An independent city of northern Virginia on the Potomac River opposite Washington, D.C. Primarily a residential suburb of the capital, the city has many historic buildings. George Washington helped lay out the streets in 1749. Population: 137,000.
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Britannica Concise Encyclopedia:
Alexandria
For more information on Alexandria, visit Britannica.com.
US History Encyclopedia:
Alexandria
Alexandria, a city in Virginia on the Potomac River, below Washington, D.C., was an important trading center until early in the nineteenth century, particularly as a tobacco warehousing and deep-sea shipping port. First settled in 1695, it was established as a town in 1749 on an original grant of 6,000 acres awarded in 1669. For nearly a century, the Alexander family had owned the site. It lay on the main stage route, the King's Highway, which ran southward into Virginia. Gen. Edward Braddock departed from there on his fatal expedition in 1755. The Fairfax Resolves were signed in Alexandria, 18 July 1774. Alexandria was incorporated in 1779. From 1791 to 1847, the city was under federal jurisdiction as part of the District of Columbia. Thomas Jefferson's Embargo Act of 1807 destroyed its tobacco trade. During the American Civil War, Union troops occupied it. Alexandria was the home of many prominent Virginia families. Alexandria's population greatly increased in the twentieth century and reached 128,283 in 2000. It has become an affluent and largely residential city noted for its colonial architecture. Many corporations in diverse fields, such as Time-Life, Inc., and the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), have chosen to make Alexandria their headquarters.
Bibliography
Dabney, Virginius. Virginia: The New Dominion. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1983.
Hurst, Harold W. Alexandria on the Potomac: The Portrait of an Antebellum Community. Lanham, Md.: University Press of America, 1991.
Kolp, John Gilman. Gentlemen and Freeholders: Electoral Politics in Colonial Virginia. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1998.
—Ethel Armes/A. E.
Columbia Encyclopedia:
Alexandria.
City (1990 pop. 111,183), independent and in no county, N Va., a port of entry on the Potomac; patented 1657, permanently settled 1730s, inc. 1779. Primarily a residential suburb of Washington, D.C., it also has extensive railroad yards and repair shops, a deepwater port, and varied industry (printing and publishing, fiber optics research, and machinery and computer-hardware manufacturing). A number of U.S. government buildings and scientific and engineering research firms are there; Crystal City and Pentagon City are vast office developments. George Washington helped lay out the streets in 1749. The city was part of the District of Columbia from 1789 to 1846. In May, 1861, it was occupied by federal troops; it was cut off from the rest of the South throughout the Civil War. Its many historic buildings include Gadsby's Tavern (1752), frequented by Washington; Carlyle House (1752), where Washington received his commission as major; Christ Church (1767–73), where Washington, and later Robert E. Lee, worshiped; and Ramsey House (1749–51). The George Washington Masonic National Memorial Temple (1923–32), modeled after the ancient lighthouse at Alexandria, Egypt, houses Washington mementos. The Alexandria Gazette, among the nation's oldest daily newspapers, was first printed in 1784. Nearby are Mount Vernon; Woodlawn, one of the Washington family estates; an Episcopal seminary (1823); Fort Belvoir; and the U.S. Army Engineer Center, with an engineering school and research and development laboratories.
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Wikipedia:
Alexandria, Virginia
| Alexandria, Virginia | |||
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| Coordinates: | |||
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| Country | United States | ||
| State | Virginia | ||
| Founded | 1749 | ||
| Government | |||
| - Mayor | William D. Euille | ||
| Area | |||
| - City | sq mi ( |
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| - Land | sq mi ( km²) | ||
| - Water | sq mi ( km²) | ||
| Elevation | ft ( m) | ||
| Population (2000) | |||
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| - Density | /sq mi (/km²) | ||
| Time zone | EST (UTC-5) | ||
| - Summer (DST) | EDT (UTC-4) | ||
| Area code(s) | 703 | ||
| FIPS code | 51-010002 | ||
| GNIS feature ID | 14924563 | ||
| Website: www.alexandriava.gov | |||
Alexandria is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 128,284. Located along the Western bank of the Potomac River, Alexandria is approximately 6 miles (9.6 kilometers) south of downtown Washington, DC.
Like the rest of Northern Virginia, as well as central Maryland, modern Alexandria has been shaped by its proximity to the nation's capital. It is largely populated by professionals working in the federal civil service, the U.S. military, or for one of the many private companies which contract to provide services to the federal government. The latter are known locally as beltway bandits, after the Capital Beltway, an interstate highway that circles Washington, D.C. One of Alexandria's largest employers is the U.S. Department of Defense. Others include the Institute for Defense Analyses and the Center for Naval Analyses. In 2005, the United States Patent and Trademark Office moved 7,100 employees from 18 separate buildings in nearby Crystal City into a new headquarters complex in the city.
Alexandria is home to numerous associations, charities, and non-profit organizations including the national headquarters of groups such as the Salvation Army. In 2005, Alexandria became one of the first cities of its size to offer free wireless internet access to some of its residents and visitors.
The historic center of Alexandria is known as Old Town. It is a major draw for tourists and those seeking nightlife. Like Old Town, many Alexandria neighborhoods are high-income suburbs of Washington D.C. A 2005 assessed-value study of homes and condominiums found that over 40 percent were in the highest bracket, worth $556,000 or more.
History
The first settlement was established in 1695. Around 1746, Captain Philip Alexander II (1704-1753) moved to what is south of present Duke Street in Alexandria. His estate, which consisted of 500 acres (2 km²), was bounded by Hunting Creek, Hooff’s Run, the Potomac River, and approximately the line of which would become Cameron Street. Since it was felt that the Potomac River was a good place for a prosperous town, there was a petition submitted to the Virginia legislature on November 1, 1748, that the “inhabitants of Fairfax (Co.) praying that a town may be established at Hunting Creek Warehouse on Potowmack River,” as Hugh West was the owner of the warehouse.
Since this was amidst his estate, Philip opposed the idea and strongly favored a site at the head of Great Hunting Creek. It has been said that in order to avoid a predicament the petitioners changed the name of the new town from Belle Haven to Alexandria, in honor of Philip’s family. As a result, Philip and his cousin Captain John Alexander (1711-1763) gave land to assist in the development of Alexandria, and are thus listed as the founders. This John was the son of Robert Alexander II (1688-1735). Lots were being sold for the town of Alexandria by July 1749, though it did not become incorporated until 1779.
In 1755, General Edward Braddock organized his fatal expedition against Fort Duquesne at Alexandria. In April of 1755, the governors of Virginia, Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, and Maryland met to determine upon concerted action against the French in America.
In March 1785, commissioners from Virginia and Maryland met in Alexandria to discuss the commercial relations of the two
states, finishing their business at
In 1790, Alexandria was included in the area chosen by George Washington to become the District of Columbia. A portion of the City of Alexandria and all of today's Arlington County share the distinction of having been originally in Virginia, ceded to the U.S. Government to form the District of Columbia, and later retroceded to Virginia by the federal government in 1846, when the District was reduced in size to exclude the portion south of the Potomac River. The City of Alexandria was re-chartered in 1852.
During the War of 1812, Alexandria surrendered to a British fleet in 1814 without a fight. As agreed in the terms of surrender the British looted stores and warehouses of mainly flour, tobacco, cotton, wine, and sugar.[1]
From 1828 to 1836,[2] Alexandria was home to the Franklin & Armfield Slave Market, one of the largest slave trading companies in the country. By the 1830s, they were sending more than 1,000 slaves annually from Alexandria to their Natchez, Mississippi, and New Orleans markets to help meet the demand for slaves in Mississippi and surrounding states.[3] Later owned by Price, Birch & Co., the slave pen became a jail under Union occupation.[4]
The City of Alexandria became independent of Alexandria County in 1870. The remaining portion of Alexandria County changed its name to Arlington County in 1920, which ended years of confusion.
Return to Virginia
Over time, a movement grew to separate Alexandria from the District of Columbia. As competition grew with the port of Georgetown and the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal fostered development on the north side of the Potomac River, the city's economy stagnated. In addition, many in Alexandria hoped to benefit from land sales and increased business from the federal government, which had no need for the land south of the river. Also, its residents had lost representation and the right to vote at any level of government.
Alexandria was also an important port and market in the slave trade, and there were increasing talk of the abolition of slavery in the national capital. Alexandria's economy would suffer greatly if slavery were outlawed. At the same time, there was an active abolition movement in Virginia, and the state's General Assembly was closely divided on the question of slavery (resulting in the formation of West Virginia some years later by the most anti-slavery counties). Alexandria and Alexandria County would provide two new pro-slavery representatives.
After a referendum, voters petitioned Congress and Virginia to return the area to Virginia. The area was retroceded to Virginia on July 9, 1846.[5]
American Civil War
At the opening of the American Civil War, the city was occupied by Federal troops until the end of the war, making it the longest held city during the war. Fort Ward, built for the defense of Washington, DC, was located within the boundaries of modern Alexandria.[6]
Great excitement throughout the North was caused by the killing of Colonel Elmer E. Ellsworth on May 24, 1861, by Captain James W. Jackson, a hotel proprietor, from whose building Ellsworth had removed a Confederate flag. After the establishment of the state of West Virginia in 1863 and until the close of the war, Alexandria was the seat of what was known as the "Alexandria Government." Also, buildings at Virginia Theological Seminary and at Episcopal High School served as hospitals for union troops. Bullets, belt clips, and other artifacts from the civil war have been found in the area well into the 20th century.
20th century
In 1930, Alexandria annexed the Town of Potomac. That town, adjacent to Potomac Yard, had been laid out beginning in the late 19th century and incorporated in 1908. Pope John Paul II visited Alexandria when he was known as Cardinal Karol Wojtyla. He was guided by a Polish Catholic priest from St. Mary's Catholic Church in Alexandria. This was in 1969 and 1976. In 1999 the city celebrated its 250th anniversary.
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 39.9 km² (15.4 mi²). 39.3 km² (15.2 mi²) of it is land and 0.6 km² (0.2 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 1.49% water. Alexandria is bounded on the east by the Potomac River, on the north and northwest by Arlington County, and on the south by Fairfax County. The western portions of the city were annexed from those two entities beginning in the 1930s.
The addressing system in Alexandria is not uniform and reflects the consolidation of several originally separate communities into a single city. In Old Town Alexandria, building numbers are assigned north and south from King Street and west (only) from the Potomac River. In the areas formerly in the Town of Potomac, such as Del Ray and St. Elmo, building numbers are assigned east and west from Commonwealth Avenue and north (only) from King Street. In the western parts of the city, building numbers are assigned north and south from Duke Street.
The ZIP code prefix 223 uniquely identifies the Alexandria postal area. However, the Alexandria postal area extends well into Fairfax County and includes more addresses outside of the city than inside of it. Delivery areas have ZIP codes 22301 through 22312, 22314, and 22315, with other ZIP codes in use for post office boxes and large mailers. ZIP codes are not assigned in any particular geographic order.
Neighborhoods
Old Town
Old Town, in the eastern and southeastern areas of Alexandria and on the Potomac River, is the oldest section of the city, originally laid out in 1749, and is a historic district. Old Town is chiefly known for its historic town houses, art galleries, antique shops, and restaurants. On the northern limits of Old Town is a historic, predominantly African American community known by its inhabitants as "The Burg". The Burg was mentioned in the movie "Remember the Titans" which dramatizes the integration of city public schools in the 1970s through the creation of T.C. Williams High School. Old Town is laid out on a grid plan of substantially square blocks.
Market Square in Old Town is the oldest continuously operating marketplace in the United States and was once the site of the second-largest slave market in the U.S. Today it contains a large fountain and extensive landscaping, as well as a farmers' market each Saturday morning.
Arlandria
Also known as Little El Salvador or Chirilagua, this area is well known bustling enclave of Salvadoran, Honduran, and Guatemalan immigrants. Many Latinos moved to this area after the destruction of a nearby old apartment complex that has now turned into all brand new condos and townhomes. Arlandria consists of a couple of apartment complexes concentrated on the border between Arlington and Alexandria on W. Glebe Road. Centered around Mount Vernon Avenue and West Glebe Road, it is home to nearly twenty Hispanic owned bakeries, restaurants, salons, and bookstores.
Del Ray
The area to the northwest of Old Town, formerly in the separate town of Potomac, is popularly known as Del Ray, although that name properly belongs to one of many communities (including Hume, Mount Ida, and Saint Elmo) in that area. The communities of Del Ray and St. Elmo originated in early 1894, when developer Charles Wood organized them on a grid pattern of streets running north-south and east-west. Del Ray originally contained six east-west streets and five north-south. All were identical in width, except Mt. Vernon Avenue, which was approximately twenty feet wider. St. Elmo, a smaller tract, was laid out in a similar pattern, but with only four east-west streets and one running north-south.
By 1900, Del Ray contained approximately 130 persons, and St. Elmo 55. In 1908, the tracts of Del Ray, St. Elmo, Mt. Ida, and Hume were incorporated into the town of Potomac, which by 1910 had a population of 599; by 1920 it contained 1,000; and by 1928 it had 2,355 residents.
The 254 acres (1 km²) comprising Del Ray were sold to Charles Wood in 1894 for the sum of $38,900, while St. Elmo, made up of 39 acres, was purchased for $15,314.
The community, while diverse, has experienced substantial gentrification since redevelopment began in Potomac Yard in the mid-1990s. The area has future development plans for condominiums, parks, and a fire station with affordable housing on upper floors. The high visibility of the LGBT community in the area has also spawned the nickname, "Del Gay".
West End
Alexandria's West End includes areas annexed in the 1950s. It is the most typically suburban part of Alexandria, with a street hierarchy of winding roads and culs-de-sac. The section of Duke Street in the West End is known for a high-density residential area known to locals as the "Condo Canyon" and for its concentration of both strip and enclosed shopping malls. In more recent years, parts of Alexandria's West End have seen an influx of immigrants from Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Pakistan, who have settled in the areas surrounding Seminary Road west of I-395.
North Ridge
North Ridge borders Arlington County and the very busy Braddock Road/King Street corridors. North Ridge is a residential area with homes of numerous styles. This neighborhood includes many houses of worship as well as the George Mason Elementary School. It is a neighborhood of walkers, joggers, and bicyclist, known for its friendliness and its profusion of crepe myrtles.
Many neighborhoods outside city limits such as Franconia, Groveton, Hybla Valley, Belle Haven, Mount Vernon, and Kingstowne use an Alexandria address. Despite the Alexandria address, these areas are actually part of Fairfax County, not Alexandria City.
Demographics
As of the census
By 2005 58.3% of Alexandria's population was non-Hispanic whites. 21.7% were African-Americans, 0.4% Native Americans, 5.3% Asian and 13.7% Latino.
In 2000 there were 61,889 households out of which 18.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 32.2% were married couples living together, 9.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 55.2% were non-families. 43.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 6.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.04 and the average family size was 2.87.
In the city the population was spread out with 16.8% under the age of 18, 9.2% from 18 to 24, 43.5% from 25 to 44, 21.5% from 45 to 64, and 9.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 93.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.7 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $56,054, and the median income for a family was $67,023. Males had a median income of $47,514 versus $41,254 for females. The per capita income for the city was $37,645. 8.9% of the population and 6.8% of families were below the poverty line. 13.9% of those under the age of 18 and 9.0% of those 65 and older were living below the poverty line.
Education
The city is served by the Alexandria City Public Schools system and by the Alexandria campus of Northern Virginia Community College. The largest seminary in the Episcopal Church, Virginia Theological Seminary, is located on Seminary Road. Virginia Tech's Alexandria Architecture Center, also known as WAAC, is located on Prince Street in Old Town, offering graduate programs in Urban Affairs and Planning, Public and International Affairs, and Architecture. Virginia Commonwealth University operates a Northern Virginia branch of its School of Social Work in Alexandria. George Washington University (Washington DC) also has an Alexandria campus near the King Street metro. This campus mainly offers professional and vocational programs, such as an executive MBA program, urban planning and security studies.
Alexandria is home to several of the Washington D.C. area's most well known private schools, such as St. Stephen's and St. Agnes School, Episcopal High School, Bishop Ireton High School, Alexandria Country Day School, Commonwealth Academy, and St. Mary's Catholic School. Students and faculty from the Thornton Friends School of Maryland, which closed its Virginia Campus in June 2006, have formed the new Alexandria Friends School to maintain Alexandria's tradition of Quaker education.
Alexandria's public high school, T.C. Williams, and its legendary former football coach, Herman Boone, were featured in the 2000 motion picture Remember the Titans.
Recreation and sites of interest
Alexandria has a distributed park system with approximately 950 acres (3.8 km²) spread across 70 major parks and 30 recreation centers, of which Chinquapin is one of the largest. Chinquapin offers facilities for swimming, tennis, racquetball, and other sports. The city also organizes several sports leagues throughout the year including volleyball, softball and basketball.
The city is unusual in that Cameron Run Regional Park includes a water park with a wave pool and water slides, as well as a miniature golf course and batting cages — facilities usually operated by private companies. A portion of the Mount Vernon Trail, a popular bike path, runs through Old Town near the Potomac River. There is also a largely unbroken line of parks stretching along the Alexandria waterfront from end to end.
Landmarks within the city include the George Washington Masonic National Memorial (also known as the Masonic Temple), Christ Church, Gadsby's Tavern, Grace Episcopal Church, John Carlyle House, Little Theatre, Lee-Fendall House, City Hall, Market Square, the Jones Point Lighthouse, the south cornerstone of the original District of Columbia, Robert E. Lee's boyhood home, the Torpedo Factory art studio complex, and the Virginia Theological Seminary. Other sites of interests in the city include Green Spring Gardens Park, Pope-Leighey House, River Farm, and Southside 815.
Transportation
Alexandria is bisected north and south by State Route 7, known in most of the city as the major thoroughfare of King Street. Interstate 95/495 (the Capital Beltway), including the Woodrow Wilson Bridge over the Potomac River, approximately parallels the city's southern boundary with Fairfax County. Interstate 395 crosses through the western part of the city. Other major routes include U.S. Route 1 (named Jefferson Davis Highway, and Patrick and Henry Streets after Patrick Henry and Richmond Highway), the George Washington Memorial Parkway, and Duke Street (State Route 236).
Alexandria is located just south of Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Arlington County. As with other Washington suburbs, Alexandria is also served by Washington Dulles International Airport in Chantilly and by Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport near Baltimore, Maryland.
Alexandria Union Station, the city's historic train station, is served by both Amtrak intercity and Virginia Railway Express regional rail service. The station is directly adjacent to the King Street Metrorail station, at the convergence of the Blue and Yellow Lines. Three other Metrorail stations that lie within the city limits are Braddock Road, Van Dorn Street, and Eisenhower Avenue.
The traditional boundary between Old Town and the latterly annexed sections of the city followed the railway now owned by CSX Transportation.
The city government operates its own mass transit system, the DASH bus, connecting points of interest with local transit hubs. Metrobus also serves Alexandria.
Sister cities
Alexandria has four sister cities, as designated by Sister Cities International, Inc. (SCI):
Alexandria has been twinned with Caen, France since 1991. The sister city relationship sees delegations visiting between the two cities on a regular basis. Exchanges of students have been common. Musicians and choirs from the two cities have also made very successful visits. In most years, members of the Alexandria-Caen Sister City Committee travel to Caen for the foire de Caen, a large international trade fair held in mid-September. Along with Caen's other sister cities, the Alexandria delegation has the chance to introduce its city to the people of Normandy, while getting the chance to learn more about this historic region of France.
See also
References
- This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
- ^ Discovering the Decades: 1810s. Alexandria Archaeology Museum.
- ^ Self-Guided Walking Tour Black Historic Sites. Alexandria Black History Museum.
- ^ Jim Barnett and H. Clark Burkett (2004). "The Forks of the Road Slave Market at Natchez". Mississippi History Now.
- ^ Photographs of African Americans During the Civil War: A List of Images in the Civil War Photograph Collection. Library of Congress (May 20, 2004).
- ^ Get to know D.C. - Frequently Asked Questions About Washington, D.C.. History Society of Washington D.C..
- ^ Fort Ward Museum. City of Alexandria.
External links
- City of Alexandria
- Alexandria, Virginia, Guide
- AVB, How to Volunteer
- Historic Alexandria
- Historic Alexandria Quarterly
- Del Ray Community Neighborhood News
