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.
Once a Civil War fort, then a bastion for Black Alexandrians before they were pushed out by city officials, Fort Ward (4301 W Braddock Road) has been at the center of an ongoing mission to reexamine the fort’s past and build a better future for the site.
A new interagency report for FY 2022 highlights the progress made by the Recreation, Parks and Cultural Activities (RPCA), Office of Historic Alexandria (OHA), Department of General Services (DGS) and Transportation and Environmental Services (TES).
A local working group has been making its way through plans to update and improve Fort Ward Park, and last week the project got a timeline for when the public could see some of those changes.
Following the Civil War, the fort was home to a sizable Black community that was later pushed out by the City of Alexandria in the name of obtaining park space and historical preservation of the Civil War-era fort.
The City of Alexandria is planning to host a public meeting next month to discuss plans to overhaul Fort Ward Park.
The site was a fort constructed during the Civil War as part of a ring of defenses protecting Washington D.C. The site currently has a museum and frequently hosts reenactments of daily life during the Civil War.
A celebration this weekend will look at how Christmas was commemorated during the Civil War at Fort Ward, a Civil War fort turned museum in Alexandria.
The family-friendly event is scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 11, from noon to 4 p.m.
The Fort Ward Museum is planning to reopen next weekend with a live cannon fire demonstration to kick things off.
While many of Alexandria’s museums and historic have reopened over the last few months, Fort Ward remained closed for renovations to the museum.
Carlyle Community Survey is open until July 15 — “Do you live, work or occupy a building in Carlyle? Then make sure to take the 2021 Carlyle Commuter survey! Your feedback helps improve our Transportation Management Program, and how we as a community get to and from Carlyle. Survey closes on 7/15. ” [Twitter]
Old Town blood drive on July 26 — “On July 26, Inova Blood Donor Services will be hosting an Old Town Blood Drive at Market Square, 301 King St. As a thank you, donors will receive an exclusive Olympic themed t-shirt. The need for blood is constant and blood banks are anticipating an increase in the need for blood due to the resumption of elective surgeries.” [City of Alexandria]
Alexandria is looking for community feedback on the recognition and demarcation of Black cemetery areas and burial sites at Fort Ward Park.
The park at 4301 West Braddock Road, was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982, became an African American community after the Civil War. For more than a decade, the city has worked on identifying graves that were part of “The Fort” neighborhood, and made ground-penetrating Radar Surveys in 2009.
Inova Alexandria Hospital rezoned to allow Landmark project to move forward — “Inova’s Alexandria hospital campus is now zoned to allow for future residential development, after city council voted 7-0 to allow the rezoning to make it easier for Inova to sell the Seminary Hill hospital land to a developer.” [Alexandria Living]
New Harris Teeter grand opening set in Alexandria — “A new Harris Teeter grocery store in Alexandria is holding a grand opening on Wednesday, June 23 beginning at 8 a.m. at 4550 King St., in the West Alex development at the corner of King and Beauregard streets.” [Alexandria Living]
After months of being closed during the holidays, a number of museums in Alexandria will be open to the public starting this Thursday, March 25.
The Alexandria Archaeology Museum, Alexandria History Museum at the Lyceum, Friendship Firehouse Museum and Gadsby’s Tavern Museum will open with modified hours, capacities, and advance ticket requirements, according to the city.
