In the 1740s, the
intersection between Duke and King streets was a key passage for the westbound
transportation of Virginia’s produce.
Large wagons filled with grains, hogs, and tobacco, wheeled by daily and it was
just a matter of time before the merchants started selling their goods in such
a major crossroads. Thus, Market Square was born.

In the early days, it
was just an empty field in which anyone could sell food, animals, and farm
products to the locals and the passersby. Other activities, such as the sale of
slaves and the mustering of militias, also took place in this area. Slowly,
permanent structures were developed in the area; and, by the end of the 18th
century, the Market Square was a booming trading site with multiple businesses,
such as taverns and warehouses. 

This building activity
created a self-contained space that could only be accessed through two small
passageways, and it remained thus until the 1960s, in which an aggressive
renovation policy scheduled the demolition of all the historical buildings in
Market Square with the exception of the City Hall. The objective of this policy
was to remake the Old Town of Alexandria into a new, modern town. However, the locals
grew unsteady at the prospect of losing their beloved architecture. A
preservation movement grew while the wrecking balls swung, and it became so
strong that eventually forced the city government into protecting some of Market
Square’s historical landmarks. Not only were buildings such as The Torpedo
Factory Art Center, the Lyceum, and the Carlyle House saved from demolition,
but they also underwent extensive renovations to commemorate the American
Bicentennial in 1976.

Nowadays, Market Square remains a key element in
Alexandria’s public life. The square holds a farmer’s market regularly, as well
as an annual Christmas tree lightning, and multiple festivities throughout the
year. Over a quarter of a century after it was born, Alexandria’s Market Square
still succeeds at bringing the community together.

https://www.alexandriava.gov/historic/info/default.aspx?id=49454#Historic_Preservation

More Info

Older than the town where it sits, Alexandria’s Market Square has been a place for people to come together for over 250 years. Originally a farmer’s market—a role that it still plays nowadays—Market Square has always been a key player in the public life of Alexandria.

Market Square

This extended tour of Alexandria includes nearly three dozen landmarks from historic homes to monuments, museums, and historic churches. A shorter walking tour is also available on Clio, along with numerous thematic trails in the area. 

Alexandria Virginia Extended Downtown History Walking Tour

James Craik was born in Scotland near the town of Dumfries around 1727. His father, William, was a member of British Parliament and and owner of a large 1,400-acre estate called Arbigland. Although Craik was born out of wedlock, William provided for his care and education. As a young man, Craik studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh and then joined the British Army as a doctor and surgeon. He was sent to the West Indies but after a few years left the army and sailed to Norfolk, Virginia where he opened a practice. After some time, Craik worked as a surgeon at Fort Loudon, which was near the frontier town of Winchester.Just before the start of the French and Indian War (1754-1763), he joined the Virginia Provincial Regiment as its surgeon and served until 1762 when it disbanded. It was during that time he met and befriended Washington, who was the regiment's commander between 1755-1758. Craik served as the regiment's chief medical officer until 1756. After leaving the regiment, Craik settled in Port Tobacco and opened a medical practice. In 1770, he joined Washington on a trip to the Ohio River Valley to see lands Washington received for his service in the war. They would lake make another journey in 1784.Craik supported the revolutionary cause and protested Britain's blockade of Boston. In 1774, he joined the Continental Army and became Assistant Medical Director of the Medical Department in 1778. Washington wanted him to be Director General but Congress selected another physician. During the Conway Cabal plot, its members tried to recruit Craik but he refused.After the war, Washington convinced Craik to settle in Alexandria. He acquired a large plantation outside of the city and built a home called Vaucluse (the French word for "closed valley"). Presumably he built the home on Duke Street, which was his primary residence, around this time as well (however, one source indicates that it was not built until 1796). Craik and two other doctors were asked to go to Mt. Vernon on December 13, 1799 to treat Washington, who was very ill with a throat ailment that made breathing difficult. They applied standard medical treatment at the time, including bloodletting, but their efforts failed and Washington died the next day.Craik continued his private practice in the home until his death in 1814. The adjoining structure with the slanted roof is known as the Coryell House and it was likely originally built by George Coryell in 1790. Coryell had ties to Washington as well. His family operated the ferries that transported Washington and his troops across the Delaware River on Christmas Eve 1776 to attack German soldiers (known as Hessians) allied with the British.

George Washington's close friend and personal physician, James Craik (c.1727-1814), built this three-story brick home in, it appears, the 1780s. He practiced medicine in the front of the first floor and used the rear and upper floors as his residence. Craik played an important role during the American Revolutionary War. He served as Assistant Director General of the Medical Department of the Continental Army and in that role established hospitals to treat sick and wounded soldiers. He also warned Washington of a plot, called the "Conway Cabal," to replace Washington as commander in chief with General Horatio Gates. From 1798 to 1799, Craik served as the Physician General (now Surgeon General) of the United States Army. The house has been restored to resemble its original appearance.

Dr. James Craik House

On the streets that regularly found the footsteps of Washington as he conducted business, went to church, walked about the town, you will eventually wander to the small and very much unknown grave site for the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier of the Revolutionary War. Alexandria was the site of many a battle in the Revolutionary War as America fought for her independence against the British monarchy. While the gravesite remains mostly unknown with only a handful of visitors a day versus the thousands who attend the popular Tomb of the Unknown Solider in Alexandria, which features changing of guard and TAPS, it has been featured on various websites, such as army.com. These sites often want to give recognition to the small spot with such big significance. The spot is a reminder that&nbsp;lives were given for freedom. The&nbsp;lesser known spot still holds profound significance because it&nbsp;holds a life that believed in a set of ideals enough to take up arms and fight for it. So, while it doesn't hold the flash of a more well known site down the road, it still holds honor, sacrifice, and belief in something bigger than ourselves in a time that was so radical and unknown. Initially, knowledge of the burial site was limited to a small number of local residents until&nbsp;the 1920s when&nbsp;renewed
interest in the colonial period history inspired more individuals and organizations to&nbsp;preserve various
landmarks. The Daughters of the American
Revolution (DAR) took on the project known at the time as the Nameless Unknown Solider. On George Washington's birthday in&nbsp;1928, DAR members&nbsp;placed a temporary marker to designate the&nbsp;final resting place for this unknown&nbsp;solider. &nbsp;A year later, the permanent table top
stone dedicated in a formal ceremony with members of the
Old Presbyterian congregation, members of the DAR, the Secretary of War, and local residents.&nbsp;The epitaph reads: 

“Here lies a
soldier of the Revolution whose identity is known but to God. His was an
idealism that recognized a Supreme Being, that planted religious liberty on our
shores, that overthrew despotism, that established a people’s government, that
wrote a Constitution setting metes and bounds of delegated authority, that
fixed a standard of value upon men above gold and lifted high the torch of
civil liberty along the pathway of mankind. In ourselves his soul exists as
part of ours, his memory’s mansion.”

The Old Presbyterian Meeting House and the adjacent burial ground is open for visitors and residents of Alexandria.&nbsp;The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier of the
Revolutionary War is set apart by an iron fencing. The church remains in operation&nbsp;with services
on Sunday at 8:30 and 11 am with a fellowship service at noon.&nbsp;

The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier of the Revolutionary War is located in the burial yard adjacent to the Old Presbyterian Meeting House. In 1826, workers discovered the body of a man wearing a Revolutionary uniform during renovation and expansion of the Roman Catholic Church next door. The soldier’s body was reburied in the cemetery of the Old Presbyterian Meeting House but remained unmarked for years. Knowledge of the burial site was only kept alive by a handful of congregation members who would sporadically place flowers at the grave site. In contrast to the well-known Tomb of the Unknown Solider in Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, this lesser known gravesite and memorial is only visited by a handful of people each day. 

The Tomb of the Unknown Solider Revolutionary War

The first Catholic mass in Alexandria was offered by a Catholic chaplain to French soldiers in 1781 (the French were assisting the Americans in the fight agaisnt the British in the American Revolutionary War). In 1788, five years after the war concluded, former Aide-de-Camp of General Washington, Colonel John Fitzgerald, initiated a fundraising campaign to build the first Catholic church in the Commonwealth. It was at this time that George Washington donated money to the cause (Fitzgerald hosted a dinner that Washington attended). Other prominent member of Maryland and Virginia society contributed as well. Thornton Alexander, the son of Alexandria founder John Alexander, donated property where the parish' first church building would be erected (as stated above, it is now where the cemetery is located).The property for the current church was purchased in 1810. It took many years for the current church to be built, however. Most of it was it was erected in 1827 and a bell and tower in 1856 (the present bell tower was added in 1894). A number of other additions and alterations have been made over the years as well. On January 14, 2018, the Vatican officially designated the church as Minor Basilica.

The Basilica of St. Mary is home to the very first Catholic parish founded in the Commonwealth of Virginia and West Virginia (they were one state until 1863). The parish was established in 1795 as the Church of St. Mary by the Very Reverend Francis Ignatius Neale, S.J., who was also the President of Georgetown College (now university) and the Pastor of Holy Trinity Church (est. 1787). President George Washington, who became aware of efforts to establish a Catholic parish in 1788, donated funds to the endeavor. The land on which the first church building stood is now the basilica's cemetery, which was the first Catholic cemetery in Virginia. As the first Catholic parish in the Commonwealth, St. Mary's served as the "mother" church to other Catholic parishes in Virginia. As such, it was instrumental in growing Catholicism in the region. 

Basilica of St. Mary

&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;The location of
this property eludes to its significance in African American history. In the
mid 1800s, the free Black community of Alexandria was rapidly increasing. Within
the city of Alexandria, the neighborhood of Hayti was founded in the 1800s on
the 400th block of South Royal Street. Its name was derived from the only country with a successful slave revolt in the western hemisphere up to this point, Haiti. The
property in this neighborhood was sold to free African American families by the
Quakers; George Seaton was to become the owner of this specific Alexandrian
property in 1866.&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; In 1822, George
Lewis Seaton was born a free Black man in Alexandria. He was well-known in the
community as an architect and master carpenter, responsible for the
construction of several buildings throughout the town around 1850s into the
1860s. Seaton grew to become an important leader within Alexandria, respected
by both whites and Blacks in the area. In 1869, George L. Seaton became the
first African American on the Virginia General Assembly and devoted his
position to advancing life for the Black community and breaking racial
barriers. He would go on to build two schools for the African American children
in Alexandria and served as a founding member of the Colored YMCA, the Colored
Building Association, and the Old Fellows Society. These were among the major
accomplishments Seaton would accomplish for the community.&nbsp; &nbsp; From 1866 until
his death in 1881, the property on 404 South Royal Street served as the home of George Lewis Seaton. He dedicated his life laboring to improve the lives of
African American within Alexandria, leaving his mark on the city. George L.
Seaton’s family continued to live in the house long after he passed, and the
property has undergone many alterations since. &nbsp;Today, the house is a Virginia Historic
Landmark that stands in memory of a man devoted to his city and a better life
for African Americans.

      The George L. Seaton House is located in Alexandria, Virginia, and resides in the second oldest African American neighborhood in this area, Hayti. This two-story brick building was built around 1861-1866. The property is named after prominent African-American community leader George Lewis Seaton, who purchased the house on April 14, 1866. Historical artifacts representing the community of Hayti have been discovered by archaeologists. The property, along with its artifacts, resemble the life of free Blacks in Alexandria in the mid-19th century. In 2004, this property was recognized by the National Register of Historic Places.

George Lewis Seaton House

The Alexandria Academy is a three-story brick building. The original plan for the building was to operate three different &nbsp;kinds of teaching methodologies. On&nbsp;the first
floor, students who were able to afford tuition were instructed in&nbsp;grammar, arithmetic, and physical sciences. A
floor above, tuition-paying students learned Latin and classical Greek. The third floor held
the Free School, which provided basic skills as well as some of the more advanced lessons that were taught on the other floors.&nbsp;&nbsp;


George Washington took great interest in the Free School and
contributed 50 pounds each year- an amount that&nbsp;covered expenses for about twenty
students. Washington was involved with the free school during his entire lifetime, and left four thousand dollars to it in his will. In 1812, the Free School moved to a
new location. In its place, the academy operated a&nbsp;school for African Americans. At
that time, Alexandria was part of the District of Columbia. After the&nbsp;city became part of Virginia in 1846, however, state laws barring the education of both freed and enslaved African Americans required that the classroom for Black students be discontinued.&nbsp;

During the&nbsp;Civil War, the building hosted&nbsp;both a school and hospital for former slaves, offering free tuition for those who could not afford to pay. The
Alexandria Academy was absorbed by the Alexandria Public School System in 1884. The building was&nbsp;used for both educational and administrative purposes
until 1995. In that year,&nbsp;the Historic Alexandria Foundation purchased and&nbsp;restored the building. &nbsp;As a result,&nbsp;the building still plays a role in the education of all Alexandrians, as the building used by many of the city's&nbsp;cultural and educational
institutions.&nbsp;

George Washington and other residents of Alexandria endowed the Alexandria Academy as a subscription school that would also provide free education for as many poor and orphaned children as might be accommodated on the schools upper floor. The majority of students paid modest tuition and the school was open to boys and girls alike. Years later, the academy hosted a school for African Americans. However, the organization discontinued their support for Black education in 1847 in response to a special law passed by the state of Virginia that forbid teaching African Americans to read-even those who were not enslaved. During the Civil War, the building became home to a small hospital and a s school for African Americans. 

Alexandria Academy

During the American Civil War, many African Americans fled
from Southern states in order to gain freedom by heading north. One hot spot
for African Americans during this time was Alexandria, Virginia, though as part
of Virginia, laws were in place that prohibited the education of African
Americans. With the influx of Southern African Americans coming to Alexandria,
Black residents of Alexandria banded together to give much-needed social
services to these refugees. Reverend Clem Robinson and others started a school
for the incoming Blacks in the city in 1862, the First Select Colored School. A
year later, Robinson would found the Beulah Baptist Church, which hosted
classes for the Colored School. The church was confiscated during the war, and following
the end of the war, it was returned upon payment of fees.

As the school at the church gained more steam and support,
education was eventually provided without any tuition or educational fees of
any kind. Once desegregation was passed, Alexandria founded its public school
system in 1870, and Robinson retired in 1875, the school at Beulah Baptist Church
closed down. Despite the closure of the school, Beulah Baptist Church would
continue to provide educational and religious opportunities for willing, open
minds, and this has continued to the present day. On June 17th, 1986,
it was designated on the Virginia Landmark Register, and on November 6th,
1986, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places.

The Beulah Baptist Church is a historic Baptist church in Alexandria, Virginia. Built in 1863, the Beulah Baptist Church served as Alexandria’s first African American church after the occupation of the city by the Union army in 1861. Additionally, it was a center of theological education as well as a pioneer for African American education in Alexandria. On June 17th, 1986, it was designated on the Virginia Landmark Register, and on November 6th, 1986, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places.

Beulah Baptist Church

The Odd Fellows was a communal organization which had roots
in England, dating back to the late eighteenth century. Few communal
organizations like the Odd Fellows allowed for African American membership, but
the Odd Fellows held no such restriction. The Organization founded a chapter in
Alexandria in 1846, making it the second lodge in Alexandria to allow African
American members, the first being a Masonic lodge. After the American Civil War,
it became legal for secret societies to meet, and as a result, several
prominent members of the Odd Fellows chapter in Alexandria decided it was time
for the chapter to have a meeting hall of its own.

The members found a building in 1869, which was constructed
in 1864, that suited them and seemed as though it might make for a quality meeting
hall. They commissioned master carpenter George Seaton to make additions and
enlargements to the home in order to make it into a meeting hall, and in 1870,
the meeting hall was completed and ready for use with the help of funding from
the Freedmen’s Bureau. Though the hall allowed society members of all races,
genders, and secret organizations, it remained particularly important to
African Americans, being one of the earliest in Alexandria to allow them access
to a communal organization. On September 10th, 2003, it was
designated on the Virginia Landmark Register, and on January 16th,
2004, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places. The hall still
currently serves the Alexandria chapter of the Odd Fellows.

The Odd Fellows Hall is a historic hall of the Odd Fellows society, this one located in Alexandria, Virginia. The original building was built in 1864, and in 1870, it was expanded upon to reach the size the hall currently is. Additionally, the hall is particularly interesting because it allowed African Americans access and membership in the organization, where other social organizations of the time would not. On September 10th, 2003, it was designated on the Virginia Landmark Register, and on January 16th, 2004, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places.

Odd Fellows Hall

The
three founders of Alfred Street Baptist Church were members of Alexandria’s First
Baptist Church, an integrated congregation founded in 1803. These members of the congregation resisted the growing&nbsp;restrictions and divisions between white and Black members by&nbsp;forming their own organization, first known as&nbsp;the Colored Baptist Society. The new congregation leased
a plot of land on Alfred Street and built a small wooden church in 1818. The church was originally named First Colored Baptist Church.

Two
years after its construction, the church started a Sunday School for both
children and adults. It also opened a school for teaching academic subjects&nbsp;in the&nbsp;1830s. However, opposition by area whites who feared the consequences of Black&nbsp;education led to the&nbsp;closure of the school shortly after its establishment.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

As was the case for&nbsp;many large buildings of the time, the church was used as a hospital during the
Civil War. The congregation
appointed its first Black minister during the war years&nbsp;and changed its name
to Alfred Street Baptist Church following the war.

The current&nbsp;two-story brick structure was completed in 1885. The new building included&nbsp;both a gable roof and a Romanesque
Revival facade as well as&nbsp;archways and stained-glass
windows that were added shortly after the building's completion.&nbsp;Further renovations have taken place
over the years and, in 1994 extensive renovations to the&nbsp;interior of the
building were completed.&nbsp;

Home to Alexandria’s oldest African American congregation, Alfred Street Baptist Church has long served as a center of the religious, educational, and social life of the city's Black community. The church was founded in 1818 in the Bottoms, a neighborhood that was home to many former slaves and free people of color prior to the Civil War. Alfred Street Baptist Church was first known as First Colored Baptist Church.

Alfred Street Baptist Church

Dr. Albert Johnson was born on November 16th, 1866 in Lynchburg, Virginia to two former slaves. Johnson had access to public education in Lynchburg, and he took every effort to attend all the way through high school. Upon graduating in 1886, Johnson taught at Lynchburg schools until 1889, when he began studying at Harvard University’s Medical College in Washington, DC. He graduated from Harvard and received his medical license in 1892, and he moved back to practice in Lynchburg that same year. He did not remain long, however, and decided to move to Alexandria in 1894. Johnson fell in love with Maude Chinn in 1895, and he proposed to her. As they were preparing for the wedding, Maude fell fatally ill, and the two hurriedly married. Maude died soon after.

In 1896, Johnson purchased a home on Duke Street, and lived by himself until he married again in 1899 to Sarah Morton. They would go on to have two children and live in the home as a family. In 1900, Johnson was listed as the only African-American doctor in Alexandria, and for a long while, he was one of very few in the city for decades. During his time practicing in Alexandria, Johnson used the downstairs portion of the home as his personal office. The Johnsons remained in the home until 1941, when they sold it to Annie Rose. Several decades later, the owner of the home brought the house under serious renovations in 1974. On September 10th, 2003, it was designated on the Virginia Landmark Register, and on January 16th, 2004, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places.&nbsp;

The Dr. Albert Johnson House is a historical home in Alexandria, Virginia, in the Bottoms neighborhood. Built at some point during the 19th century, the building is noted for being the home of African American Physician, Dr. Albert Johnson. It underwent structural renovation in 1974. On September 10th, 2003, it was designated on the Virginia Landmark Register, and on January 16th, 2004, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places. 

Dr. Albert Johnson House

The Friendship Fire Company was the first volunteer
fire-fighting company organized in Alexandria, VA, in 1774, and counted George
Washington among its founding members. In 1775, Washington purchased one of the
first engines for the Fire Company and had it shipped from Philadelphia to
Alexandria by ox cart. The Company moved to the current building in 1855. The
building has undergone multiple renovations, the first of which occurred in 1871.
In 1992, the City of Alexandria further restored the building, and in 2009,
restoration of the cupola was completed.

The Friendship Firehouse Museum now occupies the
building and is dedicated to preserving the building and exhibits, and
educating the community. Open from 1:00 to 4:00 Saturday and Sunday, the museum
contains examples of early fire-fighting equipment. The Engine Room houses fire
engines, leather water buckets, locally-made hoses, axes, and other fire-fighting
gear.&nbsp; It houses information and exhibits
on the development of fire-fighting technology over time, as well as displays
about other historic fire companies in Alexandria. The Meeting Room on the
second floor has been decorated in the late 19th century style, when
the Friendship Fire Company was in its prime.&nbsp;
This includes original furniture, as well as uniforms and banners used
by the Company. 

The museum also displays a suction engine built in
Baltimore and purchased by the Friendship Fire Company in 1851. This engine is
highly ornamented and includes a set of clasped hands, the symbol of the Fire Company.
The suction engine was a labor-intensive machine and required between sixteen and
twenty men to operate. A locally-made hose carriage used by the Fire Company is
on display, as well. Before the installation of city-wide water pipes, water was
drawn from nearby wells and rivers in order to extinguish fires. The carriage
was necessary to transport the long lengths of hoses needed for this method of
fire-fighting.

The Friendship Fire Company was the first volunteer fire-fighting company in Alexandria, VA, and the Friendship Firehouse Museum is dedicated to preserving its memory.  The Museum also houses historical fire-fighting equipment and memorabilia, including a 19th century suction engine and hose carriage.

Friendship Firehouse Museum

Since around 1840, merchant William Bayne was active in the city of Alexandria, Virginia. Bayne purchased a plot of land at 811 Prince Street in 1849 with the intention of building a house on the property. Though he bought the land in 1849, it was not until 1854 that he actually set about building the home. After the completion of the house, Bayne sold it to another merchant, William Fowle. Fowle lived in the home with his family for some time until the outbreak of the American Civil War, during which he remained in Richmond. During the war, the home was taken by the Federal Government for use during the war, and in 1864, it was actually confiscated for use as a military hospital.

When Fowle returned to Alexandria after the war, he filed a lawsuit against the Federal Government for the return of his property, but before the lawsuit could be finished, he died in 1869. Despite this, the Fowle family regained the property, but sold it in 1871. Ever since the home was sold that year, the Bayne-Fowle House has served as a residential house for numerous residents of Alexandria, including Dr. Samuel B. Moore, who operated his personal office out of the home from 1906 until 1940. On June 17th, 1986, it was designated on the Virginia Landmark Register, and on November 6th, 1986, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places.

The Bayne-Fowle House is a historic home in Alexandria, Virginia. Built in 1854 for merchant William Bayne, the home was known for its impressive interior architecture, as well as its occupancy by Northern troops during the American Civil War. On June 17th, 1986, it was designated on the Virginia Landmark Register, and on November 6th, 1986, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places. Since 1871, the Bayne-Fowle House has continuously been a private residence.

Bayne-Fowle House

In the 1820s, a movement for public education was gaining
momentum in the United States, and this was especially so among a group of
like-minded individuals in Alexandria. This group, headed by a Quaker teacher
named Benjamin Hallowell, formed the Alexandria Lyceum and began to give
lectures and host debates in the town in 1838, which quickly became popular
among citizens of the town. Most of these events concerned biology and philosophy,
as religion and politics were avoided because they were always topics of heated
contention. These had become so popular that by 1839, the organization decided
that it needed to expand to fit the needs of those attending. By December 12,
1839, the Lyceum had a proper building constructed for the use of the
organization, and it remained as such for two decades.

For the next century, the Lyceum continually switched hands
of ownership. In 1861, it was taken by the Union and used as an army hospital;
in 1868, it was purchased and made into a home which changed hands several
times; in 1938, it was made into an office building; by the 1960s, the building
was run down and was scheduled for demolition. Preservationists brought forth a
call to preserve and refurbish the building, however, and the Alexandria City Council
ultimately voted in favor of restoring the building in 1969. In 1974,
renovations were complete and the Lyceum became the first Bicentennial Center
in Virginia, and in 1985, it became Alexandria’s museum of city history. Today,
the Lyceum has resumed its original role as an educational and intellectual hub
for the city.

The Alexandria Lyceum is a building with one of the most storied histories in the city of Alexandria. Built in the Greek Revival style, the Lyceum has seen use as a home, a hospital, a lecture hall, and today, a museum of the history of the city of Alexandria. In addition to being an extensive city museum, the Lyceum is also available to rent for private events, echoing its original function as a lecture hall in years gone by.

The Alexandria Lyceum

Created by the United Daughters of the Confederacy in 1889 and located on city property, this bronze statue has remained in place despite the city council's vote in favor of relocating the statue to a nearby museum in the fall of 2016. The city council has been unable to remove the statue despite overwhelming support for the measure by Alexandria residents owing to an 1890&nbsp;state law that explicitly forbids removing this statue. Altering the state law would require bipartisan support and many of the Republicans who control the state legislature remain defenders of Confederate monuments even after numerous violent acts were committed by pro-Confederate demonstrators. &nbsp; The statue depicts a soldier with his head bowed facing South towards the battlefields where his fallen Confederate comrades lost their lives. This aspect of the statue is unique from many others created in their era that faced "enemies" in the North. The soldier is a copy of the painting by John A. Elder that depicts the surrender of Robert E. Lee to General Ulysses S. Grant of the Union army at Appomattox Court House. At the base of the statue is a concrete monument with the names of all 99 soldiers that died in during the battle of Appomattox Court House. &nbsp;The north side of the monument says,"They died in the consciousness of duty faithfully performed." The south side of the&nbsp;monument says, "Erected to the memory of Confederate dead of Alexandria, Va. by their Surviving Comrades, May 24th 1889." &nbsp;The ceremony of the statue was held on May 24, 1889.&nbsp;&nbsp;

This Confederate monument was created in 1889 by the United Daughters of the Confederacy and was one of the early monuments to the Confederacy created in the decades after the war. Despite the fact that many residents of Alexandria supported the Union, and despite the fact that Union troops the day after Virginia seceded, the statue has stood at this location for over a century. The names of about a hundred of Alexandria's Confederate dead are engraved on the seven-foot bronze statue, which was designed by M. Casper Buberl. The artist made the statue to resemble a Southern soldier reflecting on the loss of his many comrades at the surrender ceremony at Appomattox Courthouse. In this regard, the monument is unique from many other Confederate statues that present Confederate generals on horseback as part of an attempt to erase the history of the Confederacy's defeat in the Civil War and the resulting period of Reconstruction. 

Appomattox Confederate Statue

The house was built 1775 by a local Blacksmith named Patrick Murray. At the time, it was one of the few structures in the immediate area and beyond the original 1749 town limits. Eventually, the house became part of the city in 1790 as the town grew. Murray built an addition as well as a livery stable in the mid-1780s. He got into financial trouble and was forced to sell the home in 1792 to a man named Samuel English, who rented out the house until 1794 when it was sold to doctor Elisha Cullen Dick. Dick was the physician who treated George Washington at his death in 1799. Dick only lived in the home for two years as he, too, got into debt and was forced to move (he eventually went bankrupt in 1801). A series of owners occupied the home in the coming years. In 1816, a man named John Douglas Brown bought it; his descendants would own the house for the next 184 years and they made few changes to the old dwelling. The U.S. Department of the Interior recorded the house in the Historic American Buildings Survey in 1936.

Over 240 years old, the Murray-Dick-Fawcett House is one of Alexandria's oldest historic 18th-century homes. Compared to other structures from the period, it is believed to be the least altered in the region of Northern Virginia. Historians consider it a microcosm of a single-family home of the period as it features a living room, kitchen, bedrooms, and slave or servants quarters all under one roof. An individual owns the home today as a private residence but the public is allowed to visit the house twelve times per year for special events.  

Murray-Dick-Fawcett House

St. Paul’s Episcopal Church was founded on November 12th, 1809, due to a split in the congregation of the pre-existing Christ Church. The split had come about due to the resignation of Reverend William Lewis Gibson in October of that year, due to some of the congregation taking issue with his clerical garb, as well as with the way that he delivered his sermons for worship. Reverend Gibson’s leaving took about half of the congregation with him, and they established a new church of their own in an unused meeting house down on Fairfax Street. The church actually flourished, and by 1817, the congregation had grown so much that it was clear that a new building was needed. The pastor at the time, Reverend William Holland Wilmer, D.D., was a close friend of the architect Benjamin Henry Latrobe. Wilmer contracted Latrobe to design a church for the St. Paul’s congregation, the designs were out in 1817, and the church itself was finished in 1818.

After the completion of the church, St. Paul’s continued to flourish like ever before, despite the onset of a national depression, and would continue to do so over the coming century. The church was active in the community, devising outreach programs, establishing a theological seminary, and even opening a school for African Americans. The church continued to shine well into the 1900s, and on May 9th, 1985, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places. Today, the church continues its history of community outreach and education.

St. Paul’s Episcopal Church is a historic Episcopal church located in the Old Town area of Alexandria, Virginia. Built in 1818, the church is particularly significant for being the only nearly untouched Gothic Revival-style building designed by famed architect Benjamin Henry Latrobe. On May 9th, 1985, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places. Today, the church continues to serve and be a driving force in its community for its congregation.

St. Paul’s Episcopal Church

<h4>History of the Apothecary and Museum</h4>
The Stabler-Leadbeater Apothecary shop dates back to Edward Stable’s arrival to Alexandria, VA around 1792. Fresh from an apprenticeship as an apothecary in Leesburg, Stable found a place to rent in central Alexandria and started his business in 1796. As a devout Quaker and a savvy businessman, Stable’s apothecary became very popular, and during his career, he sold his medicines to figures such as Martha Washington and Robert E. Lee. Stable kept the business in his family and included his son-in-law, John Leadbeater. By 1852, John Leadbeater bought the apothecary.
During the Civil War, Union troops occupied Alexandria and the apothecary flourished. The war brought so much favor to Leadbeater’s shop that, after the war, John Leadbeater’s son was selling to 500 pharmacies throughout Washington DC, running a mail order business, and operating from 11 buildings in Alexandria. Unfortunately, by 1933, the apothecary declared bankruptcy and concerned citizens and the American Pharmaceutical Association arranged the purchase of the apothecary’s collections, contents, and archives for private buyers; the purchased contents were donated to the Landmarks Society of Alexandria, who sold the collections and the museum to the City of Alexandria in 2006.1&nbsp;

The Stabler-Leadbeater Apothecary Museum is a small, 1900 museum boasting a vast collection of botanicals, handblown glass, medical equipment, and more. Located in Old Town Alexandria, the Stabler-Leadbeater Apothecary was opened in 1792 by Quaker pharmacist Edward Stabler, and throughout many of the major historical events in US history, from the War of 1812 up until 1933, the Apothecary withstood and remained the center of daily life in Alexandria. Some of its famous customers included George and Marsha Washington and Robert E. Lee. Nowadays, the small museum on South Fairfax Street holds more than 8,000 objects, exploring not only the history of the apothecary practice but also the life and history of Alexandria. In fact, many original furnishings as well as patent medicines, potions, and herbs still remain in place. 

Stabler-Leadbeater Apothecary Shop and Museum

No specific record exists stating specifically when the Fairfax-Moore House was built, but it can be inferred from available documentation that it was possibly built by George William Fairfax, but most likely by John Harper. Regardless, the property was sold with the house to William Hodgson in 1788, an Englishman who sympathized with the American cause. Hodgson remained in the home until he sold it in 1816 to John Gardner Ladd, who sold it to Lewis MacKenzie at an unknown date. The home was eventually purchased by Gay Monatgue Moore in 1929.

Gay Montague was a preservationist, and in her purchase and restoration of the Fairfax-Moore House, she was the first in Alexandria to restore a historic residence. She founded the Alexandria Association in 1932, and she worked tirelessly to push for greater levels of historic preservation for houses in the city. She became involved in many preservation projects across Alexandria, and it seems that by simply purchasing the Fairfax-Moore House and giving it a proper restoration, Gay Montague started a preservationist revolution in the city. In 1979, she gave the home to the Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission. On April 17th, 1990, it was designated on the Virginia Landmark Register, and on January 17th, 1991, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places.

The Fairfax-Moore House is a historic home located in Alexandria, Virginia. Built in the late 18th century, it is unknown whether it was built by George William Fairfax or John Harper, as no specific record of the building’s construction seems to exist. When it was purchased in 1929 by Gay Montague Moore, a preservationist, she made the house her home and her headquarters for a preservationist movement in the city of Alexandria. On April 17th, 1990, it was designated on the Virginia Landmark Register, and on January 17th, 1991, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places.

Fairfax-Moore House

Surveyed by President George Washington, the Athenaeum was
built originally as the Bank of the Old Dominion. The bank was open to a wide
variety of clients in the area, and it remained active until the beginning of
the American Civil War. When the Union overtook Alexandria, the Bank was repurposed
into the Chief Commissary Office of the U.S. Commissary Quartermaster. This was
short-lived, however, and the Bank building was shut down in 1862. The Bank
remained inactive until 1870, when it was repurposed as the First Virginia
Bank.

In 1907, the Bank was purchased by the firm Leadbeater and Sons,
and was used as the building which they based their pharmacy business out of
until 1925, when the building was used as a place of worship for the Free
Methodist Church of North America. The Church retained use of the building
until 1964, when the building was purchased by the Northern Virginia Fine Arts
Association. The Association restored the building and named it the Athenaeum,
becoming a center for the perpetuation and preservation of fine arts of all
kinds. The Athenaeum continues to serve this purpose today, and has found its
place in the National Register of Historic Places.

Constructed originally as a bank in 1852, the Athenaeum is a building with a history of serving many purposes. Though it is currently the home of the North Virginia Fine Arts Association, it has been used as a bank, office space, and a base of operations for a pharmacy business. Today, the Athenaeum houses many different forms of art, allowing visitors to enjoy a wide variety of artistic exhibits and performances.

The Athenaeum 

Just one day after the official end of World War I, on
November 12, 1918, the United States Navy began construction on the U.S. Naval
Torpedo Station (NTS) on the site of an old wharf on North Union Street. The
NTS was classified as top secret and no photos of the facility were released
until the end of World War II. The first run of munitions were 908 Mark III
aircraft torpedoes manufactured between 1919 and 1923. During World War II, the
factory expanded into a complex of 11 buildings, where Mark III's and bright
green Mark XIV submarine torpedoes were constructed. The first of the Mark XIV
torpedoes produced at the NTS was finished on April 1, 1941 and shipped out with
the U.S.S. Gudgeon. Though the U.S. had yet to enter the war, the military was
preparing for the possibility. In four years, the NTS produced 9,918 torpedoes
(tested at Piney Point, Maryland), as well as airplane-mounted rocket motors.
1,451 enemy ships were sunk or damaged with NTS-constructed munitions.

&nbsp;

An employee newsletter, The
Torp, was published monthly, running news about the war (especially workers
who had gone overseas), bond drives, employee poetry, and worker events such as
talent shows, bowling competitions, and basketball games. A set of 150 wooden
duplexes, called Chinquapin Village, was constructed three miles from the plant
to house workers, who were bussed to and from the factory each day.

&nbsp;

After the end of the war in 1945, the plant became a storage
facility for dinosaur bones, Smithsonian art, Congressional documents, and
German war films and records. The City of Alexandria purchased the complex in
1969, and Art League President
Marian Van Landingham, backed by the Alexandria Bicentennial Commission,
proposed to utilize the buildings for studio space for artists. The Torpedo
Factory Artists’ Association was formed, and Van Landingham became the first
Art Director.

Renovations began in May of 1974.
Volunteers and city workers &nbsp;removed 40
truckloads of debris, built new walls, re-worked the electricity and plumbing, and
painted the exterior. Studio walls were built, electricity and plumbing
expanded; all by July of the same year. The Torpedo Factory Art Center opened
its doors to the public on September 15, 1974. After extensive remodeling, a
grand re-opening was held in 1983.

Now, the art center offers
access to 82 studios and two workshops (fiberworks and printmakers), seven
galleries, art classes, a cafe, and the Alexandria Archaeology Museum, which
offers rotating exhibits on local archaeology, public archaeology "Dig
Days" and "Adventure Lessons" with hands-on activities, and the
permanent exhibit, "A Community Digs Its Past: The Lee Street
Site" which presents a one-block "microcosm" of the city [1],
from the 18th and 19th centuries, including wharves, homes, shops, industries,
and military facilities.

The Torpedo Factory Art Center, a public studio space with associated galleries, workshops, art classes, and the Alexandria Archaeology Museum, is on the site of the U.S. Naval Torpedo Station, a formerly top-secret munitions factory constructed in 1918. The NTS produced almost 1,000 submarine torpedoes (Mark XIV) during World War II.

The Torpedo Factory Art Center

In 1749, Alexandria was a brand-new city that needed inhabitants,
an auction was held to sell lots of land. Scottish merchant and Alexandria
founder John Carlyle bought two of the most expensive lots, which were located
between the Potomac River and Market Square. This location was ideal for his
business activities, as it granted easy access to both customers and trade
routes. &nbsp;Construction began in 1751, and
Carlyle and his wife moved into the finished house in 1753. &nbsp;

Shortly afterwards, General Edward Braddock chose the
Carlyle House to become his headquarters during the French and Indian War.
General Braddock held multiple meetings in the Carlyle House, and the most
famous one, known as the Congress of Alexandria, took place in 15 April 1755. In
this meeting, the governors of five colonies met to design a military strategy
and request funding from the British Parliament in order to fight the ongoing
war. The Congress of Alexandria holds a special place in American history, as
it is considered the beginning of the tensions between the colonies and Britain
over taxation issues. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

By the mid-19th century the estate had changed
hands, and the new owner, James Green, thoroughly renovated the Carlyle House.
One of the main changes was the construction of a hotel in front of the house,
which became one of the best hotels in the East Coast. The exclusive Manson House
Hotel was turned into a hospital for Union soldiers during the Civil War, after
the Union occupied Alexandria.

After Green’s death in 1880, the site changed hands often
and was given multiples uses: an apartment building in the early 1900s, a
museum during World War I, etc. It wasn’t until 1970 when the&nbsp;Northern
Virginia Regional Park Authority took over the estate, torn down the hotel, thoroughly
restored the Carlyle House, and opened it to the public in 1976.

Nowadays,
numerous public activities are held in the Carlyle House, such as daily tours,
exhibits, programs for schoolchildren, as well as an annual reenactment of the Congress
of Alexandria.&nbsp;

This beautiful Georgian mansion stands proud in downtown Alexandria, dominating the area’s landscape since the very beginnings of this city. Shortly after its construction was finished, the Carlyle House was already a center of the Alexandrian social, economic, and political life and has remained an important element of the city ever since.    

The Carlyle House

On November 23rd, 1792, an Act of the Virginia Assembly established the Bank of Alexandria. The bank did not have a building of its own as of the time of its establishment, and as a result, it initially inhabited a building at 305 Cameron Street in Alexandria. At the time, a bank building was being planned for construction, and plans were finally drawn up for a building that would ultimately cost $50,000, making it the most expensive building in Alexandria at the time of its eventual construction. After extensive planning and design, it was finally built in 1807. Following the construction of the bank, one of the bank’s founders, William Herbert, served as the president of the bank for twenty years, and also went on to serve as the mayor of Alexandria from 1809 until 1812.

Almost immediately after the bank’s opening, it sold all of its shares within a span of two hours. The bank would go on to be successful for a time, but in the 1834, the bank failed and transferred its holdings to the United States Government. Following the closure of the bank, a revival of the building as a bank was not attempted, and instead, in the 1840s, it was converted into a hotel, for use as the Mansion House Hotel. On April 17th, 1973, it was designated on the Virginia Landmark Register, and on June 4th, 1973, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places.

The Bank of Alexandria is a historic bank in Virginia’s city of Alexandria. Built in 1807, it is noted that it was possibly Alexandria’s most expensive building at the time of its construction. In the 1840s, it was converted for use as the Mansion House Hotel. On April 17th, 1973, it was designated on the Virginia Landmark Register, and on June 4th, 1973, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places.

Bank of Alexandria

Gadsby's Tavern is a historic commercial building located in Old Town Alexandria, Virginia. The site actually consists of two buildings: a tavern built around 1785 (enlarged in 1792), and the 1792 City 
Hotel. The tavern is named for John Gadsby, who leased and operated the tavern and hotel from 1796 to 1808. Gadsby's was not the first tavern built on this location, having been preceded by the Mason's Ordinary (1749 to 1752), and another tavern which operated in the 1770s. In 1782, John Wise purchased the defunct lot on which he constructed the existing Georgian-style tavern in 1785 and the Federal City Tavern in 1792. The City Tavern, which was the most popular tavern in Alexandria at the time, was leased by Englishman John Gadsby in 1796. When he renewed the lease in 1802, he extended it to include the smaller building. As an important hub of social, economic, political, and educational life of the city of Alexandria, this popular establishment was frequented by some of the most notable individuals in early American history. George Washington was a regular guest at Gadsby's, and he twice attended the annual 
Birthnight Ball held in his honor. John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, James Monroe, and the Marquis de La Fayetteare also counted amongst the distinguished guests of Gadsby's Tavern. Following John Gadsby's death in 1815, ownership of the tavern passed to a number of different individuals. The buildings served as taverns, lawyers' offices, auction 
houses, and perhaps even as hospitals during the American Civil War. By the turn of the 20th Century, however, the tavern had fallen into complete disrepair and housed various retail shops. On May 21, 1917, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City moved the tavern's historic ballroom to New York. The Met also purchased additional architectural elements, such as the unique 
musicians gallery, cornice, door frames, and several mantelpieces. The American Wing on the Metropolitan Museum of Art opened a permanent installation of the recreated Gadsby's Tavern Ballroom on November 11, 1924. Original ballroom woodwork from the tavern is still on display today. Threatened with demolition, F. Clinton Knight and the American Legion Post 24, along with other groups, began extensive restoration efforts to save the tavern. Reopened in 1976, Gadsby's Tavern now houses American Legion Post 24, a cultural history museum about the early American life in Virginia, and a restaurant. The restaurant is located in the original dining room and serves a mix of period and modern foods. Nearby is St. Paul's Cemetery, where a 
table-like grave marker for the "Female Stranger" is located. According to local legend, the ghost of the woman buried there haunts the cemetery and the room in which she died, Room 8 of Gadsby's Tavern. Gadsby's Tavern is part of the American Whiskey Trail.

Built approximately in 1785 by John Gadsby, this tavern played a part of the lives of our founding fathers. Founding fathers such as Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and George Washington are recorded as visitors of this tavern. This tavern survived the Revolutionary War completely intact, and flourished in the new country. The tavern was transformed into a museum during the twentieth century after facing the possibility of demolition. The site remains a part of the historic district of the city Alexandria, and still functions both as a restaurant and as a museum. Restored to the similar internal structures of the original facility, the tavern represents the relationship the past has with the present. 

Gadsby's Tavern Museum

Elmer E. Ellsworth was born on April 11, 1837 in Malta, New York and remained there until moving to Mechanicville, New York in 1847. He made his way to New York City sometime in the next few years and got a job working in a linen shop. In the late 1850s he was in Chicago working as a clerk in a law office and joined a local militia, the National Guard Cadets. He became its major and soon transformed it into the United States Zouave Cadets, which was modeled after the French Zouaves (Algerian infantry regiments of the French army who wore colorful uniforms). In 1860, Ellsworth moved to Springfield, Illinois to work for and study law under Abraham Lincoln. He helped Lincoln during the 1860 presidential campaign and moved to Washington D.C. to work in Lincoln's office. Ellsworth formed the 11th New York Volunteer Regiment shortly before the Civil War began. His soldiers wore Zouave-style uniforms and most of them came from the New York City's fire departments, earning them the nickname "Fire Zouaves."Ellsworth was taken to the Washington Navy Yard where Lincoln and Mary Todd Lincoln viewed his body. Lincoln reportedly said "My boy! My boy! Was it necessary this sacrifice should be!” His body was then taken to the White House to lay in state and then buried in Hudson View Cemetery in Mechanicville. The deaths of both he and Jackson became rallying cries for the Union and the Confederacy. The flag Ellsworth removed from the flagpole was apparently given to Mary Todd Lincoln, who put it in a drawer. A piece of it, and Ellsworth's uniform cap, are housed at the Fort Ward Museum.

This historical marker shares the story of Colonel Elmer Ellsworth (1837-1861), a close friend of President Abraham Lincoln and the first Union officer to be killed during the Civil War. Ellsworth and his troops of 11th New York Volunteer Regiment arrived in Alexandria on May 24, 1861 as part of the Union's takeover of the city a day after Virginia residents voted in favor of seceding. One of the buildings in the city, a hotel called the Marshall House, featured a large Confederate flag flying atop a flagpole on the roof that could be seen from the White House. Ellsworth and a group of four soldiers went to the hotel to remove it. After Ellsworth retrieved the flag, the owner of the hotel ardent supporter of slavery, James W. Jackson, shot and killed Ellsworth at point blank range as Ellsworth and the others descended the staircase. One of the soldiers, Francis E Brownell, then immediately shot Jackson (he later received the Medal of Honor for his actions). Ellsworth died immediately on May 24, 1861. The Marshall House was torn down around 1950 and stood where The Alexandrian Hotel is today.

Historical Marker: Colonel Ellsworth, First Union Officer Killed During the Civil War

The significance of the houses comes from the Moses Hepburn himself.
&nbsp;Born a slave in 1809 and freed seven
years later, Hepburn overcame tremendous racial difficulties and became a
successful entrepreneur in the antebellum city through his ownership and
development of various residential and commercial properties.&nbsp;His father
was a wealthy man, white merchant and member of City Council. Esther, his
African American mother, was enslaved to his father in 1816 when she and her
children, including Moses, were sold to her free Black sister, Harriet Jackson.
Eleven days later, Harriet freed Esther and her children.

After receiving an education in Pennsylvania, Moses became successful
businessman and served as a civic leader in the community. He was the one of
the nine founding members of Davis Chapel (1834) as well as the first president
of the church’s missionary society. He also exhibited a great cconsern for the
education of Alexandria’s Blacks and served as a teacher at the Sabbath School
of Roberts Memorial Church, the successor to Davis Chapel. In 1847, Alexandria
was retroceded to Virginia, which forbade the education of African Americans.
As a result, the family decided to leave, relocating to West Chester,
Pennsylvania.

The Moses Hepburn Row Houses stands today as a testimony of
and a tribute to the business acumen and leadership of one of Alexandria’s
remarkable early-nineteenth-century free African American citizens. &nbsp;

The four townhouses were built in 1850 by Moses Hepburn, the wealthiest free African American in Alexandria. He was born as a slave in 1809 and freed seven years later.  He was also one of the nine founders of Davis Chapel, later Roberts Memorial United Methodist Church, the oldest African American church building in Alexandria (1834). The houses were constructed somewhere after he purchased the property in 1850. Located in the middle of the block, they are relatively modest in scale when compared to the other existing houses on the street.  
The houses were added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2004.

The Moses Hepburn Row Houses

The Hollensbury Spite House stands on Queen Street in Old Town Alexandria, and at seven-feet-wide, 325 square feet, and two stories, is one of the skinniest houses in the United States. The blue townhome was built in 1830 by John Hollensbury, who the house is named for, a bricklayer who owned the two homes adjacent to the Spite House. The alleyway between Hollensbury's two homes was continuously being used as a shortcut for horse-drawn wagons, creating damage to the outside of the house, and also attracted loud and raucous people who congregated in the alley. Sick of the damage and the noise, Hollensbury created the tiny home by adding a roof and an exterior to the brick walls of the two adjacent homes; the gouges from wagons can still be seen on the walls of the house in the living room. Privately owned and under the ex posto facto law regarding building code, one can still visit the house from the outside and take a nice photo for social media!

The Hollensbury Spite House is a seven-foot-wide blue townhome located on Queen Street in Old Town Alexandria. Built in 1830, the house was constructed by adding a roof and exterior to the two existing walls of the homes next door. The house is called a spite house because it was built simply to keep passersby from using the alleyway that the house now occupies.

Hollensbury Spite House 

In 1785, Philip Richard Fendall was working for Washington’s Potomac Canal Company as a director, as well as the first president of the Bank of Alexandria. Earlier in 1784, he had received a large plot of land from Henry Lee, and he had decided that he wanted to build a house on the property. Fendall was technically part of the Lee family, as he had Married Henry’s mother-in-law, and two years after she died, he had married Henry’s sister, making Fendall’s property also Lee property. Fendall contracted the construction of his home in 1785, and it was completed that very year. Fendall and his wife lived in the house until he died in 1805, and following his death, it stayed in the Lee family for almost a century, going through numerous owners over the generations.

The property was bought in 1903 by Robert Downham from the last representative of the Lee family to own the home, Mrs. Robert Fleming. In 1937, John and Myrta Lewis obtained the property. As the President of the United Mine Workers of America and founder of the Congress of Industrial Organizations, the home quickly became a political hot spot, and while John tended to the politics, Myrta occupied herself with the massive undertaking of remodeling the home, including the addition of expertly-crafted gardens. After Myrta died in 1942, John continued to care for the gardens which she so passionately looked after. The Lewis Heir, Dr. John Lewis, Jr. sold the building in 1972 to the Virginia Trust for Historic Preservation, who currently own the property and have converted it into a museum and garden. On April 17th, 1979, it was designated on the Virginia Landmark Register, and on June 22nd, 1979, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places.

The Lee-Fendall House is a historic home-turned-museum and garden in Old Town Alexandria, Virginia. Built in 1785, the home has seen numerous owners throughout its lifespan. Currently, the home operates as the Lee-Fendall House Museum and Garden, specializing in the history of the house and Virginia. On April 17th, 1979, it was designated on the Virginia Landmark Register, and on June 22nd, 1979, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places.

Lee-Fendall House

Built in 1796-1797 by John Wise, the house changed few
owners before it became a home to John Lloyd in 1833, and served as a Lloyd’s
family house for 100 years. The Lloyd House, when it was built, was one of the finest examples
of Federal domestic architecture in Alexandria and a splendid illustration of
the post-colonial style that characterizes so much of early Virginia
architecture. Aside its architectural significance the house is also
historically significant. A number of prominent people lived here: &nbsp;Charles Lee, a prominent layer who served as
Attorney General In the presidential administration of George Washington and
Charles Adams; Jacob Hoffman a wealthy merchant; William Albert Smoot, Jr., a
lumber dealer, served as a Mayor of the city under the first city manager form
of government and was a member of the Virginia house of Delegates etc.Built in 1796-1797 this building has had a difficult time
surviving throughout the ages. The building changed from being a simple house,
to sugar refining building during the early 19th century, and a
center for geological studies in the middle 20th century. Today, the
Lloyd House houses the administrative offices of the Office of Historic
Alexandria (OHA), and the first floor and the yard are available for rentals
and can accommodate up to 100 people, depending on the occasion. 





While the function of the building has changed over the
years, it still remains an important aspect of American history. After
surviving over hundreds of years the building can still be seen and touched by
individuals who understand the significance of preserving the past.&nbsp;

Like many buildings in the historical district in Alexandria, Virginia, the Lloyd House remains a part of American history. The house is both local and national significant. The house was constructed in 1796-1797 by John Wise, a prominent entrepreneur in Alexandria during this period,  which also constructed the Gadsby’s tavern (1785) and operated another late 18th century tavern still standing today at the corner of North Fairfax and Cameron Streets. Before his death, George Washington was a guest in the house on occasion. John Lloyd, a wealthy merchant bought the house in 1833 and was owned by the Lloyd family until 1930s.Today the Lloyd House houses the administrative offices of the Office of Historic Alexandria (OHA), and the first floor and the yard are available for rentals and can accommodate up to 100 people, depending on the occasion. 
Constructed   in the late eighteenth-century Georgian architectural style the structure was added to the National Register of Historic Places on July 12, 1976. It is and one of five buildings of the Georgian style remaining in the city.

Lloyd House

In the 1930s, segregation reigned in Alexandria and throughout the South and beyond. In addition to schools, restaurants, and other places of public accommodation, many&nbsp;libraries barred Black residents from entering the building-effectively barring millions from access to books in an era when most Americans depended on libraries for reading material. Samuel Wilbert Tucker, an Alexandria native, organized a movement to challenge this exclusion.&nbsp;As Alexandria's only high school was an all-white school, Tucker had attended and graduated from a high school in&nbsp;Washington D.C. At the age of 20, he&nbsp;graduated from Howard University and passed Virginia's bar exam. In March&nbsp;1939, Tucker was not&nbsp;allowed entry to the Alexandria Library (another white-only establishment). Tucker took the case to court and discovered that the city's solution was to built an all-Black library, which Tucker knew from experience&nbsp;would not offer the same access to services and information. In response to this injustice, Tucker&nbsp;worked with others in Alexandria's&nbsp;Black community and organized a group of&nbsp;young men who were&nbsp;willing to challenge the city's policy of segregation, even if it meant that they would&nbsp;be arrested.&nbsp; On the day of the protest, August 21, 1939, only five men arrived:&nbsp;Otto Tucker, 22; William “Buddy” Evans, 19; Edward Gaddis, 21; Morris L. Murray, 22; and Clarence “Buck” Strange, 21. One by one, these men entered the library and asked to register for a library card. When refused, the protester picked up a book, took a seat, and read quietly. Five men at five different tables read their books without causing a stir. Each of the men had prepared for the event. Knowing that they might be photographed and arrested, each wore&nbsp;their best clothing and resolved to act&nbsp;politely in the face of insults. The library staff called the police (Tucker, as planned, was waiting for the police's arrival) and the police soon arrived and arrested the five men for disorderly conduct (as the men's politeness had an impact and the police had difficulties finding grounds for a conviction). Samuel Tucker had a photographer waiting outside to take a photo, and he quickly arranged for the men's release from custody. The charges were never dismissed, nor were they ever brought back to court. The case essentially disappeared from the record without ever reaching a formal resolution.&nbsp;The story was largely ignored outside of Black communities. The Alexandria Library Board, in response, promised to build the Blacks-only Robert H. Robinson Library and hire an African American librarian. Tucker wrote a passionate letter in response. "I refuse and will always refuse to accept a card to be used at the library to be constructed and operated at Alfred and Wythe Streets," he wrote,&nbsp;&nbsp;"in lieu of [a] card to be used at the existing library on Queen Street for which I have made application." Tucker went on to become a leading civil rights attorney on behalf of the NAACP, winning many cases against segregated schools during the 1960s, including the infamous case in Prince Edward County where school officials closed all public schools in order to avoid the court's order to desegregate.1

In August 1939, attorney Samuel W. Tucker orchestrated what appears to be the earliest organized civil rights sit-in at this library. At that time, Alexandria was a city of 33,000 and had only one public library. Although local Black residents vote and paid their taxes (some of which went to financing the library after it had been built), they were denied entry to the white-only library. Attorney Samuel W. Tucker was 26 in the summer of 1939, and to protest the library's white-only policy, he prepared a select group of men for an act of civil disobedience. On Friday, August 21, 1939, Tucker's group entered the public library despite the library's policy of only serving white patrons. They were denied service and told to leave, but they sat down and read until the police arrived and arrested the men for trespassing. The situation was virtually ignored by most newspapers at the time, and Samuel Tucker continued fighting against segregation and intolerance thereafter, becoming a prominent voice in the Civil Rights era. He later served as the lead lawyer for the NAACP and argued several cases before the the Supreme Court.

Sit-in at Alexandria's White-Only Public Library, 1939

In 1749 the city of Alexandria was established, with a small chapel to serve the small, but growing, community.&nbsp;In 1765, having&nbsp;recently been divided from the&nbsp;clerical jurisdiction&nbsp;of Truro,&nbsp;the parish of Alexandria decided to erect two churches of their own. One was located in Alexandria, and the other at Falls Church.&nbsp;Both&nbsp;buildings was designed by Colonel James Wren, who had also been commissioned to plan&nbsp;Pohick Church which this building closely resembles. Construction began in 1767, and took almost six full years to complete, during which time architect John Carlyle took over from Colonel Wren. In&nbsp;February 27, 1773, the building was complete, and in&nbsp;July&nbsp;George Washington attended a service at the church. By 1785 the parish was running out of funding, after the&nbsp;previous system of tax support through mandatory tithing&nbsp;was abolished by&nbsp;the Commonwealth of Virginia. In response the&nbsp;church&nbsp;began the controversial system known as pew rents, by which families or wealthy individuals could reserve seating for services (this system was only replaced by&nbsp;voluntary pledging in 1917). The chruch gradually grew in wealth; in&nbsp;1815 an organ was installed in the church, made by the first organ builder in Washington,&nbsp;Jacob Hilbus (this organ is know held by the Smithsonian Institute), and three years later they imported a cut-glass chandelier from England. At the beginning of&nbsp;the Civil War the church was visited by&nbsp;Robert E. Lee, but after&nbsp;Virginia voted to secede in 1861 Alexandria was occupied by&nbsp;federal troops. Christ Church then became used by Union chaplains and clergy, under orders of&nbsp;U.S. Army General William Redding Montgomery. The parish of Alexandria only had ownership returned to them after the Civil War ended. The original church had a rectangular plan. The Flemish bond brick walls had two tiers of windows - rectilinear windows below and
arched above. A&nbsp;modillioned
cornice supports the hipped roof, which was&nbsp;originally covered with cypress
shingles. The congregation entered through a doorway supported by&nbsp;Tuscan pilasters sporting triangular pediments. Inside, the church featured two aisles flanking the central nave which leads towards a splendid Palladian window on the east wall. The floors are laid with tiles, flagstones, and pine floorboards.&nbsp;Between 1785 and 1818 a number of additions were made to the building, including wooden galleries and a tower with octagonal belfry. In 1950 a memorial hall was constructed. The church is still active, holding regular weekly services and for all ecclesiastical holidays, and it is open for visitors. Within the church grounds one can find the graveyard, which contains a mass grave of thirty-four Confederate soldiers that were reinterred from&nbsp;Alexandria Soldier's Cemetery in&nbsp;1879. These had died whilst being held as prisoners of war in federal hospitals around the city. They are also commemorated by a memorial plaque in the churchyard.&nbsp;

Christ Church is one of the best-preserved 18th century late-Georgian churches in the country. Despite slight modifications made during restorations over the years, both the exterior and interior are in their original condition, and the church has been in continuous use since it opened in 1773. Numerous historic figures attended services in the church, including George Washington, Robert E. Lee, Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill. The building was added to the List of National Historic Landmarks in Virginia in 1970.

Christ Church

Henry Lee III was born on January 29, 1756 in Leesylvania, Virginia on a plantation close to the port town of Dumfries. His father, Henry II, was planter, lawyer, and politician. One of eight children, Lee was tutored at home and enjoyed classical literature and riding horses. As a young man, he studied law at Princeton University (then called the College of New Jersey) and briefly practiced before joining the Continental Army in 1776 as a commissioned captain in the Virginia Light Dragoons. Lee was promoted to major in 1778 and given command of Lee's Legion, which practiced what is now known as guerrilla warfare and participated in a number of engagements, most of which occurred in the southern theater. Notable battles include the Battle of Edgar's Lane (September 30, 1778) and the aforementioned Battle of Paulus Hook (August 19, 1779). Lee was later promoted to lieutenant colonel and was present when British general Charles Cornwallis surrendered after the Battle of Yorktown in 1781.Lee left the army in 1782 and married his first wife, Matilda, who was an heiress to a large plantation called Stratford Hall in Westmoreland County. He should have been secure financially, but he began to make risky investments that would eventually ruin him. Just before her death, Matilda, knowing how poor Lee was at managing finances, placed the trust of Stratford Hall to their three children instead of him. Lee remarried in 1793 to Anne Carter, whose father put her inheritance in a trust. Anne and Lee had six children, five of whom lived to adulthood including Robert, who became the commander of the Army of Northern Virginia during the Civil war. Henry Lee's bad financial dealings eventually cost the family Stratford Hall in the 1820s.Lee, who was a staunch federalist, was elected to the Confederation Congress in 1786 and served for two years. He later served in the Virginia General Assembly from 1789 to 1791 when he was elected governor. In 1794, President George Washington appointed Lee as Major General to put down an uprising in western Pennsylvania called the Whiskey Rebellion. It was successful but the Virginia General Assembly rendered Lee's governorship as vacant by invoking a state law that forbade Virginia governors from accepting a federal appointment. Lee wasn't done with politics, however, and was elected to the General Assembly again and then to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1799. In December that year, Washington died and Lee was asked to give the eulogy, which is famous for the its first words: "First in war, first in peace, and the first in the hearts of countrymen."He lived at Stratford Hall in the early 1800s but was jailed in 1809-1810 for failing to pay past debts. During that time he wrote a two-volume memoir that was published in 1812 but it was not popular. In 1812, he defended a friend and editor of a newspaper who was a critic of the War of 1812. A mob of drunk war supporters attacked Lee, the editor and others as they were going to a jailhouse, where they would be protected, under police escort. The mob badly beat Lee who survived but was permanently disfigured and never fully recovered. To escape creditors, he fled to the Caribbean where he remained until returning to the U.S. in early 1818, arriving on Cumberland Island, Georgia where the daughter of his former commander, General Nathanael Green, lived. Lee died on March 25, 1818.

American revolutionary war cavalry officer, lawyer, politician, and father of General Robert E. Lee (1807-1870), Henry Lee III (1756-1818), lived in this house briefly from the fall of 1810 to February 1811. He served as governor of Virginia from 1791 to 1794 and then in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1799 to 1801. During the war, Lee commanded a unit in the Continental Army called "Lee's Legion," which consisted of both cavalry and infantry. He earned a reputation as a highly capable leader and the Continental Congress awarded him a medal for his actions at the Battle of Paulus Hook. Lee was also known for being a skilled horse rider and earned the nickname "Light-Horse Harry." Lee was a strict disciplinarian as well and often clashed with his fellow officers. Robert E. Lee was almost four years old when his father bought the house, which was built in 1797. It remains a private residence.

Alexandria Virginia Extended Downtown History Walking Tour

Market Square

Introduction

Images

Backstory and Context

Sources

Additional Information