Alexandria Archaeology Museum

Visit the Alexandria Archaeology Museum to learn how the City’s archaeologists, volunteers and students work with residents and developers to study and manage archaeological resources important to the community's past.

Page updated on Oct 26, 2018 at 3:38 PM

The Alexandria Archaeology Museum

Visit the museum on the third floor of the Torpedo Factory Art Center, at 105 N. Union Street in historic Old Town Alexandria.  In the Museum's Public Laboratory, you may find volunteers washing, marking and cataloguing artifacts from the latest dig.

The main exhibit, Archaeologists at Work: The Lee Street Site, highlights one city block to provide a fascinating glimpse of Alexandria's history and the way in which archaeologists study the past. Small "table top" exhibits feature other Alexandria sites and finds. Hands-on activities engage visitors of all ages.  Learn more about museum exhibits. 

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Plan Your Visit to the Alexandria Archaeology Museum

Location, hours, directions, and everything you need to know to visit the Alexandria Archaeology Museum. No Admission Charge.
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Ships and Other Nautical Discoveries at S. Union Street

Archaeologists working at the Robinson Landing site discovered the remains of three 18th-century ships, along with wharves, warehouses and more. Learn about these latest finds and about earlier nautical discoveries, including another ship, from the nearby Indigo Hotel site.

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Save our Ship!

The hull of the 18th-century ship found in 2015 at the Hotel Indigo construction site is undergoing conservation at Texas A&M University's Conservation Research Laboratory. Please make a generous donation to the Save Our Ship Conservation Fund to ensure the preservation of the fragile wood timbers. 

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Archaeology at Contrabands & Freedmen Cemetery

Archaeological studies conducted between 1996 and 2007 provided tangible evidence of the cemetery's survival after more than 125 years of neglect and destruction. Of the approximately 1,800 graves once located in the cemetery, more than 500 were identified through archaeological investigations. 

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Archaeology at Fort Ward Park

The 20th century African American community known as The Fort is the focus of an effort by the Office of Historic Alexandria to study and preserve the post-Civil War historic resources of Fort Ward Park. Archaeological excavations in the park, historical research, and oral histories highlight our growing knowledge of this community.

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Archaeology at Shuter's Hill

An ongoing excavation on Shuter's Hill near the Masonic Memorial is exploring the Mills/Lee/Dulaney plantation, built in 1782. The mansion house burned in 1842, and was replaced by a larger brick house that was used by Union troops during the Civil War. Shuter's Hill also became the site of two Union forts in the Defenses of Washington.

Museum Hours

Regular Museum Hours
Sunday 1 to 5 p.m.
Monday closed
Tuesday 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. (closed November through March)
Wednesday 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Thursday 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Friday 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Saturday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Closed
New Year's Day, Easter, 4th of July, Thanksgiving, Christmas

Office Hours
Tuesday to Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., by appointment

Email the Museum

Email the Alexandria Archaeology Museum

Event Tickets 

To purchase tickets to events at the Alexandria Archaeology Museum, and to shop online, visit The Alexandria Shop. 

American Alliance of Museums logo 
American Alliance of Museums
Accredited Museum 

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