Alexandria, Virginia Alexandria, Virginia City of Alexandria Flag of Alexandria, Virginia Flag Official seal of Alexandria, Virginia Alexandria, Virginia is positioned in Alexandria Alexandria, Virginia - Alexandria, Virginia Show map of Alexandria Alexandria is an autonomous town/city in the United States Commonwealth of Virginia.
As of the 2010 census, the populace was 139,966, and in 2016, the populace was estimated to be 155,810. Located along the bank of the Potomac River, Alexandria is roughly 7 miles (11 km) south of downtown Washington, D.C.
Like the rest of Northern Virginia, as well as Central Maryland, undivided Alexandria has been influenced by its adjacency to the U.S.
In 2005, the United States Patent and Trademark Office moved to Alexandria.
The historic center of Alexandria is known as "Old Town".
With its concentration of boutiques, restaurants, antique shops and theaters, it is a primary draw for all who live in Alexandria as well for visitors.
Like Old Town, many Alexandria neighborhoods are compact and walkable.
A large portion of contiguous Fairfax County mostly south, but also west of the town/city is titled "Alexandria," but it is under the jurisdiction of Fairfax County and separate from the city; the town/city is sometimes alluded to as the City of Alexandria to avoid confusion (see the "Neighborhoods" paragraph below).
In 1920, Virginia's General Assembly voted to incorporate what had been Alexandria County as Arlington County to minimize confusion.
Main articles: History of Alexandria, Virginia and Timeline of Alexandria, Virginia Map labeled "Alexandria County" on old yellowed paper, with Potomac River along upper right Map of Alexandria County (1878), including what is now Arlington County and the City of Alexandria.
Following the 1745 settlement of the Virginia's 10 year dispute with Lord Fairfax over the boundary of the Northern Neck Proprietary, when the Privy Council in London found in favor of Lord Fairfax's period claim, some of the Fairfax County gentry formed the Ohio Company of Virginia.
Around 1746, Captain Philip Alexander II (1704 1753) moved to what is south of present Duke Street in Alexandria.
It has been said that in order to avoid a predicament the petitioners offered to name the new town Alexandria, with respect to Philip's family.
As a result, Philip and his cousin Captain John Alexander (1711 1763) gave territory to assist in the evolution of Alexandria, and are thus listed as the founders.
Washington do go up with a Message to the Council and acquaint them that this House have agreed to the Amendments titled An Act for erecting a Town at Hunting Creek Warehouse, in the County of Fairfax." A "Public Vendue" (auction) was advertised for July, and the county surveyor laid out street lanes and town lots.
The name Belhaven was used in official lotteries to raise cash for a Church and Market House, but it was never allowed by the council and fell out of favor in the mid-1750s. The town of Alexandria did not turn into incorporated until 1779.
In 1755, General Edward Braddock ordered his fatal expedition against Fort Duquesne at Carlyle House in Alexandria.
In March 1785, commissioners from Virginia and Maryland met in Alexandria to discuss the commercial relations of the two states, finishing their company at Mount Vernon.
In 1791, Alexandria was encompassed in the region chosen by George Washington to turn into the District of Columbia.
Slave ship taking on slaves at the Alexandria coastline in 1836.
Alexandria's slave trade made Virginia a more pro-slavery state after retrocession.
As agreed in the terms of surrender the British looted stores and warehouses of mainly flour, tobacco, cotton, wine, and sugar. In 1823 William Holland Wilmer, Francis Scott Key, and the rest established the Virginia Theological Seminary.:116 From 1828 to 1836, Alexandria was home to the Franklin & Armfield Slave Market, one of the biggest 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 encircling states. Later owned by Price, Birch & Co., the slave pen became a jail under Union occupation. A portion of the City of Alexandria most of the region now known as "Old Town" as well as the areas of the town/city northeast of what is now King Street and all of today's Arlington County share the diverse ion of having been originally in Virginia, ceded to the U.S.
Alexandria was also an meaningful port and market in the slave trade, and there were increasing talk of abolition of standardized in the nationwide capital.
Congress retroceded the region to Virginia on July 9, 1846. The City of Alexandria was re-chartered in 1852 and became autonomous of Alexandria County in 1870.
The remaining portion of Alexandria County changed its name to Arlington County in 1920.
Map of Alexandria showing the forts that were constructed to defend Washington amid the Civil War Elegant drawing of town/city from above Potomac river looking west over streets of Alexandria and a several sailing boats in foreground A bird's eye view of Alexandria from the Potomac in 1863.
The first fatalities of the North and South in the American Civil War occurred in Alexandria.
Within a month of the Battle of Fort Sumter, where two died, Union troops occupied Alexandria, landing troops at the base of King Street on the Potomac River on May 24, 1861.
Fort Ward, one of a ring of forts assembled by the Union army for the defense of Washington, D.C., is positioned inside the boundaries of present-day Alexandria. After the creation by Washington of the state of West Virginia in 1863 and until the close of the war, Alexandria was the seat of the so-called Restored Government of Virginia, also known as the "Alexandria Government". During the Union occupation, a recurring contention between the Alexandria citizenry and the military occupiers was the Union army's periodic insistence that church services include prayers for the President of the United States.
Safely behind Union lines, the metros/cities of Alexandria and Washington offered comparative freedom and employment.
Alexandria became a primary supply depot and transport and hospital center for the Union army. Until the Emancipation Proclamation, escaped slaves legally remained the property of their owners.
By the fall of 1863, the populace of Alexandria had exploded to 18,000 an increase of 10,000 citizens in 16 months. As of ratification of the Fifteenth Amendment, Alexandria County's black populace was more than 8,700, or about half the total number of inhabitants in the county.
Child workers working at a glass factory in Alexandria, 1911.
President Woodrow Wilson attended the Virginia Shipbuilding Corporation on May 30, 1918 to drive the first rivet into the keel of the USS Gunston Hall.:50 In 1930 Alexandria took in the town contiguous to Potomac Yard incorporated in 1908 titled Potomac.
Vernon Drive-In cinema opened. In 1939 the segregated enhance library experienced a sit-in ordered by Samuel Wilbert Tucker. In 1940 both the Robert Robinson Library, which is now the Alexandria Black History Museum, and the Vernon Theatre opened Jim Morrison of The Doors, as well as Cass Elliot and John Phillips of The Mamas & The Papas visited the George Washington High School in the 1950s. In 1955 the Fords moved to Alexandria from Georgetown.:95 In March 1959 Lieutenant Colonel William Henry Whalen, the "highest-ranking American ever recruited as a mole by the Russian Intelligence Service," provided Colonel Sergei A.
In 1965 the town/city integrated schools.:69 In 1971 the town/city merged all high school pupils into T.
Cline purchased the 1890 Victorian home at 219 King Street and converted it into the Creole serving Two-Nineteen Restaurant.:167 In 1973 Nora Lamborne and Beverly Beidler became the first women voted for to the town/city council.:63 In 1974 the Torpedo Factory Art Center opened. In 1983 the King Street Old Town Station and Eisenhower Avenue Station both opened. In 1984 the Islamic Saudi Academy opened. and Parker-Gray historic precinct In 1991 Patricia Ticer became the first women voted for mayor.:63 Alexandria, Virginia is positioned in Alexandria region Charles Prince George's Alexandria Arlington Fairfax County Falls Church Washington According to the United States Enumeration Bureau, the town/city has a total region of 15.5 square miles (40.1 km2), of which 15.0 square miles (38.9 km2) is territory and 0.42 square miles (1.1 km2), or 2.85%, is 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 addressing fitness in Alexandria is not uniform and reflects the consolidation of a several originally separate communities into a single city.
In Old Town Alexandria, building numbers are appointed north and south from King Street and west (only) from the Potomac River.
The ZIP code prefix 223 uniquely identifies the Alexandria postal area. However, the Alexandria postal region extends into Fairfax County and contains addresses outside of the city.
There is one nationwide protected region in Alexandria: Alexandria coastline, along the Potomac River In 2008 the town/city council allowed a charter where "citizens, businesses, and town/city government participate in a vibrant improve that is always mindful of the needs and lifestyles of the generations to come.":4 That chater defined sustainability as "meeting our community's present needs while preserving our historic character and ensuring the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.":5 In Ecocity Berkeley Register defined an ecocity as "an ecologically healthy city.":3 Main article: List of neighborhoods in Alexandria, Virginia Neighborhoods in Alexandria include Old Town, Eisenhower Valley, Rosemont, The Berg, Parker-Gray, Del Ray, Arlandria, West End, North Ridge, and Potomac Yard.
Many areas outside the town/city have an Alexandria mailing address yet are a part of Fairfax County including: Hollin Hills, Franconia, Groveton, Hybla Valley, Huntington, Belle Haven, Mount Vernon, Fort Hunt, Engleside, Burgundy Village, Waynewood, Wilton Woods, Rose Hill, Virginia Hills, Hayfield, and Kingstowne.
Some refer to these areas as Lower Alexandria, South Alexandria, or Alexandria, Fairfax County. Alexandria City Hall As an autonomous town/city of Virginia (as opposed to an incorporated town inside a county), Alexandria derives its governing authority from the Virginia General Assembly.
Alexandria adopted a council-manager form of government by way of popular vote in 1921.
In 2008, the City of Alexandria had 78 standing small-town boards, commissions, and committees to advise the City Council on primary issues affecting the community. All members are assigned by the City Council.
Alexandria is part of Virginia's 8th congressional district, represented by Democrat and Alexandria resident Don Beyer, voted for in 2014.
The town/city has two law enforcement arms inside Alexandria.
The Alexandria Police Department which is the major law enforcement agency and the Alexandria Sheriff's Office which operates the Alexandria Adult Detention Center for pre-trial and short-term inmates.
Companies headquartered in Alexandria include the Institute for Defense Analyses, VSE, and the Pentagon Federal Credit Union.
Alexandria is home to various trade associations, charities, and non-profit organizations including the nationwide headquarters of groups such as the American Diabetes Association, Boat - US, Catholic Charities, Citizens for the Republic, Global Impact, Good360, Islamic Relief USA, United Way, Volunteers of America and the Salvation Army.
Other organizations positioned in Alexandria include American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity, the American Counseling Association, the Society for Human Resource Management, the National Society of Professional Engineers, the National Beer Wholesalers Association, and the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children (ICMEC).
According to the City's 2016 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, the top enhance employers in the city, whose employees make up an estimated 15.27% of the total town/city employment, are: 3 Alexandria City Public Schools 1,000 & over 4 City of Alexandria 1,000 & over Entrance to Northern Virginia Community College's Alexandria ground The town/city is served by the Alexandria City Public Schools fitness and by the Alexandria ground of Northern Virginia Community College.
Virginia Commonwealth University operates a Northern Virginia branch of its School of Social Work and The George Washington University (Washington DC) also has a ground near the King Street metro.
Alexandria has a several of the Washington, D.C., area's top private schools, such as St.
Also in the town/city are Alexandria Country Day School, Commonwealth Academy, St.
Alexandria's enhance school fitness comprises of thirteen elementary schools for grades 5-year-old Kindergarten through Grade 5.
The demographics of Alexandria City Public Schools contrast with those of the city.
The Alexandria Library serves the inhabitants of the City of Alexandria with four locations: Central Library (Main branch): 5005 Duke Street, Alexandria Kate Waller Barrett Branch: 717 Queen Street, Alexandria Ellen Coolidge Burke Branch: 4701 Seminary Road, Alexandria Duncan Branch: 2501 Commonwealth Avenue, Alexandria The Alexandria Library maintains a reciprocal agreement with neighboring libraries in Arlington, District of Columbia, Fairfax, Falls Church, Fauquier, Frederick, Loudoun, Montgomery, Prince George's, and Prince William. John Wise, a small-town Alexandria businessman and hotel keeper, hosted a meeting in his home in 1789 to discuss the creation of a Society for the Promotion of Useful Knowledge.
During the first year, one hundred nineteen men joined the circulating library which was to be called the Library Company of Alexandria.
The library was homed in a several locations over the ensuing years, including the New Market House next to the City Hall, the Lyceum Company building, and Peabody Hall, which was owned by the Alexandria School Board.
In 1897, a group of women in Alexandria formed the Alexandria Library Association.
The Alexandria Library Association became the Alexandria Library Society.
In 1947, the Library Society was reconstituted and took the earlier historic name Alexandria Library Company.
Some of the books belonging in the initial compilation of the Alexandria Library Company can now be found in the Local History/Special Collections Room at the Queen Street library that still carries Mrs.
Burke brought bookmobile services to Alexandria, one of the first services in Virginia.
Old Town Alexandria in March 2003, as seen from the observation deck of the George Washington Masonic National Memorial.
Alexandria Torpedo Factory (waterfront side) Landmarks inside the town/city include the George Washington Masonic National Memorial (also known as the Masonic Temple) and Observation Deck, Christ Church, Gadsby's Tavern, John Carlyle House, Little Theatre of Alexandria, Lee-Fendall House, Alexandria City Hall, Market Square, the Jones Point Light, the south cornerstone of the initial District of Columbia, Robert E.
Other sites of historical interest in the town/city include Alexandria Black History Resource Center, Fort Ward Park and Museum, and the Alexandria Canal lock re-creation at Canal Office Center.
Interesting sites with Alexandria addresses but outside of the town/city limits include River Farm, Collingwood Library & Museum, Green Spring Gardens Park, Huntley Meadows Park, Historic Huntley, Pope-Leighey House (designed by Frank Lloyd Wright), Woodlawn Plantation, Washington's Grist Mill and Mount Vernon Estate.
In 1830, John Hollensbury's home in Alexandria was one of two homes directly bordering an alleyway that received a large amount of horse-drawn wagon traffic and loiterers. In order to prevent citizens from using the alleyway, Hollensbury constructed a 7 feet (2.1 m) wide, 25 feet (7.6 m) deep, 325-square-foot (30.2 m2), two story home using the existing brick walls of the contiguous homes for the sides of the new home. The brick walls of the Hollensbury Spite House residing room have gouges from wagon-wheel hubs; the home is still standing, and is occupied. A prominent Christmastime attraction in Alexandria is the Scottish Christmas Walk, which was established in 1969. The event, which involves a parade through the center of Old Town Alexandria, jubilates the city's Scottish heritage, and is the centerpiece of a annual holiday festival. It serves as a fundraiser for civil services in Alexandria. Other parades in Old Town jubilate Saint Patrick's Day and the birthday of George Washington. Other annual affairs include the Red Cross Waterfront Festival in June, various ethnic tradition days at Tavern Square, and "First Night Alexandria" which presents many family-friendly entertainments on New Year's Eve.
These parades and other official affairs are typically led by Alexandria's town crier, who, often dressed in elaborately, by a tradition dating to the 18th century, in a red coat, breeches, black boots and a tricorne hat, welcomes participants. Alexandria has a distributed park fitness with roughly 950 acres (3.8 km2) spread athwart 70 primary parks and 30 recreation centers, of which Chinquapin is one of the largest.
There is also a largely unbroken line of parks stretching along the Alexandria coastline from end to end.
Due to its adjacency to Washington, Alexandria has only been the home of one experienced sports team, the Alexandria Dukes, a minor league baseball team which has moved to Woodbridge and is now titled the Potomac Nationals.
However, the Cal Ripken Collegiate Baseball League brought baseball back to Alexandria in 2008 in the form of the Alexandria Aces.
The biggest youth sport in Alexandria is soccer with nearly 2,500 players ages 2 18 who participate in the Alexandria Soccer Association.
Southbound Amtrak train at Alexandria's Union Station Alexandria is bisected east and west by State Route 7, known as King Street.
Interstate 95/495 (the Capital Beltway), including the Woodrow Wilson Bridge over the Potomac River, roughly alongsides the city's southern boundary with Fairfax County.
Alexandria is south of, contiguous to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Arlington County.
Alexandria is also near to Washington Dulles International Airport in Dulles, Virginia.
Alexandria Union Station, the city's historic train station, has Amtrak intercity services and the Virginia Railway Express county-wide rail service.
Three other Metro stations in Alexandria are Braddock Road, Van Dorn Street, and Eisenhower Avenue.
Metrobus, Washington Metro, and the Virginia Railway Express, better known as the VRE, also serve Alexandria.
The town/city also offers a no-charge "trolley" diesel bus service on King Street from the King Street Metro Station to the Waterfront and a water taxi to and from the National Harbor evolution in Prince George's County, Maryland.
Alexandria has four sister cities: Alexandria was twinned with Gyumri as a means of showing good will in the wake of the 1988 Armenian earthquake. Chad Dukes, Alexandria, Virginia radio personality, pioneer in podcasting The Walking Dead comic book series and subsequent TV adaptation features a protected region of Alexandria known as the Safe Zone. The 2000 film Remember the Titans takes place in Alexandria and the cemetery scene was filmed at Ivy Hill Cemetery in Alexandria.
Alternative modern band the Foo Fighters has a track titled "Arlandria" on their 2011 release Wasting Light; front man (and ex-Nirvana drummer) Dave Grohl lived in Alexandria amid his childhood.
In The X-Files, the address of Special Agent Fox Mulder is given as Apartment 42, 2630 Hegal Place, Alexandria, VA 23242. Wikimedia Commons has media related to Alexandria, Virginia.
Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Alexandria (Virginia).
National Register of Historic Places listings in Alexandria, Virginia A Concise History of the City of Alexandria, Va: From 1669 to 1883, with a Directory of Reliable Business Houses in the City.
"Discovering the Decades: 1740s | Historic Alexandria | City of Alexandria, VA".
Journals of the House of Burgesses of Virginia, 1742 1747, 1748 1749 Virginia.
The Scheme of a Lottery, at Belhaven, in Fairfax County: January 24, 1750/51; Virginia Gazette extracts; The William and Mary Quarterly, Vol.12 No.2 (October 1903) Alexandria Archaeology Museum.
Alexandria Black History Museum.
"Office of Historic Alexandria, Alexandria Freedmen's Cemetery: Historical Overview, April 2007, p.
City of Alexandria.
Historic Alexandria: An Illustrated History.
Historic Alexandria: An Illustrated History.
"Movie Theaters in Alexandria, VA".
Alexandria Library Sit-In: "America's First Sit-Down Strike: The 1939 Alexandria Library Sit-In".
City of Alexandria.
"1939 Alexandria Library Sit-in".
City of Alexandria.
Alexandria Historic Timeline, Virginia: Visit Alexandria, archived from the initial on May 21, 2015, retrieved May 21, 2015 a b c d e Alexandria Historic Timeline, Virginia: Visit Alexandria, archived from the initial on May 21, 2015, retrieved May 21, 2015 a b "Timeline of Alexandria History".
Alexandria in the 20th Century.
City of Alexandria, VA.
"Alexandria VA".
"Climate Summary for Alexandria, Virginia".
Alexandria City Council.
"About homes and condos of Alexandria VA in Fairfax County".
"Roster of Alexandria Boards, Commissions and Committees".
"Alexandria city, Virginia Fact Sheet American Fact - Finder".
City of Alexandria, Virginia Comprehensive Annual Financial Report for the Fiscal Year July 1, 2015 to June 30, 2016 Retrieved December 22, 2016 "Alexandria Library".
"Alexandria Library Get a Library Card".
"1939 Alexandria Library Sit-in".
"Alexandria Historical Society - Alexandria's History".
The Alexandria Library Company.
Alexandria, Virginia: Alexandria Library, 2007.
Alexandria Libraries.
Location: 523 Queen St, Alexandria, VA 22314.
"2015 Alexandria Virginia Saint Patrick's Day Parade".
"George Washington Birthday Celebration Alexandria, VA".
"Code of Ordinances of the City of Alexandria, Virginia (Title 1, Chapter 2, Sec.
City Council, City of Alexandria, Virginia.
"Tobacco to Tourism: Celebrating Alexandria's Scottish Heritage "Dundee, Scotland: Alexandria's Sister City"".
City Council, City of Alexandria, Virginia.
"Alexandria Gyumri Sister Cities Committee Report to the Alexandria City Council (March 2004)" (PDF).
Alexandria Gyumri Sister Cities Committee of the City of Alexandria, Virginia.
"A Study in Decentralized Living: Parkfairfax, Alexandria, Virginia" (PDF) (v3n6 Spring).
Historic Alexandria Quarterly.
"What Happens To Alexandria In The 'Walking Dead' Comics? Powell, Mary G., The History of Old Alexandria Virginia, Richmond: William Byrd Press, 1928.
The Alexandria Library Company, Alexandria, VA: Alexandria Library, 2007.
City of Alexandria official website Alexandria, Virginia Washington Arlington Alexandria, DC VA MD WV urbane region South Alexandria, Virginia
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