Resources for Virginia From the Ground Up

Alexandria

Carlyle House, with 1755 characters	looking through the front window of the Carlyle House	statue of (unarmed) Confederate soldier next to Lyceum	retail stores on King Street

Wilkes Street railroad tunnel
(click on images for larger versions)

Topics to Explore

what was located here before 1608?
when was Alexandria chartered as a town? why wasn't a town started here earlier?
who was Alexander?
why wasn't the town named after George Washington when it was chartered?
what was the original economic reason for chartering Alexandria as a town? why did it succeed in becoming a commercial center, while Dumfries (and most other Virginia towns) failed to grow?
why was a railroad tunnel built under Wilkes Street? why is it a hiking path now?
how did Alexandria increase the amount of land along the waterfront? why?
what industries developed on the Alexandria waterfront? why aren't the industrial properties along the Alexandria waterfront still used for industrial purposes?
why did Carlyle come to Alexandria? why did he build a large stone house?
why was Alexandria occupied by the Union Army in 1861 *before* Virginia had seceded? is Alexandria still "occupied" by Yankees?
why is Alexandria real estate so valuable now? will the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) decisions to move military personnel to the outer suburbs cause commercial rents to drop in Alexandria?
does the architecture of the retail stores in Alexandria (especially King Street) make the shopping experience "better"? would you spend more because you like the ambience of a place?
why doesn't Alexandria have a boardwalk along the entire waterfront now?
why does Alexandria have an archeology museum?
why is there a 50-year old coal-fired power plant on the edge of downtown Alexandria? will that plant be replaced by a new power-generating facility?

Alexandria

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