Little fun fact about Alexandria: last week marked the 160th anniversary of Alexandria becoming the capital of Alexandria — kind of.
The Office of Historic Alexandria’s weekly newsletter noted that June 20, 1863, marked the start of Alexandria serving as the capital of “the Restored Government of Virginia.”
Francis Harrison Piermont served as governor, recognizing the abolition of slavery and the creation of West Virginia. The capital had been in Wheeling, but when West Virginia split from Virginia, the capital was moved to Alexandria from 1863-1865 before returning to Richmond after the war’s end.
The full write-up from This Week In Historic Alexandria is below:
On June 20, 1863, Alexandria became the capital of the Restored Government of Virginia with Francis Harrison Pierpont serving as governor. Under Pierpont, a new Virginia constitution was issued in 1864 recognizing the abolition of slavery and creation of West Virginia. At the start of the Civil War, counties in northwestern Virginia opposed secession. These counties had advocated for separate statehood long before the war started, but the U.S. Constitution would forbid states from being created with the borders of existing states without approval of that state’s legislature. However, once the war began, the federal government recognized the City of Wheeling as the capital of the Restored Government, and within two years the new State of West Virginia was approved. At that time the Restored Government of Virginia moved from the new state to a new capital at Alexandria. When the war ended in 1865, the Virginia state capital moved again to Richmond, which had acted as the capital of the Confederacy during the war years.
Recent Stories
A look at the most and least expensive single-family homes sold in Alexandria last month, April 2024.
The Traffic and Parking Board endorsed one intersection change that could make Lynhaven/Del Ray a little safer but did not approve the proposed reversal of a one-way street. The proposed…
No charges were filed against a man arrested for a suspected misdemeanor assault and battery on Mount Vernon Avenue in Del Ray on Sunday. A passerby called 911 at around…
Here’s a roundup of all the events, live music, and entertainment happening around Alexandria this weekend; enjoy! Are you organizing an event? Submit events to ALXnow. Friday, May 3 Things…
Good news, D.C. area. You can save money on your next home cleaning with Well-Paid Maids. It’s easy!
We offer a discount when you set up recurring cleans — and the discounts just increased this week!
For weekly cleans, get $30 off each cleaning.
Potomac Harmony is Back! Following a gap year of competing, then virtual rehearsals during the pandemic, followed by the well-earned retirement of our long-term director, a year of a director search, Potomac Harmony hit the regional contest stage in Concord, North Carolina in March for the first time since 2018! It was exhilarating, reaffirming, and rewarding!
The chorus hit all of its goals, the biggest of which was to have fun and sing our best on contest stage — we did both! Because we earned a score over 400 points, our new Director, Allison Lynskey, was awarded the Novice Director award, photo above. Additionally, one of our charter members, Jackie Bottash, was nominated for and honored with the Leadership Excellence award. It was a celebratory weekend!
What’s next? So much! We now look forward to upcoming performances, growing our membership, and expanding our musical product with new arrangements and an education component each week. It’s an exciting time to be part of this ever-growing ensemble!
Alexandria NAACP, Shiloh Baptist Church, DPC to hold City Council…
The Alexandria Branch of the NAACP, Shiloh Baptist Church, and The Departmental Progressive Club to hold the City Council Candidate Forum for ALL Candidates in the City of Alexandria Virginia. The event is Free of Charge and Open to The
