 |
||||||||||||||||||
 |
 |
|||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||||||||
|
Alexandria History The first settlement was established in 1695 in what was then the British Colony of Virginia. Around 1746, Captain Philip Alexander II moved to what is south of present Duke Street in Alexandria. In 1748, the Virginia legislature was petitioned for the  establishment of a town at Hunting Creek. The name of the new town was changed from Belle Haven to Alexandria, in honor of Philip’s family. As a result, Philip and his cousin Captain John Alexander gave land to assist in the development of Alexandria, and are thus listed as the founders. In 1791, Alexandria was included in the area chosen by George Washington to become the District of Columbia. A portion of the City of Alexandria---namely known as "Old Town"--- 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 and later 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 at the time. 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. 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. 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. After the establishment of the state of West Virginia in 1863 and until the close of the war, Alexandria was the seat of the Restored Government of Virginia also known as the "Alexandria Government." In 1930, Alexandria annexed the Town of Potomac. Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 15.4 square miles, of which, 15.2 square miles of it is land and 0.2 square miles of it 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 western portions of the city were annexed from those two entities beginning in the 1930s. Neighborhoods  Old TownOld 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 the remnants of 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. Few remnants of the Burg remain today. Arlandria Also known as Little El Salvador or Chirilagua. 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. 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. 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. Del Ray now boasts many new restaurants and shops. West End Alexandria's West End includes areas annexed from Fairfax County 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 "Landmark" and for its concentration of both strip and enclosed shopping malls. The West End is composed of four main areas. All are west of Quaker Lane, the main north-south artery through Alexandria. First is Seminary Hill a mostly residential, single-family dwelling area near the Virginia Theological Seminary and the Episcopal and St. Stephen's-St. Agnes High Schools off Seminary Road, ending in the area just west of the Inova Alexandria Hospital. West of Quaker, down the Duke Street corridor are communities of small homes, row houses, town homes along with commercial and retail real estate including the Foxchase Shopping Center. There are also areas of industrial businesses south of Duke Street primarily off Wheeler Ave, South Pickett St and South Van Dorn St. The Charles E. Beatley, Jr. Alexandria Library, the city's main library, is located here. In the very southern part of this area is the Eisenhower Ave corridor running parallel to the Capital Beltway (I-95/I-495) which is industrial and commercial in nature. The Van Dorn Metro Station here provides access to Washington, DC. The Landmark area, which includes Seminary Valley a large single family area  developed in the 1950s, is largely garden style apartments and condo-converted apartment hi-rises as well as a number of townhome developments from the 1970s is west of North Pickett St bordered by I-395/Van Dorn Street on the west and Seminary Road on the north. The Landmark Mall, which presently includes Sears and Macy's was first developed in the mid-1960s (redevelopend in the 1980s) was Alexandria's primary retail area for decades.The Seminary West neighborhoods are the communities west of I-395 but within the city limits of Alexandria. Beauregard Street is the primary artery running north & south to a mix of development from town home communities, single family neighborhoods, three large senior citizen living centers, garden and hi-rise apartments and condominiums. The Mark Center office development is a large commercial area in this community. The Northern Virginia Community College, Alexandria Campus and its Rachel M. Schlesinger Concert Hall & Arts Center is located in Seminary West. North Ridge North Ridge, in northern Alexandria City, borders Arlington County and includes the very busy Braddock Road/King Street corridors. North Ridge takes its name from the high ground west of Russell Road and south of West Glebe Road. It is a residential area with homes of numerous styles (mostly single family houses) that were largely developed in the period of the 1930s through the early 1960s. This neighborhood includes many houses of worship as well as one of Virginia's eight Scottish Rite temples, a Masonic order. North Ridge students attend George Mason and Charles Barrett Elementary Schools and feed into George Washington Middle School and T. C. Williams High School. The Lower School of private St. Stephens & St. Agnes school is located in the Jefferson Park neighbohood of North Ridge. It is a neighborhood of walkers, joggers, and bicyclists, known for its friendliness and its profusion of crepe myrtles. Parks there include Monticello Park, Beverly Park and Robert Leider Park. All of the North Ridge community lies within the original 10 mile square of the District of Columbia, ceded back to Virginia in 1846. Nearby Alexandria Neighborhoods Many neighborhoods outside of the city limits including Franconia, Groveton, Hybla Valley, Huntington, Belle Haven, Mount Vernon, Engleside, Burgundy Village, Waynewood, Wilton Woods, Virginia Hills, Hayfield, and Kingstowne use an Alexandria address. Despite the Alexandria address, these areas are actually part of Fairfax County, not Alexandria City. The Fort Hunt Neighborhood, adjacent to Fort Hunt Park a National Park Service picnic facility, runs next to the George Washington Parkway on the way to the Mount Vernon Estate. 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. 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. Alexandria is home to several of the Washington D.C. area's top private schools, such as St. Stephen's and St. Agnes School, Episcopal High School, and Bishop Ireton High School. Also in the city are Alexandria Country Day School, Commonwealth Academy, St. Mary's Catholic School, St. Rita's Catholic School, Blessed Sacrament Learning Center and Alexandria Friends School. Alexandria's public school system consists of thirteen elementary schools for grades 5-year-old Kindergarten thru Grade 5. Middle Schools, George Washington and Francis C. Hammond, serve 6th thru 8th graders. Minnie Howard Ninth Grade Center and T.C. Williams High School serve grades 9th and 10 thru 12, respectively, for the entire city. Recreation and sites of interest Alexandria has a distributed park system with approximately 950 acres spread across 70 major parks and 30 recreation centers.  Transportation 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 city government operates its own mass transit system, the DASH bus, connecting points of interest with local transit hubs. Metrobus, Metrorail, and the Virginia Railway Express better known as the VRE also serves Alexandria. The City also offers a free trolley service on King Street from the King Street Metro Station to the Waterfront and a water taxi to and from the National Harbor development in Prince George's County, Maryland. Check out these additional sites for more information about Alexandria: Alexandria, VA (official website) Alexandria Public Schools Alexandria Chamber of Commerce Alexandria, VA weather The Commonwealth of Virginia Alexandria VA real estate, Alexandria real estate, Alexandria homes for sale, Alexandria, VA real estate, Greater Washington real estate, Alexandria homes, Alexandria properties, Alexandria property, single family homes in Alexandria |
