History
Most of what is today Alexandria was part of a large land grant from the Governor of Virginia, Sir William Berkeley, that was given to the English ship captain Robert Howsing in 1669. Not even a month later Howsing traded the land with John Alexander for 6,000 pounds of tobacco.
By 1732, Hugh West had began operating his tobacco warehouses just south of the Hunting Creek in an area known as Belhaven. Local Scottish and English merchants asked the Virginia General Assembly to establish a town at Hunting Creek in order to facilitate the shipping of the tobacco at West’s warehouse. In 1749, a town was established and named Alexandria in honor of the original land owner, John Alexander. By the late 1700’s Alexandria had become a port for foreign vessels and an export center for both flour and hemp. Dec de la Rochfoucauld Liancourt, a visitor to Alexandria in 1796, commented on the town saying, “Alexandria is beyond all comparison, the handsomest town in Virginia. Indeed it is among the finest in the United States”.
From their very beginning, the citizens of Alexandria have known about and experienced war first hand. General George Washington often drilled his militia troops through the Market Square during the mid-1700’s. The English General Edward Braddock made his headquarters in the Carlyle House in Alexandria in 1755 while planning for an expedition against Fort Duquesne in the French and Indian War. The governors of Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Maryland, New York, and Virginia all met here to discuss what actions to take against the French in America. In 1785, Virginia and Maryland commissioners met in Alexandria to discuss trade relations and navigation of the Potomac River. At the time of the American Revolution, Alexandria served as a principle colonial trading center, the main colonial port, central place for meetings, and a supply and hospital center. Alexandria surrendered to a British fleet during the War of 1812 and according to the terms of surrender the British were allowed to loot the many warehouses in the town. They took mostly sugar, flour, tobacco, cotton, and wine. Despite their losses, the community came together and rebounded from these losses; in the years before the American Civil War, Alexandria’s industry and economy had grown and flourished even beyond what it was previously.
Part of Alexandria, Alexandria County, was ceded to the United States government for the District of Columbia, but was reattached to Virginia by 1846 when the District’s size was reduced and the portion of the Potomac River was removed. Alexandria would finally become independent of Alexandria County after the Civil War and the remainder of Alexandria County went on to change its name to Arlington County, ending all of the unnecessary confusion.
In 1861, more war would find its home in Alexandria and the town was occupied by Union military forces from the very beginning of the Civil War in 1861 and became the main supply center for their army. The United States Military Railroad made its base here and the port on the Potomac River was taken under Union control. Both supplies and troops were sent to Alexandria by the railroad system and ports, then sent to wherever they were needed, usually on the front lines. The city was also the main place for wounded soldiers to seek medical treatment. Alexandria was home to many crowded hospitals and medical facilities, the major military hospital center for the Union Army, in fact. Several forts, such as Fort Ward, were built in the area with the duty of protecting the City of Washington. For the last two years of the Civil War (from the beginning of West Virginia until 1863), Alexandria was the capital of the Restored Government of Virginia. The Federal troops kept their troops in Alexandria from the very beginning until the very end of the Civil War, making it the longest held city during the war. This was a great upset to Confederate General Robert E. Lee; Alexandria was his boyhood home. During the four years of the war, thousands of Union soldiers were either stationed or passing through Alexandria, and many northern civilians came to the city to join in the war effort. One of the first national cemeteries in the United States was established here for the soldiers in 1862.
Although the city was the location of many slave sales before the Civil War, it also became known as a place housing several free black communities. It was at this time that the African-American culture began to take root with the establishment of social organizations, businesses, and churches. Today there are many establishments that remember the African-American’s and both their struggles and their victories. There are both museums and festivals celebrating everything they stood for, went through, and came to be.
Alexandria is one of America’s oldest and most historic communities. It has many original buildings from the 18th century that are still standing. It has played a large part, been a central point, and made it through both the War of 1812 and the Civil War. The citizens living in Alexandria have not forgotten any of the historical events that their town has seen, and they do their best to keep their history, culture, and heritage alive and remembered.