Today, Alexandria’s Market Square is an Old Town landmark, one that could become even better with a new planned overhaul, but that beauty belies a dark past a new grant could help uncover.
Beyond just being the center for one of the country’s oldest farmers’ market held continuously at the same site, Market Square was also deeply connected to the city’s history of slavery. A $75,000 Commonwealth History Fund grant from the Virginia Museum of History and Culture (VMHC) will fund a research project to better explore and explain Market Square’s history.
“The project’s findings will inform future efforts to interpret and share the complex history of this early urban center,” the release said. “For more than 275 years, Market Square has served as the seat of local government and a key economic hub while previously functioning as a space of enslavement and racial oppression.”
Market Square, currently dominated by a large fountain, is in the planning process for a renovation tied with Alexandria’s City Hall overhaul.
The Market Square grant is part of $500,000 in grant funding awarded to Virginia-based institutions this year by the VMHC.
“VMHC is proud to play a leading role in the enduring and far-reaching mission of saving and sharing Virginia’s history,” said VMHC President and CEO Jamie Bosket in a release. “We are similarly proud to be able to provide meaningful financial support to our fellow history organizations—empowering great preservation and education efforts taking place in communities all across Virginia.”
