june 30–July 6, 2025

What's New

FEATURED EVENT 

Family Day with Young Historians
Gadsby’s Tavern Museum, 134 N. Royal Street  
Sunday, July 6 (every Sunday through Labor Day)
2- 5 p.m.
Included in regular museum admission.

Junior Docents (4th through 6th graders) provide stationed tours throughout the two tavern buildings and operate special, hands-on activity stations about period clothing and chocolate making. It’s a unique and fun way to explore history for all ages.

Alexandria & USA Birthday Celebration!
Oronoco Bay Park, 100 Madison Street
Saturday, July 12
6 - 9:45 p.m. (Fireworks display on the Potomac River at 9:30 p.m.)
Free

The City will celebrate its 276th and the USA’s 249th birthday on Saturday, July 12, at Oronoco Bay Park. Experience this one-of-a-kind Alexandria event with your family. The evening includes live music, food and drink vendors, and ends with the grand finale -- a fireworks display on the Potomac River at 9:30 p.m. Plus come visit the Historic Alexandria table and say hi! Admission is free.

Upcoming Events

View the Historic Alexandria Calendar                                                                                                                                                      

Join Us for The Next Community Cookout!
Fairlington Presbyterian Church, 3846 King Street
Tuesday, July 1
6 p.m.
Free

The City of Alexandria has scheduled three more community cookouts — and due to the extreme temperatures, they’ll be held indoors so everyone can stay cool and safe. The next cookout will take place at Fairlington Presbyterian Church at 6 p.m. next week, Tuesday, July 1. Come stop by the Historic Alexandria table and say hi! 

Join us for a fun evening with free food, games, activities, giveaways, and a chance to connect with neighbors. Learn more about the wide range of services and programs offered by City agencies - more than 50 city agencies and nonprofit organizations participate in the cookouts. We hope to see you there!

For more information and a schedule of upcoming community cookouts, visit https://www.alexandriava.gov/rpca/alexandria-community-cookouts

Women’s History Walk to Showcase Woman behind GPS
Participants will meet outside the Braddock Road Metro Station at 7a.m.
Thursday, July 3 
Free Registration.  

Throughout Virginia’s history, women have taken unprecedented steps to invent, achieve and innovate.  To honor their footsteps, the National Center for Women’s Innovations and Alexandria Celebrates Women, in partnership with the Alexandria, VA  America 250 Committee, will join forces to  sponsor a FREE fitness and history walk to Alexandria’s Virginia Tech campus at Potomac Yards (3625 Potomac Avenue) Thursday July 3, 2025.

Participants will meet outside the Braddock Road Metro Station at 7 a.m. and walk the Potomac Yard Trail to the VA Tech Innovation campus where a 9 a.m. event will be held to honor Gladys West and her trailblazing role enabling GPS (Global Positioning System). West’s traveling exhibit – showcasing the odds she overcame – has attracted thousands of visitors and inspired students of all ages. The University of Colorado/Denver will host the West exhibit for the upcoming academic year. 

The Trail parallels a portion of Alexandria’s historic railroad passages. Set at a leisurely pace, the trek will also enable walkers to explore the history of women and railroads. Participants may also travel to or from the Tech campus event via the Braddock Road and Potomac Yards Metro Stations. 

The 2.1 mile Potomac Yard Trail runs from the Braddock Road Metro Station North along Potomac Avenue to connect with the Four Mile Run Trail. This trail features exercise equipment, basketball courts, tennis courts, and numerous playgrounds. 

Specialty Tour: Hamilton's BFF & Frenemies
Gadsby’s Tavern Museum, 134 N. Royal Street  
Saturday, July 5 (every Saturday in July)
10 -11 a.m.
$15 per person/$12 for Historic Alexandria Members
Tickets can be purchased online.

Inspired by the musical Hamilton, learn how the paths of Washington, Lafayette, Jefferson, Madison, and Burr all intersected with this local tavern. Includes discussion of the issues they faced and how their choices impacted local citizens. Please note the tour involves ascending and descending stairs. Arrive no later than 5 minutes prior to tour time to check in. Tickets often sell out, so buy online to reserve your space! 

Beyond the Battlefield: A Civil War Walking Tour of Alexandria
Lee-Fendall House Museum & Garden, 614 Oronoco Street
Saturday, July 5
10 - 11:30 a.m.
$15 to the general public and free for museum members
Purchase tickets. 

This walking tour shares the stories of soldiers, citizens, and self-liberated African Americans in Civil War Alexandria. It covers the military occupation, the conversion of public and private buildings into hospitals, and emancipation. Tickets must be purchased in advance and take place rain or shine, so please wear appropriate shoes and clothing. 

Carlyle House Family Fun Day - Best Friends Bash
Carlyle House, 121 N. Fairfax Street  
Saturday, July 5 (First Saturday of the month from April – November)
Noon -3 p.m.
Free
More information online. 

Come join friends on the Carlyle House Magnolia Terrace for Family Fun Day on the first Saturday of the month! From noon - 3 p.m., you can sit in on story time that starts at the top of the hour and participate in crafts and other activities that relate to the theme of the month. This program is for all ages, though some of the crafts might be challenging for guests under 4. There is no fee to join this program, but donations are encouraged.

Civil War Hospital Tour
Lee-Fendall House Museum & Garden, 614 Oronoco Street
Saturday, July 5
2- 3 p.m.
$15 to the general public and free for museum members.
Purchase tickets. 

Learn how the Lee-Fendall House was confiscated during the Civil War and operated as a Union Army hospital. Explore what life was like in Union-occupied Alexandria, how the Lee-Fendall House witnessed medical history, and how political divisions impacted those living here. 

Specialty Tour: Poisons at the Apothecary Museum (SOLD OUT)
Stabler-Leadbeater Apothecary Museum, 105-107 South Fairfax Street
Sunday, July 6 
11 a.m. - noon
$15 per person/$12 for Historic Alexandria Member
Purchase tickets.

Come explore the sinister side of medicine on the Apothecary Museum’s Poisons Tour. This one-hour tour explores several different types of poisons, their historic uses at the Apothecary, and what we know today. Recommended for ages 18 and up. Please note the tour involves ascending/descending one flights of stairs.

City of Alexandria Pipes and Drums Summer Concert on Market Square
Market Square, 301 King Street
Thursday, July 10
7:45- 8:30 p.m.
Free

Celebrate Alexandria’s Scottish heritage with the City of Alexandria Pipes and Drums at a free summer concert series. Enjoy performances featuring bagpipes and drums on Thursdays, July 10 and August 7.

Trivia Nights at Historic Sites: Alexandria History
Lee-Fendall House Museum & Garden, 614 Oronoco Street
Friday, July 11 (biweekly through August)
7-9 p.m.
$12 admission
Purchase tickets.  

Join staff from Lee-Fendall House Museum and Carlyle House Historic Park for bi-weekly trivia nights in the beautiful gardens located at Lee-Fendall House. Test your knowledge all summer on all things from pop culture to history! Teams may have up to 6 members. Cost includes one drink ticket; additional drinks can be bought at our cash bar. Teams may have up to 6 members. Ages 21 and over only. No outside alcohol is permitted. Food and water may be brought into the garden. 

Story Time for Little Historians
Alexandria Black  History Museum, 902 Wythe Street
Saturday, July 12 
10-10:45 a.m.
Free event, no registration required. 

This FREE, fun, and educational story time is geared to children ages 5-8 years old and features stories related to Black History. The program uses books written by and about African American people and other communities of color to educate and inspire our youngest visitors. Along with the book reading, staff provides historical context and local community connections. Story time will be held in the Museum’s Parker-Gray Gallery.

A World War II Walking Tour of Alexandria
Lee-Fendall House Museum & Garden, 614 Oronoco Street
Saturday, July 12
10:30 a.m - noon.
$15 admission/Free for museum members
Purchase tickets.  

Alexandria was a bustling town during the Second World War filled with servicemen and women and civilians contributing to the war effort. On this two-mile walk around Old Town, visit sites where history took place and buildings where notable Alexandrians, including a Tuskegee Airman and a member of the 101st Airborne, lived before serving their country. In addition, learn of the top-secret intelligence facility known as P.O. Box 1142. This tour begins at Lee-Fendall and ends at the Torpedo Factory by the waterfront. The tour will last approximately 1.5 hours. Walking shoes and water are highly recommended. The tour will take place rain or shine.  

Do You Remember the Alexandria Roller Rink?
A Community Panel on a Lost Landmark
Alexandria Black History Museum, 902 Wythe Street
Saturday, July 12
11 a.m - noon.
Free

Join the Alexandria Historical Society for a special live panel reflecting on the Alexandria Roller Rink—a long-gone but fondly remembered hub of music, skating, and connection for generations of Alexandrians, especially within the city’s African American community. 

Through personal stories and community memory, panelists will explore the cultural significance of the rink and why preserving its legacy still matters today.

Highlights include:

• Welcome from the Alexandria Historical Society
• Reflections from community members who skated there
• A conversation on the importance of memory in local history

Seating is limited and available on a first-come basis.

We hope you’ll consider attending—and helping us honor a vital piece of Alexandria’s social and cultural past.

Lecture: Fashion History of the Carlyle’s 18th Century
Carlyle House, 121 N. Fairfax Street  
Saturday, July 12 
1 p.m.
$12
Purchase tickets online. 

The Carlyle House will hold a fashion history lecture with Emma Rowland who  will cover the economics of fashion in the past. Fashion and clothing were intertwined with the economic, societal, and political systems of the day. Since John Carlyle was a merchant, she will discuss the trading and importation of textiles and their importance in Alexandria. 

Emma Rowland works in federal policy during the day. On the weekends, she works as a tour guide in Old Town Alexandria for Alexandria Colonial Tours, where she gives tours dressed in her Colonial-era costumes, which she makes herself. She is passionate about history, and her grandmother taught her how to sew when she was 8. When she passed, her grandmother left Emma her collection of antique dresses, and Emma quickly fell in love with the history of fashion. 

Lecture - St. Elizabeths Asylum: Civil War Care at the Hospital for the Insane
Lee-Fendall House Museum & Garden, 614 Oronoco Street
Saturday, July 12
2-3 p.m.
$10 admission
Purchase tickets.   

Founded in 1852, St. Elizabeths was the nation’s first federally-funded psychiatric facility. The “Government Hospital for the Insane” in Washington, D.C. quickly transformed into a trauma center for wounded and convalescing soldiers when the Civil War broke-out a decade later. This lecture will analyze the reception of Union, Confederate, and African American troops, as well as their conditions upon admission. As the only federal mental health complex in the country during the Civil War, St. Elizabeths helped define treatment options for those afflicted with the modern diagnosis of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Attendees will glimpse into the medical treatments of wartime Washington, connecting symptoms to battlefield experiences. Through an inclusion of primary sources and personal narratives, this lecture will explore the impact on psychiatric care in the postbellum years and reflect on the wave of mentally-ill veterans once the war concluded. 

Madeline Feierstein is an Alexandria, VA historian specializing in the American Civil War’s hospitals and prisons, with an additional research interest in psychiatric institutions and asylums. A native of Washington, D.C., her work has been showcased across the Capital Region. As the Lead Historian for the Lee-Fendall House Museum & Garden, Madeline leads efforts to document the sick, injured, and imprisoned soldiers that passed through Civil War Alexandria. Additionally, she works at Gravestone Stories interpreting the burials in Alexandria’s historically-rich cemeteries. Madeline holds a Bachelor of Science in Criminology from George Mason University and a Master’s in American History from Southern New Hampshire University. 

Specialty Tour: Midwifery (CANCELLED)
Stabler-Leadbeater Apothecary Museum, 105-107 South Fairfax Street
Sunday, July 13 
11 - 12:30 p.m.
$15 per person/$12 for Historic Alexandria Member
Purchase tickets.

Midwives did more than deliver babies! Explore the role, knowledge, and challenges of Midwives through the lens of the Stabler-Leadbeater Apothecary Museum and its collection of historic medicines and archives. Content note: this tour will cover the complex history around contraception, abortion, and miscarriage; recommended for ages 18 and older. Guests should arrive between 10:45 and 11 a.m., tour begins promptly at 11 a.m. and late guests will not be able to be admitted. Please note the tour includes ascending and descending stairs. 

Support Historic Alexandria

Historic Alexandria receives City operational funding to support its mission; however, these resources do not cover the full scope of the department’s strategic goals and projects. Donations, special revenue, and grant funding help supplement staff, conservation work, and educational programs.  Please consider making a gift today. 

Historic Alexandria Museum Hours

Plan your Visit

Friday, July 4: The Alexandria Black History Museum, Alexandria History Museum at The Lyceum, Fort Ward Museum and Historic Site, Gadsby's Tavern Museum, and the Stabler-Leadbeater Apothecary Museum will be open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. All other Historic Alexandria museums will be closed.

Alexandria Archaeology Museum 
Tuesdays–Fridays, 11 a.m. – 4 p.m., Saturdays, 11 a.m. – 5 p.m., Sundays, 1 –5 p.m.

Alexandria Black History Museum
Thursdays & Fridays, 11 a.m.– 4 p.m., Saturdays, 11 a.m. – 5 p.m., Sundays, 1– 5 p.m.

Alexandria History Museum at The Lyceum 
Thursdays & Fridays, 11 a.m. – 4 p.m., Saturdays, 11 a.m. – 5 p.m., Sundays, 1 – 5 p.m.  

Fort Ward Museum 
Thursdays & Fridays, 11 a.m. – 4 p.m., Saturdays, 11 a.m. – 5 p.m., Sundays, 1 – 5 p.m.

Freedom House 
Closed to Visitors During Front Door Restoration
Freedom House Museum is temporarily closed to visitors to allow for the completion of the front façade restoration and installation of new entry doors. 
UPDATE: The front facade work is almost done so the scaffolding is coming down. While we are excited to share this rehabilitation update, the two doors to the Freedom House Museum and their hardware are still being fabricated so the museum will be closed through the end of July. 

To learn more about the ongoing rehabilitation, visit the Freedom House Rehabilitation Project page. Project updates will be posted regularly on the Freedom House webpage. 

Friendship Firehouse Museum
Saturday, July 19, 11 a.m. –  5 p.m.

Gadsby’s Tavern Museum
Thursdays & Fridays, 11 a.m.– 4 p.m., Saturdays, 11 a.m. – 5 p.m., Sundays-Tuesdays, 1– 5 p.m.

Stabler-Leadbeater Apothecary Museum
Wednesdays–Fridays, 11 a.m.– 4 p.m., Saturdays, 11 a.m. – 5 p.m.*, Sundays & Mondays 1 - 5 p.m.
NEW: Apothecary Night Shift–Every Saturday in June and July the museum is open 11 a.m.--7 p.m.

Explore with Ease – The New Museum Mobility Guide

Historic Alexandria and the Department of Transportation & Environmental Services (T&ES) have launched a colorful, easy-to-use map and guide connecting all of Alexandria’s museums via walking, biking, and transit. The guide also acts as a passport—visit every site and earn a prize! Available at museums, rec centers, public libraries, and more.

Visit our website and follow us on social media to discover new things about your hometown. For more information, visit alexandriava.gov/Historic. Admission to City of Alexandria museums is complimentary for city residents.

For reasonable disability accommodation, contact Nicole Quinn at historicalexandria@alexandriava.gov or call 703.746.4554, Virginia Relay 711.

This Week in Alexandria's History

More from This Day in History

On July 1, 1958, more than 30 people were injured when two passenger trains collided at Alexandria’s Union Station. A Seaboard Airline train was unloading passengers when a Chesapeake & Ohio streamliner came into the station on the same northbound tracks and rammed into the Seaboard.

Upcoming Commission and Committee Events

Commissions Supporting Historic Alexandria

• July 9 Alexandria Historical Restoration and Preservation Commission
  Lloyd House, 220 N. Washington Street
  8-9:15 a.m.

• July 14 Alexandria-Caen Sister Cities Committee (SCC)
  City Hall, 301 King Street, Sister Cities Room 1101
  7-9 p.m.

• July 15 Historic Alexandria Resources Commission (HARC)
  Lloyd House, 220 N. Washington Street
  7 p.m.

• July 16 Alexandria Archaeological Commission (AAC) 
  Lloyd House, 220 N. Washington Street
  7 p.m.

• July 21 George Washington Birthday Celebration Committee (GWBCC) 
  Lloyd House, 220 N. Washington Street
  7 p.m.

• July 21 Alexandria Sister Cities Committee
  301 King Street, Room 1101
  7 - 8:30 p.m.