civil War. Mathew Brady photograph after . . . — — Map (db m72622) HM
This outlying 6-gun battery was constructed to cover the ravine where Interstate 395 is located today. The remains of a covered-way rifle trench that extended from the Northwest Bastion is visible near the park road. This trench provided protection . . . — — Map (db m149735) HM
Camp of the 44th New York Volunteer Infantry, also known as the "Ellsworth Avengers" and the "People's Ellsworth Regiment." The unit was raised in honor of Colonel Elmer E. Ellsworth, who was killed at the Marshall House Hotel on May 24, 1861, . . . — — Map (db m196) HM
This Federal-style townhouse and its adjoining twin were built ca. 1793. Original owner John Potts, Jr., secretary of the Potomac Company, deeded the house in 1799 to William Fitzhugh of Chatham, member of Virginia's Revolutionary Conventions and . . . — — Map (db m188751) HM
Ammunition for the fort's guns was kept in underground storage facilities called magazines and filling rooms. Shells were armed and sometimes stored in the filling room, while the magazine was used to hold black powder and crated rounds. Implements . . . — — Map (db m7711) HM
This exterior view of the restored Northwest Bastion illustrates the effectiveness of an earthwork fort. The fort walls were 18-22 feet high, 12-14 feet thick, and slanted at 45 degrees. To gain access to the fort an attacker would have to cross . . . — — Map (db m7714) HM
After Virginia seceded in the spring of 1861, Unionists met in Wheeling and organized a state government loyal to the U.S. under Gov. Francis H. Pierpont. The Restored Government, which sent representatives to the U.S. Congress and raised federal . . . — — Map (db m191972) HM
This rifle trench extended from the North Bastion toward Battery Garesche located beyond Leesburg Turnpike (Route 7). Another rifle trench extended from the tip of the South Bastion near the Fort Gate. The rifle trenches prevented enemy troops from . . . — — Map (db m7715) HM
Alexandria, occupied by Union troops during the Civil War, became a refuge for African Americans escaping slavery. Before the war ended, about 50 former slaves founded the Shiloh Society, later known as Shiloh Baptist Church. Members held services . . . — — Map (db m91684) 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
The Southwest Bastion was the most heavily fortified area of the fort with emplacements for seven guns, as well as a magazine and a filling room. The largest gun in Fort Ward, a 100-pounder Parrott Rifle, was located in the Southwest Bastion. . . . — — Map (db m7684) HM
The Stabler-Leadbeater Apothecary Museum traces one of America's oldest continuously-run family businesses that combined manufacturing, wholesaling and retailing. Founded in 1792, and operated just across Fairfax Street until 1933, the pharmacy was . . . — — Map (db m115762) HM
One block south is The Alexandria Lyceum, formed as a public education organization in 1834 by Quaker schoolmaster Benjamin Hallowell and other civic leaders. In 1839, the founders joined with the Alexandria Library Company to construct a . . . — — Map (db m115718) HM
Home to the Northern Virginia Fine Arts Association, the Athenaeum is a fine example of Greek Revival architecture, with a long and colorful history of occupation. The building was constructed between 1851 and 1852 as the Bank of the Old Dominion, . . . — — Map (db m115768) HM
Here Union Governor Francis Harrison Pierpont established the “Restored Government of Virginia” and used the building as the official Governor's Residence
1863-65
This Property is protected by a preservation easement held by . . . — — Map (db m71611) 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
With the outbreak of war in the spring of 1861, Alexandria was immediately occupied by Federal troops as a bulwark in the defenses of the national capital, and the city became a central distribution center for men and material for the Army of the . . . — — Map (db m70411) HM WM
In 1860, Alexandria was a vibrant southern city boasting a population of 12,652 and 96 firms which produced everything from bark to tin-ware. During the U.S. Presidential campaign in the fall of 1860, business-minded Alexandrians were decidedly . . . — — Map (db m115781) HM
The unarmed Confederate soldier standing in the intersection of Washington and Prince Streets marks the location where units from Alexandria left to join the Confederate Army on May 24, 1861. The soldier is facing the battlefields to the South where . . . — — Map (db m8605) HM
On January 1, 1808, the earliest date allowed by Article I, Section 9 of the United States Constitution, the Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves went into effect and stated, "It shall not be lawful to import or bring into the United . . . — — Map (db m188750) HM
From the late 1700s into the 1800s, the pastoral calm of the Point was interrupted repeatedly—by soldiers manning cannon emplacements, by surveyors laying out the boundaries of the nation's capital, by workers at a ropewalk and the lighthouse, . . . — — Map (db m62029) HM
Built in 1839 by the Alexandria Lyceum Company under the leadership of Benjamin Hallowell, this building housed the Alexandria Library and was the scene of concerts, meetings, debates and lectures featuring such speakers as John Quincy Adams and . . . — — Map (db m8607) HM
The Marshall House stood upon this site, and within the building on the early morning of May 24, 1861 James W. Jackson was killed by Federal soldiers while defending his property and personal rights as stated in the verdict of the coroners . . . — — Map (db m65490) HM
Half mile to the southwest. The idea for such an institution was conceived by a group of Alexandria and Washington clergymen in 1818. Among those interested was Francis Scott Key, author of the Star Spangled Banner. Originally at corner of . . . — — Map (db m7561) HM
Welcome to Old Town Alexandria! Experience historical charm with contemporary flair from the river to the rails
Plan
Alexandria Visitors Center at Ramsay House
Knowledgeable staff help you create a perfect plan for your . . . — — Map (db m167097) 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
During the Civil War, Alexandria's population swelled with more than 20,000 enslaved African Americans fleeing Confederate territory for safety behind Union lines. Initially called Contrabands because they were considered "property" taken during . . . — — Map (db m127734) HM
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