Alexandria Virginia History, Alexandria Old Photos


Alexandria Virginia History

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National Register of Historic Places for Alexandria, Virginia

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Earliest known inhabitants were the hunter-gatherer Indians of Fairfax called the Tauxenent. By the time Englishman Captain John Smith explored the area in 1608, mapping the lands and the Potomac River, the Indians had become agricultural. Early European settlers learned hunting, fishing and farming skills from the Indians in order to survive. In 1649, the exiled English King Charles II gave seven of his loyal supporters all the land between the Potomac and Rappahannock Rivers (over 5 million acres); the land came under the control of Thomas Fairfax. Originally called Bellhaven, Alexandria was founded by a group of Scottish tobacco merchants. The area was described as a "trading place in one of the finest situations imaginable...a large circular bay... with water sufficiently deep to launch a vessel of any rate or magnitude." Sometimes there were 20 or more vessels in port at one time. The colonies were growing in both population and commerce. An Act of the Virginia General Assembly in 1749 allowed one-half acre lots, on a 60-acre tract of land, to be auctioned off in order to create the new town, named after the John Alexander who had owned it in the late 1660s. During the Revolutionary War, Alexandria continued to prosper, supplying the Continental Army. George Washington was a merchant in Alexandria and owned property there. During the Civil War, there was a great deal of military activity, but no major battles. After the war, Union soldiers and freed blacks settled here. Today, Fairfax County is the richest and most populated subdivision of the Commonwealth of Virginia.

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