A new plaque honoring past arborists has been installed at Alexandria’s Fort Ward Park, adding to the existing Charles W. Hendryx Memorial.
City of Alexandria’s Recreation, Parks & Cultural Activities spokesperson Catrice Callands confirmed to ALXnow a new plaque was added to the Fort Ward Arborist Memorial. The arborists honored on the plaque are Gregory A. Kernan, Jennifer Hollings, Tere O’Rourke, John Noelle and John Marlin.
The Fort Ward Museum & Historic Site’s annual Christmas in Camp program returns this Saturday, offering a glimpse into Civil War-era holiday celebrations.
The event includes historical reenactors interacting across the museum’s decorated winter camp settings, according to the Office of Historic Alexandria. The educational program lasts from noon to 4 p.m. at the museum — one of the Union Army’s best-preserved forts in the Defenses of Washington — located at 4301 W. Braddock Road.
A new Union Navy exhibition opened at Fort Ward Museum (4301 W. Braddock Road) on Oct. 2, and will be on display through 2026.
The “Aboard Ship with the Jack-Tars of the Union Navy” exhibition is being held in recognition of the 250th anniversary of the founding of the U.S. Navy on Oct. 13, 1775, according to the city. Thousands of sailors, nicknamed jack-tars, helped blockade the 3,500 miles of Confederate coastline, catapulting the unit into the largest navy in the world. Hallmarks of the exhibition include examples of tools, clothing, weapons and personal items from the sailors. It also features a profile on Commander James Harmon Ward, the namesake of the fort, who was the first Union Naval officer to die in the war.
Fort Ward Museum & Historic Site will host Civil War Artillery Day on Saturday, featuring living history demonstrations and cannon firing displays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The free program will showcase the role of Union artillerymen who defended Washington, D.C., during the Civil War. Reenactors from the 1st Connecticut Heavy Artillery, a regiment historically stationed at Fort Ward, will demonstrate the duties and daily life of soldiers who manned the Defenses of Washington.
Alexandria will conduct a pre-construction meeting for the Fort Ward Park playground later this month.
The city will conduct the virtual meeting on Monday, Sept. 29, at 7 p.m. and provide information on the project construction and archaeological monitoring. Construction is expected to start this fall and be finished next summer, according to the city.
Good morning, Alexandria! Today is Tuesday, June 10, the 161st day of 2025. There are 204 days left in the year.
⛈️ Today’s weather: A chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly between 3 p.m. and 4 p.m. Cloudy through mid-morning, then gradual clearing, with a high near 85 degrees. Calm wind becoming northwest 5 to 7 mph in the morning. The chance of precipitation is 40%.
The Alexandria Police Department said a suspect pursued by the Arlington County Police Department crashed at the intersection of N. Van Dorn Street and W. Braddock Road just off I-395 near Fort Ward.
Scanner traffic indicated that the Arlington County Police Department was following up on D.C. police pursuit of a homicide suspect. The suspect drove over the 14th Street Bridge into Arlington on I-395.
The City of Alexandria is gearing up for an overhaul to the storied Fort Ward Park.
Since early 2015, the City has been working on plans to revitalize Fort Ward and make the park more accessible. Planned changes include a new and more accessible playground, picnic shelters on a new pathway, and more memorialization/preservation of burial sites used by the Black community that settled at the fort after the Civil War.
All of Bishop Ireton High School skipped classes today for a good cause.
More than 700 students, teachers and administrators participated in a cleanup of 30 sites in and around Alexandria, including along the city’s waterfront, Holmes Run and Four Mile Run Park.
An annual holiday program kicking off next month at the Fort Ward Museum (4301 W. Braddock Road) will combine the fun and holiday spirit of the Christmas season with education about a conflict that left an estimated 1.5 million casualties.
Civil War Christmas in Camp is a popular annual program the Fort Ward Museum, featuring reenactors in a winter camp setting and period decorations. This year, the program is scheduled for Sunday, Dec. 9, from noon to 4 p.m.
Renovations are doing what the Confederacy couldn’t: temporarily shutting down Fort Ward (4301 W Braddock Road).
While the park itself will remain open, the central Fort Ward Museum is closed for the next month. A release from the City of Alexandria said the museum is scheduled to reopen on July 6.
