Office of Historic Alexandria provides guide to city’s Confederate street names ahead of renaming

Jubal Early was a Confederate military leader who not only fled the country to avoid surrendering but eventually came to be one of the early vocal proponents of the Lost Cause myth and an outspoken white supremacist.

N. Early Street — a road between Alexandria City High School’s Minnie Howard Campus and, ironically, the Union’s Fort Ward — honors Early. It is one of the 41 roads throughout Alexandria confirmed in a new report to be named for a Confederate leader.

Alexandria’s City Council is set to receive the report, along with a map of the roads, as part of a “scope of work” for the city’s plan to rename streets honoring Confederates.

All but eight of the streets are west of Quaker Lane.

City leaders previously stated their goal as being the renaming of three Confederate-honoring streets per year. With 41 streets confirmed as being named for a Confederate leader, it’s a process that should take around 14 years.

The list includes previous names for some of the roads, such as Lincolnia Road for Van Dorn Street until it was renamed for Brigadier General Earl Van Dorn in 1953.

There have been questions about which Lee Old Town’s Lee Street could be named for, and report notes that the street was previously Water Street until it was renamed upon the death of Robert E. Lee’s wife Mary Anna Custis Lee 1874.

There are 27 additional names that could be linked to confederate figures, but the report says that further research would be required to confirm attribution. Ivor Street, for example, could be named for Sergeant James W. Ivor, a Confederate infantryman from Alexandria who was allegedly the model for the Appomattox painting — which later inspired the Appomattox statue.

The report also comes with a draft FAQ for those wondering what they need to do if their street is renamed, including who residents do and don’t need to contact after the name is changed.

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