An upcoming pub crawl in Old Town North will teach participants a little bit of Alexandria history.
On Saturday, Sept. 13, the North Old Town Independent Citizens Association (NOTICe) is hosting Canal Watering Holes: Alexandria Canal History and Pub Crawl. Tickets for the event, which runs from 1 to 4 p.m., cost $35 for individuals and $60 for couples.
“Come out to learn about the Alexandria Canal, on what is now the Old Town North Neighborhood, and have some delicious beverages at our favorite neighborhood haunts,” NOTICe said on Facebook.
The participating bars and more information is below.
- St. Elmo’s Coffee Pub (529 Montgomery Street): Learn about Spa Spring, also known as Lover’s Lane
- MacMillan Spirit House (500 Montgomery Street): Learn about some of the people who lived and work along the Canal
- Hank’s Oyster Bar (818 N. St. Asaph Street): Learn about the Turning Basin and Fishtown
- Royal Restaurant (730 N. St. Asaph Street): Learn about Portner’s Brewery, a favorite spot for workers after their shifts
Construction of the seven-mile-long Alexandria Canal was completed in 1831, built by slave and forced labor, according to the Office of Historic Alexandria.
The construction of the Alexandria Canal began in 1831, the year that the Chesapeake & Ohio (C&O) Canal opened. It opened for traffic in Alexandria in 1843 and was completed down to the Potomac River by 1845. The Canal required the aqueduct bridge and the C&O Canal to be in service and all were expensive and difficult to maintain. The Alexandria Canal was out of commission during the Civil War, reopened in 1867, and then ceased operation in 1886 when the Aqueduct Bridge was damaged. By the early 1900s many usable finished or dressed stones from the lock walls had been repurposed and Alexandrians began dumping trash and fill into the former canal…
Archaeologists have excavated portions of the Alexandria Canal. In the late 1970s and into the 1980s, archaeologists uncovered a 90-foot section of the canal, including Lift Lock No. 1 (the tide lock). These archaeological investigations informed the design of present-day Canal Center and its Tide Lock Park, which includes a partially rehabilitated and reconstructed lock. Some canal stones were removed during excavation in 1985, marked with plaques, and placed in public areas throughout the city, including Beatley Central Library, Fort Ward Park, Rivergate Park, and Windmill Hill Park.
In 2024-2025, archaeologists uncovered the remains of Lock No. 4 and the third basin on the 900 Block of N Pitt Street. Alexandria Archaeology anticipated that the masonry remains of this large-scale piece of historic infrastructure may be preserved despite the development of a 1980s office building, and required the developers hire archaeologists to monitor and document the excavations. A sample of the cut stones were salvaged and stored in adjacent Montgomery Park for eventual re-use within a public waterfront park. View a 3D model of the excavated Lock No. 4 and third basin.
The canal’s Lock No. 3 and basin two are likely preserved one block to the east, under Montgomery Park. The remains of the north abutment of the aqueduct bridge are still visible on the Georgetown side of the Potomac River.
Images via NOTICe and the Office of Historic Alexandria
