Historic Alexandria

With more than 250 years of history and hospitality to its credit, Alexandria offers an array of historic and cultural attractions. Alexandria's many historic homes, churches, businesses and museums allow residents and visitors alike to experience the hand of the past that makes our city the charming and historic town it is today. Visit City of Alexandria museums and historic sites and discover our past, present and future!
Page updated on May 24, 2022 at 2:41 PM

Welcome to Historic Alexandria

Many of the city's premier historic sites fall under the administration of the Office of Historic Alexandria, the department of City government charged with the conservation, interpretation and promotion of these links to the past. These sites bring Alexandria's varied and storied history to life. Additionally, Alexandria has many  more historic sites which are open to the public and tell a significant part of the city's historical tale. The Office of Historic Alexandria is accredited by the American Alliance of Museum and is  a member of the International Coalition of Sites of Conscience.

What's New

Excavation of Ship 3 at the Robinson Terminal South site (October 2018)

Free Lecture-Archaeology at the River’s Edge, Alexandria, VA

Wednesday, 25 May, 2022, 7-9 pm at The Lyceum
The Alexandria Historical Society and the Office of Historic Alexandria present a lecture on recent archaeological discoveries on the waterfront by Dr. Eleanor Breen, City Archaeologist. This talk will provide an update on the research and preservation of the ships’ timbers and other archaeological finds. Even as individual features and artifact assemblages, these finds are highly significant, but when taken together along with a wealth of historical documentary data, a historic maritime landscape is taking form.
Installing the wood shingles on the oldest section of the house

City of Alexandria Celebrates Preservation Month 2022

May is Preservation Month, a time when communities across the country celebrate historic preservation locally. The City is hosting a series of events to highlight Alexandria’s historic preservation initiatives whether you want to hear experts on the Murray-Dick-Fawcett House, learn about hands-on archaeological practices, tour a site, or view the newly restored 1858 Prettyman Fire Hose Reel Carriage, the 2019 Virginia’s Top Endangered artifact.
store the timbers in Ben Brenman Pond to preserve them for study and conservation

Historic Ship Stabilization

This project includes the stabilization and storage of three historic ship remnants excavated at the Robinson Landing Site (archaeological site 44AX235). The overall goal of the project is to transport and store the timbers in Ben Brenman Pond in a manner that preserves the possibility of future study and conservation.
Detail of Hose Carriage, after Conservation in 2022

Historic Hose Carriage Returns to Friendship Firehouse Museum

The historic hose carriage returned to Friendship Firehouse Museum on April 30. The Friendship Fire Company’s ornate hose-reel carriage, purchased in 1858, has been off-site for much-needed conservation treatment. Come see the carriage in the museum on its next open days, May 14 and June 11.
SeeWorthy: Modeling Maritime Archaeology (exhibit logo, 2022)

Exhibits at the Alexandria Archaeology Museum

View ship construction through the eyes of maritime archaeologists in SeeWorthy, a new exhibit highlighting the technology used to digitally reconstruct historic vessels. April 1 – June 5, 2022 on the first floor of the Torpedo Factory Art Center.
Reenactors with tents and camp equipment at Fort Ward's Civil War Camp Day

Civil War Camp Day at Fort Ward

Saturday, June 18, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Learn about soldier and civilian life during the Civil War, and enjoy a regimental band concert, at Fort Ward Museum’s annual Civil War Camp Day.
Fort Ward Park Entrance Sign at Braddock Road

Fort Ward Park and Museum Area Management Plan

Learn about the Fort Ward Park and Museum Area Management Plan and how it is being implemented. Learn the history of the African American community known as The Fort, and what is being done to preserve and interpret its historic resources during park improvements.
This Day in History calendar and text search

This Day in History

What happened in Alexandria on today's date, or tomorrow, or on your birthday? Search here to find out.

Now Open

Plan your Visit

Closed for Renovation

Covid-19 ALX Promise logo

Covid-19 Operational Guidelines

OHA established these Guidelines to ensure consistent operations during the COVID-19 pandemic. All museums are participating in the ALX Promise Gold program. Staff will regularly re-evaluate these guidelines based on guidance from the CDC, Commonwealth of Virginia and the Virginia Health Department.

View of Alexandria, VA, by J.T. Palmatary, 1853

This Week in Historic Alexandria

This week in Historic Alexandria, enjoy the many exhibits, public programs and special events offered by our city’s great museums and historic sites!  This e-newsletter is updated each week on this webpage, or sign up for an eNews account to have it delivered to your in-box.

Historic post card: Greetings from Alexandria VA.

Visit Museums and Historic Sites

Here is all the information you need to plan a visit to the Historic Alexandria museums - address and phone numbers, hours, admission fees, special programs, directions and more. The Historic Alexandria museums are free for City of Alexandria residents.

Wayfinding Sign: Shuter's Hill

Wayfinding in Alexandria: Exploring Old Town

The City of Alexandria’s wayfinding signage system helps people find their way around the city. Take a look at the new map and history panel “mini-kiosks” in Old Town, from the Masonic Temple on Shuter's Hill to the waterfront. Read the full text of the history panels here.

Historic Alexandria: African American Heritage Trail

Self-Guided Tours

Enjoy a variety of walking and bike tours, listen to podcasts, go on a scavenger hunt, or learn about Wayfinding Signs and the African American Heritage Trail.

Lyceum Hall Hospital

The History of Alexandria, Virginia

Read a brief history of Alexandria and find more about our history on the Historic Alexandria website and elsewhere on the internet.

Alexandria pillar inscribed with the names of Alexandria lynching victims Joseph McCoy and Benjamin Thomas

Alexandria Community Remembrance Project

The Alexandria Community Remembrance Project (ACRP) is a city-wide initiative dedicated to helping Alexandria understand its history of racial terror hate crimes and to work toward creating a welcoming community bound by equity and inclusion. Learn more, read the newsletter, and become involved.

Historic Alexandria Educational Resources

Educational Resources in Historic Alexandria

Learners of all ages can explore Alexandria’s history through online and on-site offerings. Historic Alexandria offers educators the opportunity to reinforce their teaching with hands-on experiences, field trips, kits, and online resources.

Historic Alexandria Museum Store at The Lyceum

Museum Stores

Purchase event tickets, make a donation, become a member, and buy gifts and Alexandria-related merchandise, online or in our museum shops. Your purchases support programming at Historic Alexandria's museums. 

Black Lives Matter Collection: Mask and Pins

The Black Lives Remembered Collection: Preserving Their Names

An online exhibition shows objects and digital photographs from the Black Lives Remembered Collection. The exhibition documents some of the ways the local community community responded to the tragic murder of George Floyd on May 25, 2020.

Chronicling the Pandemic: Sidewalk chalk drawings

Chronicling the Pandemic: Alexandria's Story

Over the past year, OHA has recorded our community's response to the pandemic by collecting objects, images and stories from citizens across the City. See a sampling of this public history collecting effort, and learn more about contributing to this on-going project. 

Historic Alexandria Museums

Alexandria Archaeology Museum 2019

Alexandria Archaeology Museum

Alexandria Archaeology Museum visitors 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.

Alexandria Black History Museum

Alexandria Black History Museum

Alexandria Black History Museum enriches the lives of Alexandria's residents and visitors, fosters tolerance and understanding among all cultures, and stimulates appreciation of the diversity of the African American experience.

Alexandria's History Museum at The Lyceum (exterior)

Alexandria History Museum at The Lyceum

The Lyceum, itself a witness to nearly two centuries of local history, today serves as a gateway for Alexandria's visitors.

Fort Ward's restored north bastion, with canons

Fort Ward Museum & Historic Site

Fort Ward Museum & Historic Site is the best preserved of the system of Union forts and batteries built to protect Washington, DC during the American Civil War (1861-1865).

Freedom House Museum with historic marker (credit, R. Kennedy for Visit Alexandria)

Freedom House Museum

The City of Alexandria is pleased to announce that the Freedom House Museum at 1315 Duke Street will reopen on Friday, May 27, with three new exhibitions showcasing Alexandria’s Black history and the Black experience in America.

Friendship Firehouse's Rodgers Pumper

Friendship Firehouse Museum

Friendship Firehouse Museum, the oldest standing firehouse open as a museum in Alexandria, was originally home to the first volunteer fire company in town. Today, the exhibits of historic equipment and vehicles inspire visitors.

Gadsby's Tavern Museum exterior

Gadsby's Tavern Museum

Gadsby's Tavern Museum consists of the ca. 1785 tavern and the 1792 City Hotel. Named for John Gadsby who operated them from 1796 to 1808, explore these buildings where Washington, Jefferson and ordinary travelers came to eat, drink, sleep, and influence history.

Glass Bottles on display a the Stabler-Leadbeater Apothecary Museum

Stabler-Leadbeater Apothecary Museum

Stabler-Leadbeater Apothecary Museum, one of the oldest pharmacies in the nation, sold everything from medicines to household goods from 1793 to 1933. Visitors can tour the historic shop and manufacturing room and view original products left behind.

More City of Alexandria Historic Sites

Alexandria also has many fine museums and historic sites that are not City-owned. Find information on these historic attractions.

About Historic Alexandria

Administration

Historic Alexandria Administration

Many of the city's premier historic sites fall under the administration of the Office of Historic Alexandria, the department of City government charged with the conservation, interpretation and promotion of these links to the past.

Read Mission Statements, Strategic Plans, and other official documents.

Archives and Records Center

Archives and Records Center

The Archives & Records Center provides records management, off-site storage, and reference services to City of Alexandria agencies.

Commissions Supporting Historic Alexandria

Commissions Supporting Historic Alexandria

The City of Alexandria has a strong commitment to citizen participation as evidenced by the number of citizen boards and commissions established by City Council. These bodies compose a formal system through which citizens can advise City Council on all major issues affecting the City.

Commissions

Committees

Memberships in Historic Alexandria Museums

Memberships in Historic Alexandria Museums

Become a Friend of Alexandria’s historic sites and museums. Come to special events, receive newsletters, get discounts on Museum Shop merchandise, and support history.

Rentals and Private Events at Historic Properties

Rentals and Private Events at Historic Properties

Many city-owned historic locations in Alexandria have facilities available for rent for a variety of functions, including meetings, seminars, private parties, weddings, and many other special events.

Stay Connected: Social Media and Newsletters

Stay Connected with Historic Alexandria 

Stay informed with eNews, like us on Facebook, follow us on twitter, and see us on Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube.

Click on Stay Connected, above, to see the social media presence for each of our museums.

Historic Alexandria

Support Historic Alexandria

Support Historic Alexandria

Support the City’s museums and historic properties. Become a member, volunteer, shop for merchandise and event tickets, rent an historic venue, and provide oversight on a City commission.

Volunteering with Historic Alexandria

Volunteering with Historic Alexandria

Looking for a creative outlet or a way to offer your services to the community? Volunteers are asked to donate a minimum number of hours per month and in return they receive training, newsletters, invitations to social functions, lectures, study trips, and other benefits.

Research and Collections

Alexandria's History

The History of Alexandria, Virginia: An Introduction and Resources

Read a brief history of Alexandria and find more about our history on the Historic Alexandria website and elsewhere on the internet.

Conducting your own Research

Conducting Your Own Historic Research

Do you have questions about the history of your property, genealogy, or local history? The Alexandria Library's Local History/Special Collections division is the the best place to start your research.

For certain records, the knowledgeable research librarians may refer you to the Archives and Records Center, the Clerk of the Circuit Court, the Library of Congress, the National Archives, or to one of the Historic Alexandria Museums. A brief outline of each facility can be found on this page.

Fort Ward Interpretive Plan

Fort Ward Museum & Historic Site Interpretive Plan

The City of Alexandria is working on an Interpretive Plan for Fort Ward Park to expand interpretation to include the full range of its history, especially including the African American experience and the post-Civil War Fort community

Historic Preservation

Historic Preservation

The Office of Historic Alexandria's preservation activities include Archaeology, Preservation Easements, and stewardship of City-owned historic sites and museums.

Indigenous Peoples, Virginia Indians, and Alexandria

Indigenous Peoples, Virginia Indians, and Alexandria

For thousands of years before the arrival of Europeans and the founding of Alexandria in 1749, Indians seasonally lived in and traveled through the lands that would become the City of Alexandria.

Museum Collections

Museum Collections

Historic Alexandria Collections Online

The museums, historic structures and collections managed by Historic Alexandria reflect the diversity of centuries of Alexandria history and provide a context for understanding the broader scope of regional, state and national history.

Our current online collections include:

Alexandria Black History Museum

from the Alexandria Black History Muse

Gadsby's Tavern Museum

Stabler-Leadbeater Apothecary Museum

Out of the Attic Archive

Out of the Attic Archive

“Out of the Attic” has appeared in the Alexandria Times newspaper since 2007. Each week, the column focuses on the story behind an historic image or an aspect of Alexandria's history.

Share Your Story through Oral History

Alexandria Legacies: The Alexandria Oral History Program

Alexandria Legacies, the Alexandria Oral History Program, was developed through the City of Alexandria’s Office of Historic Alexandria in the early 1980s. Today, staff and volunteers are actively conducting interviews and preparing transcriptions. Oral history broadens the study of the past in areas where there are no written documents or physical artifacts.

We are interested in hearing your story.. If you currently live, work, or volunteer with the City of Alexandria, or have done so in the past, you can participate in the Historic Alexandria Oral History Program. We are currently conducting interviews virtually. Fill out our survey if you would like to share your story.

Ships and Other Nautical Discoveries at South Union Street

Nautical Discoveries at South Union Street

Archaeology on the Waterfront

As redevelopment takes place along the waterfront, archaeologists are learning more about the city’s maritime past. Learn about the discovery of four 18th-century ships, wharves and warehouses, and the current effort to record the ship timbers with 3D scanning, and consider a generous donation to the Save Our Ships Fund.

This Day in History

This Day in History

What happened in Alexandria on today's date, or tomorrow, or on your birthday? Search the database to find out. 

These daily events in Alexandria's history were first printed in "This Week in Historic Alexandria." Check the Historic Alexandria homepage for this week's newsletter, and for instructions on how to subscribe to future issues.

Watch Lectures Online

Watch Historic Alexandria Lectures Online

Learn more about Alexandria’s history through select recordings of Historic Alexandria’s public lecture series. These lectures were presented virtually, via zoom, and are listed here by date.