Named for Thomas Ap Catesby Jones, founder of the Naval Academy and War of 1812 hero. As Commander of the Pacific Fleet, Jones landed at Monterey 1842, raising the Stars and Stripes under misapprehension of war with Mexico. From 1848 to 1850 he . . . — — Map (db m40973) HM
During World War I (1914-1918), the U.S. government targeted Jones Point as the site for a private shipyard, one of 111 built to aid the war effort. The Virginia Shipbuilding Corporation yard, constructed just before war's end, was designed to build . . . — — Map (db m127780) HM
American Indians first frequented Jones Point to hunt and fish. The point is likely named for an early English settler. By the 1790's, military installations were established at Jones point due to its strategic location on the Potomac River. The . . . — — Map (db m79997) HM
Archaeological evidence indicates that humans have occupied the Potomac River Valley for over 13,000 years and Jones Point for almost 9,000 years. Attracted by the rich resources of Hunting Creek marsh, indigenous people built temporary structures . . . — — Map (db m127779) HM
In the 1850's, Alexandria was one of the busiest seaports in the Chesapeake region. To help guide Potomac River ship traffic, the federal government built the Jones Point lighthouse, illuminating the beacon for the first time on May 1, 1856. It . . . — — Map (db m60242) HM
In 1833, Josiah Davis constructed a narrow, 400-yard-long building where rope was manufactured for ship's rigging, a once-thriving maritime industry for the nearby port of Alexandria.
[Caption:]
The Jones Point ropewalk was a two-story . . . — — Map (db m127774) HM
In response to a shortage of ships and shipbuilding facilities at the start of World War I, the U.S. government decided to enter the shipbuilding business. In 1917, the U.S. Emergency Fleet Corporation was created and eventually oversaw construction . . . — — Map (db m62022) HM
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
In the distance is Jones Point, designated as the southern corner of the District of Columbia by President George Washington. In 1790 Congress established the nation’s capital with a ten-mile square of land ceded by Virginia and Maryland. Alexandria . . . — — Map (db m154908) HM
In 1791, surveyors on Jones Point began to lay out the ten-mile square that would become Washington, D.C. The first marker for the survey—the south cornerstone—was set in place on this spot. Although the stone within this protective . . . — — Map (db m60162) HM
Jones Point was once a wooded wilderness, ringed by marshes and periodically cut off from the mainland during high tide. American Indians made use of both woodland and wetland for food, tools and supplies. By the 17th century, Europeans had . . . — — Map (db m62028) 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
Three hundred years ago, a river as wide as the Capital Beltway—Great Hunting Creek—emptied into the Potomac River at this spot. In the absence of good roads, this river and its tributaries were vital corridors for travel and trade. . . . — — Map (db m62000) HM
After the Revolutionary War, the new nation searched for a permanent seat of government. President George Washington favored a 10-mile square territory along the Potomac River that encompassed the economically important ports of Georgetown and . . . — — Map (db m141071) HM
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
On September 6, 1654, this site was included in a patent of 700 acres granted by the Colony of Virginia to Mistress Margaret Brent (c1601–c1671). An extraordinary woman, she spent most of her adult life fighting discrimination of her sex, she was . . . — — Map (db m62020) 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
On January 22, 1791, George Washington appointed Andrew Ellicott and Benjamin Banneker to survey the boundaries of the "District of Columbia," to be the home of the Federal government of the United States. The President instructed the surveyors to . . . — — Map (db m127771) HM
This dock, constructed of reinforced concrete on concrete and wood pilings, was once the last stop for cargo ships under construction at Jones Point's World War I shipyard. Here, ships received final fittings before heading out for service. The dock . . . — — Map (db m62201) HM
Between 1911 and 1912, Battery Cove, the shallow bay extending from the southern edge of Keith's Wharf southward to Jones Point, was [unreadable] for the Civil War Battery Rodgers and was used as a small [unreadable] for an extensive dredging . . . — — Map (db m127768) HM
Built circa 1818 by Josiah Hewes Davis (1783-1862), rope maker and ship chandler who operated a rope walk at Jones Point. Purchased in 1847 by William Stabler (1795-1852) as a home for John Leadbeater (1808-1860), his brother-in-law and business . . . — — Map (db m71772) 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
Theodore Roosevelt Island
This wooded island is a tribute to the vision of our 26th president. Explore, on foot, 2.5 miles of trails and the memorial plaza.
Lady Bird Johnson Park
Take time to visit the Lyndon Baines Johnson . . . — — Map (db m233790) HM
U.S. Marine Corps War Memorial
Learn more about the U.S. Marine Corps' long history of service. Sculpted from a famous photograph of the second flag-raising during the World War II battle for Iwo Jima, the monument honors all Marines who . . . — — Map (db m130982) HM
Theodore Roosevelt Island
This wooded island is a tribute to the vision of our 26th president. Explore, on foot, 2.5 miles of trails and the memorial plaza.
Lady Bird Johnson Park
Take time to visit the Lyndon Baines Johnson . . . — — Map (db m134964) HM
People have lived and worked along Taylor Run for thousands of years. The first Alexandrians probably walked along the stream bank at least 10,000 years ago. These early peoples lived in small, mobile bands and subsisted through hunting and . . . — — Map (db m150807) HM
Alexandria was established by Virginia's colonial assembly in 1749, over four decades the U.S. Congress authorized creation of a national capital on the banks of the Potomac River. Once the final site for the Federal city was selected by President . . . — — Map (db m141166) HM
Despite occasional conflicts between European settlers and local Indians, Mistress Margaret Brent of Saint Mary’s City, Maryland, was granted the first land patent on Piper’s Island (later known as Jones Point) in 1654. An extraordinary woman for . . . — — Map (db m62026) 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
The area around Jones Point, which lies just south of the nation’s 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
Did you know that you traverse the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia when you cross this bridge? The brass lines in the walkway mark the boundaries. They also commemorate the cooperation required to build this bridge.
Follow the . . . — — Map (db m140997) HM
The George Washington Memorial Parkway opened in 1932 as the nation's first modern federal highway. Its construction honored the bicentennial of George Washington's birth as a patriotic pilgrimage between Washington, DC, and Mount Vernon. This . . . — — Map (db m182570) HM
Public warehouses for the receiving and inspection of tobacco were built in 1730 near the foot of present day Oronoco Street, and became the core around which grew the port of Alexandria. The city was founded in 1749 and flourished along with its . . . — — Map (db m202755) HM
* Inflectional forms of words are their plurals, singulars, and possessives as well as gramatical tenses and similar variations.