Alexandria Historical Society

10/11/2026

While our social media content is free for everyone, the best way to stay up to date on the latest developments in the study of Alexandria’s history is to become a member of the Alexandria Historical Society. Not only will you receive first access to new issues of our journal, The Alexandria Chronicle, but you also get free admission to our lectures and discounted admission to our Behind the Scenes experiences.

Your membership dues also help support research into Alexandria’s history through our grant program and help us honor the best of public history in the Port City with our annual history awards. Dues also help support our new Alexandria Digital History Museum.

Memberships start at just $30 for a year.

Interested in becoming a member? Check out our website to learn more and sign up: https://sites.google.com/view/alexandria-historical-society/membership

Credit: National Archives and Records Administration

10/09/2026

“X never, ever marks the spot.” -Indiana Jones

So it’s a good thing that the folks at Alexandria Archaeology know what they’re doing! It’s Archaeology Month, which makes it the perfect time for the Alexandria Historical Society (with a little help from a certain fictional archaeologist) to highlight the great work being done by Alexandria Archaeology! Sure, they might not be driving tanks, outrunning giant boulders, or fighting the forces of evil (at least to our knowledge), but what they are doing is painstakingly researching, documenting, and sharing the many layers of Alexandria’s history.

“If you wanna be a good archaeologist, you gotta get out of the library!”

Alexandria’s archaeology team can be found all over the city, including at dig sites, the city’s archives and collections center, the Special Collections/Local History section of the Alexandria Library (don’t get the wrong idea from Dr. Jones’s quote, good archaeologists do visit the library), and at various markets, festivals and special events. You’ll also find them at the Torpedo Factory because…

“It belongs in a museum.”

The Alexandria Archeology Museum to be exact! Located in the Torpedo Factory, the museum features great exhibits that highlight the many artifacts that city archeologists have found and what they reveal about previous generations who called this area home.

“It’s not the years, it’s the mileage.”

Alexandria’s archaeology program dates back to the 1970s. To learn more about this history, check out “Digging Alexandria” at the Alexandria Digital History Museum: https://alexandria.ahs.yourcultureconnect.com/e/post-war-to-the-bicentennial/digging-alexandria

“He chose…poorly.”

As a historic city, Alexandria is sometimes targeted by treasure hunters, who ask to dig up historic privies and wells on private property. Unlike Indiana Jones, these individuals want to dig so that they can sell the objects for personal gain, caring little about the objects and the stories they tell. Remember, if someone comes to your door and asks to dig, you don’t know their ultimate plan for the artifacts. They might be digging for financial gain…or something more sinister. While the old bottles in your backyard might not hold a terrible power that can melt people’s faces, do you really want to take that risk? Call the professionals at Alexandria Archeology instead. They can properly assess your site, conduct excavations, and let you know if you need to close your eyes if/when creepy ghosts appear.

Alexandria Archaeology has a lot of great events planned for Archaeology Month so check out their website to learn more: https://www.alexandriava.gov/archaeology/celebrate-virginia-archaeology-month-2026

Credit: Alexandria Archaeology

10/06/2026

Thank you to the Douglass Cemetery descendants and the Office of Historic Alexandria archaeologists for sharing your work to preserve and restore the Frederick Douglass Memorial Cemetery! Thank you as well to everyone who braved the rain on Saturday to join us for this open house.

We have more events coming up soon!

On Saturday, October 24 at 2 pm, join the Alexandria Historical Society for a walking tour of sites connected with the Schafer family and the famous Burning Bride ghost story. Led by AHS board member Scott Vierick, the tour will also discuss life in nineteenth century Alexandria and how historians approach the study of the past. Whether you’re a fan of ghost stories or are a committed skeptic, this tour will help separate fact from fiction and illuminate the sources behind the spooky story. Tickets are $20 for members and $25 for nonmembers. Advance registration is required. For more information, please visit our website: https://sites.google.com/view/alexandria-historical-society/events/burning-bride-walking-tour

On Wednesday, October 28 at 7 pm, join us for our panel What’s New in Alexandria History. Recipients of AHS’s History Grants will be discussing their projects and how they used the grant funding to research and share information about Alexandria’s past. The event is free and will be held at the Alexandria History Museum at the Lyceum. More information can be found on our website: https://sites.google.com/view/alexandria-historical-society/events/new-history-from-grantees

10/02/2026

Our next History Event is happening tomorrow!

On Saturday October 3 at 10 am join the Alexandria Historical Society, the Office of Historic Alexandria, and the descendants of Douglass Memorial Cemetery at 1421 Wilkes Street for a free open house about how descendants, archaeologists, and historians are working together to preserve this historic site.

Records suggest over 2,000 burials at Douglass, yet fewer than 700 grave markers are visible today. In recent years, the City of Alexandria, as well as Douglass’ neighbors including Old Town Village, have stepped in to assist in caring for it. Currently, the City and its contractors are undertaking a project to improve drainage conditions in the cemetery which is part of the historic Wilkes Street Cemetery complex. AHS supports the City's partnership with the Social Responsibility Group and the Friends of Douglass Cemetery to ensure the preservation of this historic Black burial ground.

The Friends of Douglass Cemetery was formed for the preservation of this historic African American resting place of so many former Alexandrian residents who paved the way for those who live today. It is the community’s mission to help bring Douglass from a neglected place of rest to a place of comfort for all to visit. Descendants, stakeholders, and friends of Douglass, along with the City of Alexandria Archaeology Department, will be working together to make this a reality. Come and see the progress and how this gem is being maintained and preserved.

Visitors to the October 3rd event are encouraged to use public transportation or to park along South Payne Street or at the Nannie J. Lee Center. This event is one of the City's Virginia Archaeology Month events.

More details about this event can be found on our website: https://sites.google.com/view/alexandria-historical-society/events/douglass-cemetery

10/02/2026

“When you're strange/Faces come out of the rain/ When you're strange / No one remembers your name.”- The Doors

You might not recognize the picture, but you’ll recognize the name. After all, Jim Morrison is a name everyone remembers.

Yes, this photograph shows the legendary singer-songwriter of The Doors from back when he called Alexandria home.

Morrison moved here in 1959 with his family and attended George Washington High School (today a middle school) in the Del Ray section of the city. While the family only lived in the area for about three years, Morrison made a lasting impression on his teachers. He was a dedicated reader, but his choice of books gave them pause. As one teacher recalled, "I suspected he was making [the books] up, as they were English books on 16th and 17th-century demonology." A review of Library of Congress's catalog showed that the book titles were, in fact, genuine.

After graduating high school in 1961, Morrison moved out to Florida before heading west to California, where he and several other musicians formed The Doors. Six years later, with the song "Light My Fire" lighting up the charts, The Doors performed a concert at the Alexandria Roller Rink. However, the event didn't go as planned. Morrison had fought with the rest of the band earlier that day, and, according to eyewitnesses, had a little too much to drink. While Morrison still gave an incredible performance, the concert ended early after he threw a piece of musical equipment into the crowd and injured a fan.

Morrison died in 1971, but the legacy of The Doors lives on. The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993, and Val Kilmer played Morrison in a 1991 film. In 2015, the Library of Congress, which had once provided proof that Morrison was not lying about his reading habits, added The Doors to the National Recording Registry.

Credit: City of Alexandria

09/29/2026

Our next History Event is coming up soon!

On Saturday October 3 at 10 am join the Alexandria Historical Society, the Office of Historic Alexandria, and the descendants of Douglass Memorial Cemetery at 1421 Wilkes Street for a free open house about how descendants, archaeologists, and historians are working together to preserve this historic site.

Records suggest over 2,000 burials at Douglass, yet fewer than 700 grave markers are visible today. In recent years, the City of Alexandria, as well as Douglass’ neighbors including Old Town Village, have stepped in to assist in caring for it. Currently, the City and its contractors are undertaking a project to improve drainage conditions in the cemetery which is part of the historic Wilkes Street Cemetery complex. AHS supports the City's partnership with the Social Responsibility Group and the Friends of Douglass Cemetery to ensure the preservation of this historic Black burial ground.

The Friends of Douglass Cemetery was formed for the preservation of this historic African American resting place of so many former Alexandrian residents who paved the way for those who live today. It is the community’s mission to help bring Douglass from a neglected place of rest to a place of comfort for all to visit. Descendants, stakeholders, and friends of Douglass, along with the City of Alexandria Archaeology Department, will be working together to make this a reality. Come and see the progress and how this gem is being maintained and preserved.

Visitors to the October 3rd event are encouraged to use public transportation or to park along South Payne Street or at the Nannie J. Lee Center. This event is one of the City's Virginia Archaeology Month events.

More details about this event can be found on our website: https://sites.google.com/view/alexandria-historical-society/events/douglass-cemetery

09/26/2026

“We have top men working on it right now.”
“Who?”
“Top…men.” -Raiders of the Lost Ark

Recognize this location? No, it’s not where the government decided to store the Ark of the Covenant (at least, not to our knowledge). It’s the former Federal Records Center in Alexandria, which was housed in the Torpedo Factory complex. With the end of World War II, the government decided to stop using the site as a manufacturing plant. Instead, it was converted into a warehouse space to store records.

Anyone who’s ever done research at the National Archives knows that the federal government creates a lot of records. This is a boon for researchers, but managing and storing all these archival materials can be a challenge. That’s where Federal Record Centers (FRCs) come in. As part of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), FRCs house records from various government agencies to keep them safe from damage and make sure that they are available for use by federal employees. Some materials are eventually transferred to National Archives facilities and made accessible to the public, while others are disposed of after a certain amount of time. Today, FRCs protect over 27 million cubic feet of records.

So what was held at the Alexandria Federal Records Center? Fans of the Museum of Natural History in Washington, DC, might be interested to hear that part of the Smithsonian’s dinosaur fossil collection resided at the site for a time. Some congressional records were also housed here. But the most well-known collection was the materials related to N**i war crimes in World War II. These materials were used by the prosecution during the Nuremberg Trials and remain valuable sources for historians researching World War II and the Third Reich.

Today, the closest Federal Records Center is in Suitland, Maryland, across the Potomac River. The City of Alexandria purchased the Torpedo Factory and reopened it as the Torpedo Factory Art Center in 1974. Today, we know the site for its art studios and the Alexandria Archeology Museum, but pictures like this remind us of the complex’s long and varied history.

Credit: National Archives and Records Administration.

09/25/2026

A great article about our city's archaeological treasures and the great work being done by our friends at Alexandria Archaeology!

What’s buried beneath your backyard?

If you live in Old Town Alexandria, the answer could be: a lot.

The City of Alexandria says archaeologists excavating a typical Old Town townhouse backyard may uncover approximately 25,000 artifacts.

And if there’s an old trash-filled well or privy on the property? That number can double.

Those artifacts aren’t just old bottles and broken pottery. They can help archaeologists reconstruct how earlier Alexandrians lived — what they ate, what they used in their homes, what they threw away and even how their properties changed over generations.

During Virginia Archaeology Month in October, Alexandria is putting some of that buried history in the spotlight.

There’s also something homeowners should know: that small sinkhole or circular depression in your yard might not be just a landscaping problem. Alexandria Archaeology has a Backyard Archaeology program for residents who discover possible historic wells or privies.

The City advises homeowners not to let amateur bottle hunters dig into suspected archaeological features. Once objects are removed without documenting exactly where they were found, valuable historical information can be lost forever.

And yes — professionals can sometimes look underground without digging. Ground-penetrating radar has already been used at Alexandria cemeteries, where surveys identified more than 2,800 probable graves.

Pat Malone takes a fascinating look at what may be hiding beneath Old Town, what to do if you discover something unusual in your yard, and the archaeology programs coming up in October.

Read the full story at The Zebra Press.

Link in comments.



Alexandria Archaeology Museum Friends of Alexandria Archaeology

09/24/2026

LocktoberfestDC is this Saturday!

What’s LocktoberfestDC? It's a series of guided walking and biking tours on Saturday September 26 highlighting the historic canals of the Washington DC area (including the Alexandria Canal), followed by an Oktoberfest celebration. All of the tours are offered for free, while the Oktoberfest celebration is pay-as-you-go. It is a great way to learn more about the historic transportation routes that helped shape the economic history of the wider DC area during the 19th century!

The event is on Saturday, September 26. If the weather’s bad, the rain date is October 3.

LocktoberfestDC is organized and run by volunteers with the National Park Service’s Volunteers-In-Parks program and administered by the Trust for the National Mall. To learn more about the tours, please head over to LocktoberfestDC’s website: https://sites.google.com/tomhaser.com/locktoberfestdc

09/22/2026

Our next History Event is tomorrow!

On Wednesday September 23 at 7 pm at the Lyceum, join us for “Alexandria 1776-1800 Before, During, and After the American Revolution.” A panel of local historians and archaeologists will be discussing how Alexandria grew, changed, and evolved over the final 25 years of the eighteenth century. The event is free for members and $5 for nonmembers. To learn more about the event, please visit our website: https://sites.google.com/view/alexandria-historical-society/events/before_during_after

First time at the Lyceum? It's located at 201 S Washington St, Alexandria, VA 22314. Want to avoid having to deal with parking? Metrobus routes A11 and A12 both have stops next to the museum. Alternatively, the free King Street Trolley, which runs from the King Street Metro Station to Market Square, stops just a few blocks away.

This event is not to be missed. We hope to see you there!

Credit: Library of Congress/ Karen Olsen Murley/ Alexandria Archaeology Museum, City of Alexandria.