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Black Historic Sites -- Alexandria, Virginia "UPTOWN" Area
The Robinson Library was the first public library to serve the African American population of Alexandria. With desegregation in the 1960s, the building was converted to use for community-oriented programs. Parker-Gray's first four-year high school class graduated in 1936. In 1950, because of increased enrollment, a new school was built at 1207 Madison Street to house ParkerGray High school. In honor of the hard work and dedication of NAACP lawyer, Charles Houston, the school that remained on Wythe Street was renamed Charles Houston Elementary School. The school was named for late educators John Parker, Principal of the Snowden School for Boys, and Sarah Gray, Principal of the Hallowell School for Girls. For many years, African American students had to travel to Washington, D.C. to receive an education beyond the eighth grade. As a result of integration, Parker-Gray High School was phased out and became a middle school from 1965 to 1979. The property was sold and a portion of the funds was used by the City of Alexandria to renovate and extend the Alexandria Black History Resource Center. During the desegregating years, Charles Houston Elementary School closed. It eventually burned down. This site is now home to the Charles Houston Recreation Center. Follow this Self-guided Tour Route"
Former office of Samuel W. Tucker, who represented the 1939 sit-down strike participants. In 2000, Samuel W. Tucker Elementary School was named for him. Meade Memorial Episcopal Church 322 North Alfred Street, Alexandria Organized by Christ Church as a mission project in 1869. 717 Queen Street, Alexandria Site of August 21, 1939 Alexandria Library sit-down strike
Continue Queen Street, go right on Royal Street, then left on King Street Market Square Continue King St. to right on Faiifax St., right on Duke St. to middle of the block Church Alley Continue Duke Street, turn left on Royal Strret to the northwest corner of Wolfe Street.
400 block of South Royal Street, Alexandria This community was probably named for the country of Haiti (Hayti was an earlier name for Haiti). The residents on the block were free blacks and whites. Sometimes enslaved people lived with free black families. The house at 404 South Royal Street was the home of George Seaton, a free black master carpenter, who became a member of the City Council and State Legislature in the 1870s. He was responsible for constructing the first public schools for African American students, the Snowden School for Boys and the Hallowell School for Girls.Turn right on Wolfe Street to the northeast corner of Wolfe and St. Asaph Streets . George L. Seaton House 323 S. St. Asaph Street (northwest corner), Alexandria This wood frame, Greek revival style house was built in 1852 by George L. Seaton. Continue on Wolfe Street to middle of 600 block -- the building on south side 600 block Wolfe Street, Alexandria Built in 1785, this brick Federal style building housed three schools -- English School, Learned Language School, and the Free School. Financed by George Washington for indigent students, the Free School developed from the Academy and was located where the Campagna Center is today. In 1812, a "free colored school," founded by a group of free blacks, was held in the Washington Free School. During the Civil War, it was used to house contraband slaves. Continue on Wolfe Street, turn right on Washington St. to middle of the block 320 South Washington Street, Alexandria Brick. 1863-1864. Remodeled, 1930-1953. This was the first African American church founded in Alexandria after the occupation by Federal troops and the third oldest African American church in Alexandria. The first "select colored school" was founded in Alexandria by Reverend Clem Robinson in 1862 for contrabands and soon had over 700 students. This was one of several schools in the city founded for the thousands of contrabands who entered the city during the Civil War. Beulah Baptist Church grew out of the school. Continue by making a "U-turn." Go south on Washington Street and
606 South Washington Street, Alexandria This Gothic style brick edifice is the oldest African American church building in Alexandria. The front and interior were altered in the twentieth century. Roberts Chapel began as a part of the predominantly white congregation at the First Methodist Episcopal Church, (in Chapel Alley) now Trinity Methodist. In 1830, four white and five black members purchased a lot and began the foundation for a separate church. Work stopped in 1831 because of the reaction to the Nat Turner Rebellion. The congregation was forced to move to the present site in 1834. It was originally named Davis Chapel for the Reverend Charles A. Davis, the first pastor of the church. Make another "U-turn," and go north on Washington Street; then turn left "THE BOTTOMS" area The Dip Neighborhood 411 South. Columbus Street Around 1870 this brick structure was probably designed and built with funds from the Freedman's Bureau. It became a major gathering place for African Americans and their secret organizations after the Civil War, induding the Odd Fellows, Rising Star, Daughters of Zion and many other groups. It served an important role in developing community identification, promotion of racial consciousness and leadership skills. Continue on Columbus Street, then left on Duke Street to the middle of the block Dr. Albert Johnson Residence Continue west on Duke Street to Alfred Street to church on the corner. Alfred Street Baptist Church301 South Alfred Street, Alexandria In 1818, the African American members of the Baptist Church at 212 South Washington Street with the support of the Alexandria Baptist Society moved to their own building in the 300 block of South Alfred Street, the first edifice of Alfred Street Baptist Church. The present church, built on the same site, dates from 1855, with alterations dating from the l880s. The church was significant for its major religious, educational and cultural role in Alexandria's free black community prior to the Civil War. In 1833 Mr. Nuthall, an Englishman, opened a school in the church but it was closed after the Nat Turner rebellion. During a period when Virginia law denied African Americans the right to assemble in groups without a white overseer, the church provided the most consistent opportunity for members of the African American community to meet, exchange information and develop leadership skills. During the Civil War, Alfred Street Baptist Church was located within the compound of the U.S. Military Railroad Yard. Its Sunday School, started in the l820s, gave free blacks a rare opportunity to learn to read and write. In the 1990s, the congregation completed a new edifice which included the old historic church. Continue west on Duke Street;four blocks west to 1315 Duke Street Franklin and Armfield Slave Market1315 Duke Street, Alexandria
Active until 1836, this was one of the largest slave trading companies in the country exporting over 3,750 slaves to the new cotton and sugar plantations of the Deep South. Then, other firms continued trading in slaves here. During the Civil War the building and its surrounding site were used as a military prison for deserters, the L'Ouverture Hospital for black soldiers and the barrack for contraband-slaves who fled the confederate states and sought refuge with Union troops. The Franldin and Armfield building, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, is now the office of the Northern Virginia Urban League. Continue to corner of Duke and West Streets.
1401 Duke Street, Alexandria This church was founded by fifty former enslaved people in the mess hall of L'Ouverture Hospital in 1863. Reverend Leland Warring, the pastor, was a teacher in the Lancaster School at the Alexandria Academy. The present church, described as a magnificent brick structure, was built in 1891. The original organ from Shiloh Baptist Church is on display in the Alexandria Black History Resource Center. Continue west on Duke Street to Holland Lane, left one block to park. The Alexandria African American Heritage Park
The sculpture consists of four elements: three bronze trees standing twelve to fifteen feet high and a symbolic grave mound. Etched in the bronze trees are the names of notable African American Alexandrians. Through its affiliation with the Alexandria Black History Museum, this park serves as a haven enriched with history and serenity. From the park, return to Duke Street --
Alexandria Black History Museum | Watson Reading Room | Robert H. Robinson Library |
The City built the Robinson Library as a result of a peaceful sit-in that took place in 1939 at the Alexandria Library on Queen Street. Five young African American men were arrested for refusing to leave a segregated, white only library.
