Alexandria, Virginia

Alexandria is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 128,283. Located along the Western bank of the Potomac River, Alexandria is approximately 6 miles (9.6 kilometers) south of downtown Washington, D.C.

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.

It is the seventh largest and highest income independent city in Virginia. A 2005 assessed-value study of homes and condominiums found that over 40 percent were in the highest bracket, worth $556,000 or more.

[edit] History

Johnny Bull and the Alexandrians (1814) by William Charles mocked Alexandria citizens (kneeling at left, with hair standing on end) for not putting up more resistance to the British.

Map of Alexandria County (1878), including what is now Arlington County and the City of Alexandria. Map includes the names of property owners at that time. City boundaries roughly correspond with Old Town.

U.S. Geological Survey Map of Alexandria County (1894), including what is now Arlington County and the City of Alexandria. Map also shows the western portion of the District of Columbia and some portions of Montgomery County (Maryland), Prince George's County (Maryland) and Fairfax County (Virginia.)

U.S. Geological Survey Map of the "Alexandria Quadrangle" (1945), including what is now the City of Alexandria and surrouding areas. At this time, the City of Alexandria is bounded on the west by Seminary and Quaker Roads, on the north by Four Mile Run and on the south by Little River Turnpike/Duke Street and Hunting Creek.

U.S. postage stamp honoring Alexandria's bicentennial in 1949

Old Town Alexandria, viewed from the west, as seen from the observation deck of the George Washington Masonic National Memorial. King Street Station is in the foreground and the Potomac River is in the background

The first settlement was established in 1695 in what was then the British Colony of Virginia. 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 Carlyle House in Alexandria. In April of 1755, the governors of Virginia, and the Provinces of Maryland, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and New York 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 Mount Vernon. The Mount Vernon Conference concluded on March 28 with an agreement for freedom of trade and freedom of navigation of the Potomac River. The Maryland legislature, in ratifying this agreement on November 22, proposed a conference among representatives from all the states to consider the adoption of definite commercial regulations. This led to the calling of the Annapolis Convention of 1786, which in turn led to the calling of the Federal Convention of 1787.

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.

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.^[3]

From 1828 to 1836,^[4] 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.^[5] Later owned by Price, Birch & Co., the slave pen became a jail under Union occupation.^[6]

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.

[edit] 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 (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.^[7]

[edit] 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.^[8]

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 the Restored Government of Virginia also 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.

[edit] 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 Karol Cardinal Wojtyła. 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.

[edit] Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 15.4 square miles (39.9 km²), of which, 15.2 square miles (39.3 km²) of it is land and 0.2 square miles (0.6 km²) 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.

[edit] Neighborhoods

[edit] 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 the remnants of a historic, predominantly African American community known by its inhabitants as "The Berg". Today the Berg’s most prominent landmarks are the James Bland Homes (built in 1954) named after an African American musician and songwriter and Samuel Madden Homes, named after the first African-American pastor of the Alfred Street Baptist Church. Built in 1945, the 260-unit public housing complex covers several blocks in what is now Old Town Alexandria. Over the years the historic roots of the Berg’s name were lost, and many assumed it referred to the monolithic, iceberg-like buildings of this apartment complex. The Berg 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. Some remnants of the Berg remain today. 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.

[edit] 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.

[edit] 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. Del Ray now boasts many new restaurants and shops.

[edit] 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. In more recent years, parts of Alexandria's West End have seen an influx of immigrants from Ethiopia, Eritrea, Afghanistan and Pakistan, who have settled in the areas surrounding Seminary Road west of I-395.

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 (redeveloped 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.

[edit] 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.

[edit] 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. Here, cherry blossom trees are planted on the opposite side of the river but are still on the parkway.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^[1] of 2000, there were 128,283 people, 61,889 households, and 27,726 families residing in the city. The population density was 8,452.0 people per square mile (3,262.9/km²). There were 64,251 housing units at an average density of 4,233.2/sq mi (1,634.2/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 59.79% White, 22.54% African American, 0.28% Native American, 5.65% Asian, 0.09% Pacific Islander, 7.38% from other races, and 4.27% from two or more races. 14.72% of the population were Hispanics or Latinos of any race.

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.

The age distribution was 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.

According to a 2006 estimate, the median income for a household in the city was $80,449, and the median income for a family was $102,388.[1] 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.

[edit] 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 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 and Blessed Sacrament Learning Center. 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 school system consists of thirteen elementary schools for grades 5-year-old Kindergarten through Grade 5. Middle Schools, George Washington and Francis C. Hammond, serve 6th through 8th graders. Minnie Howard Ninth Grade Center and T.C. Williams High School serve grades 9th and 10 through 12, respectively, for the entire city.

T.C. Williams, and its legendary former head football coach, Herman Boone, former assistant coach Bill Yoast and the Virginia State Champion 1971 Titan football squad were featured in the 2000 Disney motion picture Remember the Titans starring Denzel Washington and Will Patton.

[edit] 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 and jogging path, runs through Old Town near the Potomac River on its way from the Mount Vernon Estate to Roosevelt Island in Washington, DC. 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) and Observation Deck, Christ Church, Gadsby's Tavern, John Carlyle House, Little Theatre of Alexandria, 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 historical interest in the 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 city limits include River Farm, Collingwood Library & Museum, Green Spring Gardens Park, Huntley Meadows Park, Pope-Leighey House (a Frank Lloyd Wright design), Woodlawn Plantation, Washington's Grist Mill and Mount Vernon Estate.

In 1830, John Hollensbury's home in Alexandria was one of two homes directly boarding an alleyway that received a large amount of horse-drawn wagon traffic and loiterers.^[9] In order to prevent people from using the alleyway, Hollensbury constructed a 7 feet wide, 25 feet deep, 325 square foot, two story home using the existing brick walls of the adjacent homes for the sides of the new home.^[9] The brick walls of the Hollensbury Spite House living room have gouges from wagon-wheel hubs and the house still is standing and occupied.^[9]

[edit] 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, 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.

[edit] Sister cities

Alexandria has four sister cities, as designated by Sister Cities International:

Alexandria was twinned with Gyumri as a means of showing goodwill in the wake of the 1988 earthquake. Some Armenian architects were invited to study in Virginia and an Alexandria-Gyumri Armenian festival is held around City Hall every year in June, the date of which is declared Armenia Day in Alexandria by the mayor.

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.