The Historic Walking Tour of Alexandria [Virginia] 1749

From a small tobacco warehouse to the center of the world:  Alexandria since 1608

English settlement from Jamestown in 1608 finally reached "the freshes of the Potomac" in 1669 when Governor Berkeley granted Robert Howsing 6,000 acres "for bringing into the Colony of Virginia one hundred and twenty persons to inhabit."  In November 1669, according to the original deed, Captain John Alexander bought the grant for 6,000 pounds of tobacco that would be the basis for the establishment of the new Town of Alexandria in 1749.

Alexandria, Virginia is still a port town, although more scenic than industrial.  But because of that port and the port of Georgetown, the federal city was located just north of the town in 1790.  The story of Alexandria is told through periods of prosperity and decline and prosperity again.  At once it was a port where the trade in tobacco and cotton became national and international businesses.

It was here, too, that Alexandria served as headquarters during the Revolutionary War with militia colonel George Washington in attendance.  The Fairfax Resolves of 1774, incendiary for its opposition to taxes imposed by Great Britain, was debated and approved in Gatsby's Tavern and a revolution was born.

While the Civil War raged around this once proud tobacco port, the many buildings and homes languished in disrepair and abandonment which, oddly enough, may have saved its historic past from destruction.  Many of the 18th and 19th homes and business are still extant and where possible markers show ones long since turned to newer development.  The sense of what Alexandria is and was still commands proper historic respect.

This tour booklet shows 57 different sites, but not all are in the city of Alexandria proper.  Nine of the sites are found along the George Washington Parkway to include Mount Vernon, the home of George Washington and Woodlawn, for example, and along Route 1, all just south of the city.

Most of the tour, 38 sites to be exact, encompasses the original boundary of Alexandria as laid out in 1749 and are within walking range.  Additional historic sites, 10 in all, are outside the original boundaries and are somewhat spread apart.

What's important to remember is that George Washington, Robert E. Lee, the Fairfax and Lee families, pillars of early American government and society and historic figures all, lived, worked, and grew up within Alexandria proper.  Washington speculated in property here with a half acre on South Pitt Street and a townhouse on Cameron Street; Robert E.. Lee grew up on Oronoco Street and went to school next door; debates were held and resolutions adopted at the Lyceum and Gadsby's Tavern, and most of these structures still survive.

Overall Review:  2.8 out of 4


Stats:  57 sites, 39 b/w photos, 2 maps, in booklet form.
Price - 3.5:  Cost is $4.95 (57 sites: 8.7 cents a site) in booklet form only.

Availability - 2:  The booklet is out of print on Amazon and only available in booklet form only at the Alexandria Visitors Center at Ramsey House at the corner of King and Fairfax Streets, a historic site in its own right, and is not available online or as a download making this tour not so accessible.

Organized:  3 Overall

 
Directions - 3:  Each of the sites are chronological and close together enough to walk easily from one to the next; each site has an address for identification.  Some of the outlying sites are not close together and require transportation.


Maps - 3:  The maps clearly show the sites in logical order and easily walkable from site to site, however, the printing is light for the major tour route and the numbers are small for the main map. 

Photos/Images - 3:  Each site has a separate photo even if they are somewhat small and dark, they are still recognizable.

ISBN 1-879295-15-6 by Thomas J. Carrier, L.B. Prince, Co.