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New tour explores the lost history of historic black neighborhoods the Berg and Parker-Gray

By Vernon Miles
Parker-Gray School (photo via City of Alexandria)

A new tour will bring locals on a tour around the ‘Lost Buildings’ around the historic Black neighborhoods of the Berg and Parker-Gray.

The Berg is a neighborhood around North Pitt, North Royal and North Fairfax Streets. The neighborhood was founded by liberated Black families who moved to the neighborhood and sought the protection of the Union Army. Many were from Petersburg — thus “the Berg”. Many of the new Alexandria residents worked on the wharves and railroads during the Union occupation of the city.

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Alexandria cemetery tour this weekend explores tales of local duels, cavalry battles and more

By Vernon Miles
The base of the Appomattox statue is now located at Bethel Cemetery in the Wilkes Cemetery Complex (staff photo by James Cullum)

The historic cemetery tour: it’s the one locals are dying to get into.

A tour coming up this Saturday (April 27) will reacquaint Alexandrians with some of their post-mortem neighbors and hear buried histories of duels, cavalry battles and more in the Wilkes Street Cemetery Complex (1475-1501 Wilkes Street).

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Local organization forms to push Alexandria back to district/ward elections

By Vernon Miles
Anti-Zoning for Housing sign in Alexandria (staff photo by James Cullum)

A new advocacy group has formed in hopes of returning Alexandria to a district/wards election system.

The Communities for Accountable City Council (CACC) describes itself as a non-partisan group of Alexandria residents “exasperated with the intransigent Alexandria City Council that is unaccountable to communities and neighborhoods because of Alexandria’s At-Large election system.”

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What’s Up in Alexandria This Weekend: Del Ray Dog Fest, Spring Garden Market, Spring Oysterfest, and more!

By Ryan Belmore
The Dogs Of Del Ray mural outside stomping ground is expected to be finished by mid-May. (Staff photo by James Cullum)

Here’s a roundup of all the events, live music, and entertainment happening around Alexandria this weekend; enjoy! 

Are you organizing an event? Submit events to ALXnow.

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Alexandria lecture explores harrowing story of woman who killed her children rather than have them sold into slavery

By Vernon Miles
1315 Duke Street after March 1863 by Andrew Russell (or Mathew Brady), image via City of Alexandria

Dorcas Allen faced an impossible choice.

In 1837, Allen was sold, along with her four children, to a slave trader and sent to a pen on Duke Street — where the Freedom Museum stands today.

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ICYMI: Four Alexandria firemen died in the manhunt for Abraham Lincoln’s assassin

By James Cullum
Four casualties in the hunt for Abraham Lincoln's assassin, John Wilkes Booth, are buried at Alexandria National Cemetery (via U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs/YouTube)

Fans of Apple’s new show Manhunt about the search for Abraham Lincoln’s assassin may be interested to learn that four Alexandria firemen who died during the 12-day search for John Wilkes Booth are buried in Alexandria National Cemetery.

The federal government initiated a massive search for Booth after Lincoln’s assassination on April 14, 1865. The search included usage of the Black Diamond, a ship made up of more than a dozen employees of the Alexandria Fire Department working with the Army Quartermaster Corps, according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

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New exhibit with scale models of Alexandria’s buried ships opening next month in Old Town

By Vernon Miles
Pieces of 18th-Century ships waiting to be scanned (Staff photo by Jay Westcott)

(Updated 11:15 a.m.) A new ‘windowfront exhibit’ about the Buried Ships of Robinson Landing is coming to Old Town early next month.

The exhibit features scale models of four 18th and 19th-century ships discovered during excavations of the Robinson Landing Site.

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Gadsby’s Tavern Museum hosting ‘Tavern Games Night’ Friday night

By Vernon Miles
Gaming at Gadsby’s Tavern Museum (image via Gadsby’s Tavern Museum/Office of Historic Alexandria)

If you’re looking for something to do tonight (Friday), Gadsby’s Tavern Museum is hosting a 21-and-over “Tavern Games Night“.

The event is scheduled for 7-9 p.m. at Gadsby’s Tavern Museum at 134 North Royal Street.

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Upcoming Alexandria events uncover buried achievements of women in medical history

By Vernon Miles
Alice Ball, who created a treatment for leprosy (image via University of Hawaii

March is Women’s History Month and there are events across the city discussing women who helped shape Alexandria.

Events include a lecture by Jane Plitt, Director of the National Center of Women’s Innovations, on how women shaped the world of healthcare, from curing leprosy to developing cataract eye surgery, but it took years for their role in the field to be recognized.

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