history | ALXnow

Morning Notes

Published December 3, 2020 at 9:00AM

Today Marks 69th Anniversary of Annexation of the West End — “Happy Annexation Day, West end! Today, December 3rd in 1951, the city of Alexandria received the land west of Quaker Lane, doubling the size of the city!” [John Chapman/Facebook]

Alexandria Libraries Go Back to Curbside Only — “Effective this Monday, Dec. 7, the library will offer curbside-only and virtual services until further notice. Although library buildings will be closed, library staff will offer telephone support and virtual reference during curbside hours.” [Alexandria Living Magazine]

News

Lee-Fendall House Opens Winter Victorian Tours

By Vernon Miles

Published November 24, 2020 at 11:30AM

With the approach of the yuletide season, the Lee-Fendall House (614 Oronoco Street) in Alexandria has decked out the home in full 19th century regalia for candlelight tours.

“Celebrate the holiday season with evening candlelight tours of the Lee-Fendall House decked out in Victorian splendor,” the Lee-Fendall House Museum & Garden said on Facebook. “Our antique toy exhibit will also be on view.”

News

Morning Notes

By Vernon Miles

Published November 23, 2020 at 9:10AM

Alexandria Featured in Profiles on Region’s Oldest Homes — “One of the interesting aspects of the Ball-Sellers House is that some of the original roof is protected under a later roof. That’s also the case with the oldest surviving house in Alexandria: 517 Prince St., or what’s known as the Murray-Dick-Fawcett House. The oldest part of the house dates to 1772. There is access to the space between the old roof and the roof that was later built above it at a less-severe pitch.” [Washington Post]

West End Contractor Wins Big Missile System Contract — “The U.S. Navy awarded Alexandria-based Systems Planning and Analysis Inc. (SPA) an $85 million contract to provide technical support for the Trident II submarine-launched ballistic missile system, the company announced this week.” [Virginia Business]

Did You Know: The Stabler-Leadbeater Apothecary Museum Has a Note from Martha Washington

By James Cullum

Published November 5, 2020 at 5:00PM | Updated November 5, 2020 at 7:42PM

A copy of an order from Mrs. Martha Washington to the Stabler Apothecary in April of 1802 - a month before she died. (Staff photo by James Cullum)

A month before she died, Martha Washington was experiencing some intestinal discomfort. On April 22, 1802, she sent away for a quart bottle of the “best castor oil” that Edward Stabler had at his apothecary.

A copy of the note that Washington wrote is currently on display at the Stabler-Leadbeater Apothecary Museum at 105-107 S. Fairfax Street. It’s just one of many historical treasures from the country’s very first family in the apothecary’s storied history, which also includes ledgers with orders from George Washington’s doctors while he was president, orders from Martha Washington’s daughter Nelly Custis.

News

The Alexandria Black History Museum Wants Photos from the George Floyd Protests in Alexandria

By James Cullum

Published October 26, 2020 at 2:30PM

With photos, signs, artwork and letters, the City of Alexandria is documenting Alexandria’s response to the death of George Floyd.

The Office of Historic Alexandria (OHA) and the Alexandria Black History Museum have been collecting artifacts for months and are asking for photos from the public.

News

Alexandria’s Freedom House Museum Opening Planned for Spring 2021

By James Cullum

Published October 23, 2020 at 2:30PM

Franklin and Armfield exhibit in the Freedom House museum (photo via Historic Alexandria/Facebook)

The Freedom House Museum is planning for a spring opening, according to the Office of Historic Alexandria.

City Council will receive the news in its legislative meeting on Tuesday. The Office of Historic Alexandria will be unveiling its 2020-2025 strategic plan to Council, and the museum is being planned to open this spring.

News

Alexandria’s Earl Lloyd Was the First Black Man in the NBA, and Now There’s a Street Named After Him

By James Cullum

Published October 19, 2020 at 11:30AM | Updated October 21, 2020 at 10:09AM

The original sculpture of Earl Lloyd at Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame (Photo via City of Alexandria)

Nearly 70 years after taking the court as the first Black man to play in the NBA, Alexandria basketball legend Earl Lloyd was honored with a street in his name by the City Council on Saturday.

Council unanimously approved naming the 1000 block of Montgomery Street in Old Town “Earl F. Lloyd Way” in honor of the first Black man to ever play in the National Basketball Association. The street is located in the Parker-Gray neighborhood in the 1000 block of Montgomery Street between N. Patrick Street and N. Henry Street.

News

There’s a New African American Waterfront Heritage Trail in Alexandria

By James Cullum

Published October 6, 2020 at 3:45PM

Alexandria’s Black residents have lived and worked along the Alexandria waterfront years before the city was founded in 1749, and a new African American Waterfront Heritage Trail helps to tell their stories.

The self-guided tour of the trail, which is a community initiative supported by the the city’s African American Heritage Trail Committee and the Office of Historic Alexandria, should take folks about 45 minutes to complete at a leisurely pace.

News

Did You Know: There’s An Old Bell in the Alexandria City Hall Clock Tower

By James Cullum

Published September 18, 2020 at 10:40AM | Updated September 18, 2020 at 3:54PM

The old bell in the city hall clock tower. (Staff photo by James Cullum)

Twice a year, an engineer checks the clock mechanism at the Alexandria City Hall clock tower to make sure everything is running on time. Above the machine sits is a relic of a bygone age — a cast iron bell that has been silent for decades.

The clock tower is accessible via a small door next to City Council Chambers.

News

Alexandrian Ann Samuels Turns 100 Years Old

By James Cullum

Published September 15, 2020 at 3:45PM | Updated September 15, 2020 at 4:03PM

Ann Samuels never thought in her wildest dreams that she’d make it to 100. The Alexandrian has lived in the same house for more than 70 years, and on September 15, she celebrated the important milestone with her closest family members.

“I take each day one day at a time and enjoy each of them, because it very well could be my last day,” Samuels told ALXnow. “That’s the way I feel about life. And that’s the way I think like you should enjoy everything that God lets you see here.”

News

Community Commemorates 100th Anniversary of the Parker-Gray School

By Vernon Miles

Published August 31, 2020 at 4:45PM

Parker-Gray School (photo via City of Alexandria)

Even as the city sorts out how to handle issues of diversity and institutionalized racism in the school system, Alexandria is commemorating the 100th anniversary of a local school for Black students built in part by local supporters and parents.

In September 1920, the Parker-Gray School opened on Wythe Street where the Charles Houston Recreation Center is today. The school started as an elementary program, but added a high school in 1932. The school operated as the city’s lone Black high school.