Alexandria history and landmarks

Last checked Oct. 19, 2026. Facts on this page come from the Office of Historic Alexandria’s A Brief History of Alexandria, the city’s National Register sites page and museum hours, and the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places listed-properties file dated May 22, 2026.

Alexandria was founded in 1749 as a tobacco port on the Potomac River and incorporated in 1779. Over the next century it became one of the 10 busiest ports in America, spent nearly half a century as part of the District of Columbia, was home to both the country’s largest slave-trading firm and a large free Black community, and became a Union supply center in the Civil War, according to the Office of Historic Alexandria.

Visit

• Office of Historic Alexandria museums: free for city residents; see hours below
• Alexandria Visitor Center: 221 King St., 703-838-5005
• Historic preservation questions: 703-746-3833, preservation@alexandriava.gov

How Alexandria began

People lived along this stretch of the Potomac long before the town. Exploring the Chesapeake Bay in 1608, John Smith met at least two groups near here, the Tauxenents and the Nacotchtanks.

On Oct. 21, 1669, Virginia’s governor granted 6,000 acres here to Robert Howson, an English ship captain. Less than a month later Howson sold the land to John Alexander for 6,000 pounds of tobacco. By 1732 Hugh West had built a tobacco warehouse on the bluffs at what is now the foot of Oronoco Street.

In the fall of 1748, Scottish and English merchants petitioned the Virginia General Assembly to found a town at West’s Hunting Creek Warehouse. In the spring of 1749 the site was chosen and named Alexandria for John Alexander. Surveyor John West laid out 60 acres, by tradition with help from 17-year-old George Washington, and the lots were auctioned in July 1749.

Key dates

The historic districts

Six Alexandria historic districts are on the National Register. The Alexandria Historic District, the Old and Historic District, holds about 200 early buildings in an area bounded roughly by the Potomac, Franklin, Washington and Queen streets; it was listed in 1966. The others are Town of Potomac (Del Ray and St. Elmo, 1992), Rosemont (1992), Parkfairfax (1999), Uptown-Parker-Gray (2010) and Fairlington, the World War II defense housing at King Street and South Quaker Lane, which the city also counts. Changes to buildings in the local Old and Historic Alexandria and Parker-Gray districts need city approval; see our permits guide.

National Register listings

The National Park Service lists 50 Alexandria properties on the National Register of Historic Places. Seven are also National Historic Landmarks (marked NHL).

Years are the National Register listing year from the Park Service file; the three boundary markers are separate listings. Most are private property or working churches; look from the street unless the site is open to visitors.

Museums you can visit

City residents get free admission to all city-run museums. Hours are as the city publishes them.

Freedom House Museum is in the Franklin and Armfield Office building at 1315 Duke St., a National Historic Landmark.

Cemeteries, memorials and markers

• Contrabands and Freedmen Cemetery Memorial, 1001 S. Washington St., open dawn to dusk. About 1,800 African Americans who fled slavery to Alexandria during the Civil War were buried here; the memorial honors them.
• African American Heritage Park, open dawn to dusk, with a 19th-century African American cemetery and the bronze sculpture “Truths That Rise From the Roots Remembered.”
• Alexandria National Cemetery, 1450 Wilkes St., and Ivy Hill Cemetery, 2823 King St., are both on the National Register.
• Alexandria Union Station, built in 1905, is still an Amtrak station with interpretive exhibits.
• Heritage Trail markers and self-guided tours are mapped on the city’s Plan Your Visit page.

What this means for you

• Live in the city? Bring proof of residency for free museum admission.
• Gadsby’s Tavern changes to winter hours after Oct. 31; check before you go.
• Owners in the historic districts need approval before exterior work.

Related guides: things to do this month, parks and trails in Alexandria and Alexandria population and growth.

Frequently asked questions

When was Alexandria, Virginia, founded?

In 1749. Merchants petitioned the Virginia General Assembly in the fall of 1748, the site at West’s Hunting Creek Warehouse was chosen in the spring of 1749 and lots were auctioned in July 1749. The town was incorporated in 1779.

Who is Alexandria, Virginia, named after?

John Alexander, a Scotsman who owned much of the land. He bought the 6,000-acre Howson grant in 1669 for 6,000 pounds of tobacco, the city says.

Was Alexandria ever part of Washington, D.C.?

Yes. Virginia ceded Alexandria to the new District of Columbia in 1789, Congress formally accepted it in 1801, and it was returned to Virginia in 1847.

How many National Register sites are in Alexandria?

The National Park Service lists 50 Alexandria properties on the National Register of Historic Places, from Gadsby’s Tavern (1966) to Ivy Hill Cemetery (2025).

Are Alexandria’s city museums free?

For city residents, yes: residents get free admission to all city-run museums. Others pay $3 to $5, and the Archaeology Museum is free for everyone.