Alexandria, Virginia, is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia, located along the western bank of the Potomac River. The city of approximately 151,000 is about six miles (9.6 kilometers) south of downtown Washington, D.C.
Overview As of 2024, the City of Alexandria is divided for urban planning purposes into 19 "Small Area Plans" and 11 additional overlapping plans. These areas and their component neighborhoods include: Planning area(Small Area Plans) Neighborhoods/SubdivisionsLandmarksParks/Cemeteries Central Alexandria: Old Town Old Town North Hunting Creek King Street retail Northeast Southwest Quadrant Waterfront Old Town The Berg Old Town: Founders Point Lumley Waterfront Windmill Hill Old Town North: Montgomery Oronoco Bay Rivergate Tidelock Hunting Creek area: Jones Point Alexandria West Dowden Terrace The Hamlets Lincolnia Park Center Southern Towers Holmes Run Park Arlandia–Chirilagua Arlandria Beauregard Adams Garden District Greenway Seminary Overlook Southern Towers Upland Park Dora Kelley Nature Park Winkler Botanical Reserve Braddock RoadMetro StationArea Braddock area Braddock Place Colecroft Henry Street Corridor Parker–Gray Uptown–Parker–Gray Historic District Eisenhower Eastand Carlyle Eisenhower West King Street Metro/Eisenhower Seminary Hill/Strawberry Hill (part) Eisenhower Valley: Eisenhower West Eisenhower East Carlyle Fairlington/Bradlee Van Dorn Bounded by: Shirley Hwy. Cameron Run Holmes Run city limits Cameron Station Landmark Shopping Center West End North Ridge/Rosemont Beverley Hills Braddock Heights North Ridge Historic districts: Parkfairfax Rosemont Ivy Hill Cemetery Potomac West Mount Vernon Ave.Business Area Del Ray Potomac Temple Park Potomac Yard/Potomac Green North Potomac Yard Potomac Yard Seminary Hill/Strawberry HillBradlee Eisenhower Valley (part) Holmes Run, Brookville, Foxchase Seminary Hill Seminary Valley Strawberry Hill Virginia Theological Seminary Taylor Run/Duke StreetClover-College Park Taylor Run
Fairfax County Many areas outside the city have an Alexandria mailing address yet are a part of Fairfax County including: Hollin Hills, Franconia, Groveton, Hybla Valley, Huntington, Lincolnia, Belle Haven, Mount Vernon, Fort Hunt, Engleside, Burgundy Village, Waynewood, Wilton Woods, Rose Hill, Virginia Hills, Hayfield, and Kingstowne. Some refer to these areas as Lower Alexandria, South Alexandria, or Alexandria, Fairfax County.
Old Town
Located just minutes from Washington, D.C., Old Town is situated in the eastern and southeastern area of the city along the Potomac River. It was originally laid out in 1749, making it the oldest section of the City, and is a historic district. Old Town is chiefly known for its historic town houses, art galleries, antique shops, and restaurants as well as its unusual cobblestone streets and red brick sidewalks.
Some of the historic landmarks in Old Town include General Robert E. Lee's boyhood home, the Lee-Fendall House, a replica of George Washington's townhouse, Gadsby's Tavern, the Stabler-Leadbeater Apothecary Shop, the Hollensbury Spite House, and the Torpedo Factory art studio complex. River cruise boats and street entertainers frequent the large plaza at the foot of King Street; the Mount Vernon Trail also passes through. Old Town is laid out on a grid plan of substantially square blocks. The opening of the Washington Metro King Street station in 1983 led to a spurt of new hotel and office building development in western Old Town, and gentrification of townhouse areas west of Washington Street which were previously an African-American community.
Market Square in Old Town is believed to be one of the oldest continuously operating marketplaces in the United States (since 1753), and, during colonial times, was the site of a slave market. Today it contains a large fountain, extensive landscaping, and a farmers' market each Saturday morning. Alexandria City Hall, including the mayor's office, is adjacent to Market Square.
A statue of a lone Confederate soldier that marked the spot at which Confederate States of America (CSA) units from Alexandria left to join the Confederate Army at the beginning of the American Civil War stood in the center of the intersection of Washington and Prince streets for 131 years until June 2, 2020.. M. Casper Buberl cast the piece, entitled Appomattox, in 1889. The United Daughters of the Confederacy, which owns the statue, had the monument removed because vandals had recently damaged other segregation-era statues during nationwide demonstrations.
Eisenhower Valley
History Evidence of prehistoric Indian settlement in the Eisenhower Valley area has been turned up by numerous archaeological surveys. The area today known by that name was once known as the Cameron Valley, and runs along Cameron Run; it was the site of the Cameron Mills, which were built in the 1790s and produced flour, meal, and feed. The firm of Roberts and Hunt operated the twin mills, beginning in the middle of the 19th century and continuing until 1919. One of the mills was converted to a pumping station by the Alexandria Water Company in 1851, and remained active until the mid-20th century. The western mill was destroyed by fire in 1928. Portions of the corridor are among those which were annexed by Alexandria from neighboring Fairfax County in 1915 and 1952. These lands include a portion of the site of the Bush Hill plantation, which was owned by Richard Marshall Scott and his descendants for close to 200 years. The house is located along Backlick Run. It was built by Josiah Watson, but was purchased by Scott in 1797.
In 1850, a portion of the land was cleared by the Orange and Alexandria Railroad for the creation of a track line. Bush Hill remained a private residence until World War II, when the United States government leased it for the detention of Adolf Hitler's confidant Ernst Hanfstaengl. After the war, the house became a preschool, but it was burned by arsonists in 1977; the vandals were never identified. Today a historical marker notes the site of the house.
Developer Hubert N. Hoffman saw potential in the neighborhood, and had begun buying up land in 1958 in anticipation of the construction of the Capital Beltway; today a large portion of the Eisenhower East site is covered by the Hoffman Town Center development. Hoffman himself was so identified with the site that at his death in 2002 he was interred in a mausoleum behind a Holiday Inn, which he had built in the neighborhood in 1966. This was removed in 2014 when plans began to expand the hotel.
By the 1980s, the character of the valley was largely industrial. It contained a scrap yard, a rail yard, a sanitation facility, an energy plant, and a jail. Several landowners banded together to lobby for a new interchange with the Beltway, and by the mid-1990s the area had been transformed with a large amount of commercial and residential development. A small area plan was adopted by the city in 2013 to encourage further transformation of the neighborhood.
Areas within Eisenhower Valley The far west of the Eisenhower Valley extends from the western border of the city eastward to the Alexandria National Cemetery. The main road in the area is Eisenhower Avenue, named for president Dwight D. Eisenhower.
Alexandria's Master Plan divides the city into Small Area Plans. From west to east, the Valley's plan areas are: Eisenhower West - between just west of Van Dorn and Holmes Run creek on the east A portion falling under the Seminary Hill/Strawberry Hill plan are from Holmes Run on the west to the western edge of the WMATA Alexandria Yard King Street Metro/Eisenhower area, which despite its name does not include the King Street metro station, includes the WMATA Alexandria Yard and stretches east to Telegraph Road (Virginia State Route 611) Eisenhower East including Carlyle, from Telegraph Road on the west to Four Mile Run creek, which is the western edge of the Wilkes Street Cemetery Complex.
Eisenhower West This area's western boundary is just west of Van Dorn Street. The Animal Welfare League of Alexandria is quartered here. The area is served by the Van Dorn Street station of the Washington Metro.
Cancelled plans The Transportation Security Administration announced plans to move its headquarters to the Victory Center (the former U.S. Army Materiel Command headquarters, built in 1973 and vacated in 2003), located in the west end of the Valley, in 2015, a move that was met with acclaim from city leaders, as it was planned that the building would become the centerpiece of an economic transformation of the neighborhood. The move was put on hold by a federal judge, however, who accused the General Services Administration of ignoring its own rules in contracting the lease; the action has caused great unhappiness among local government circles. In 2017, the TSA lease was awarded to the developer of a new building in Springfield, Virginia, officially ending the proposal for the TSA HQ to move to the Eisenhower Valley.
A large sports and entertainment complex was proposed for Hensley Park in 2013, but this was rejected by city planners.
Seminary Hill/Strawberry Hill The part of the Valley within the Seminary Hill/Strawberry Hill planning area is the location of Cameron Run Regional Park, and adjacent to the park is a small lake, Lake Cook, named for former Director of Transportation and Environmental Services for Alexandria, Dayton L. Cook.
Eisenhower East and Carlyle
Eisenhower East and Carlyle together form an important commercial area. Carlyle is a commercial area contiguous with Eisenhower East, it is included in the same (Eisenhower East) plan.
The Alexandria African American Heritage Park and Wilkes Street Cemetery Complex are located in this area, which is served by the Eisenhower Avenue station of the Washington Metro.
Carlyle is home to the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the National Inventors Hall of Fame, and the Albert V. Bryan U.S. Courthouse, and a new home for the National Science Foundation, opened in 2017.
Southwest Quadrant Wilkes Street Cemetery Complex Bordering the Eisenhower Valley on the east is the Wilkes Street Cemetery Complex, founded in 1804 to provide local churches a space for burials, as the city's Common Council declared a moratorium on burials within the city limits in that year. The complex grew up around the Penny Hill Cemetery, which had been in existence since being founded as a burial place for the indigent in 1795. Several church cemeteries were formed, including those associated with St. Paul's Episcopal Church and the Old Presbyterian Meeting House. These were soon joined by others formed by local cemetery associations, and today there are 13 cemeteries, many active, located in the complex. Most notable among these are Alexandria National Cemetery and St. Paul's Cemetery; the cemetery of the Agudas Achim Congregation is located here as well, as are those of Christ Church and Washington Street United Methodist Church. Other active cemeteries include Bethel Cemetery; Home of Peace Cemetery, the first Jewish cemetery in Alexandria; and Trinity United Methodist Cemetery. Abandoned and inactive cemeteries include the Black Baptist Cemetery, today the Alexandria African American Heritage Park; Douglas Memorial Cemetery, a black cemetery currently maintained by the city; and the Penny Hill Cemetery, of which few traces have survived since its closure in 1976.
Rosemont