Old Town Alexandria Tour: From Colonial America To The Civil War

Three-hundred years of history featuring George Washington, the first martyrs of the Civil War, and a sea captain with 29 children await you in Alexandria’s Old Town, one of the earliest port neighborhoods in North America. On this walking tour, I’ll show you where to find traces of this history, from Colonial America to the Civil War. Our tour starts in the heart of Alexandria at the Old Town Farmers’ Market, which is as old as the city itself, and still bustles on Saturday mornings. You’ll make your way to Gadsby’s Tavern, where George Washington ate and the staff still wear 18th-century costumes. I’ll also show you where America’s greatest president slept when he visited Alexandria, and where he worshiped at the nearby Christ Church. We’ll indulge in some more recent history too, including how the bloody fight for a Confederate flag gave each side of the Civil War its first martyr, outside Marshall House. On your way towards Old Town Alexandria’s Waterfront, you’ll walk over the historical cobblestones of Captain’s Row, where millionaires now live in homes that were once owned by sea captains. As you make your way through this riverside port, you’ll see: • Spite House Alexandria, a property built to spite its neighbors • The mound where Confederate soldiers are buried in a mass grave • Stabler-Leadbeater Apothecary Museum, a former drug store that cured the ailments of the town’s residents for more than a century • An ice house where blocks from the nearby Potomac River cooled food during summer months • The charred bricks of Gazette House which was burnt down after it dared criticize “northern scum soldiers” for arresting a minister that wouldn’t pray for President Lincoln On this hour long tour, you’ll also: • Find out the location of a Nazi archive that held Germany’s secrets • Learn how John Carlyle’s House inspired the design of Mount Vernon • See where torpedoes were made during World War II • Hear how a banker’s wife hid a portion of the George Washington family fortune in her underwear drawer during a Union raid • Discover why Robert E. Lee’s church was spared from becoming a hospital during the Civil War Join award-winning Washington journalist and tour guide Rick Snider, who has walked this colonial port since the 1960s to discover the colorful tales of America, past and present. Old Town Alexandria is an oasis of history that reflects the nation’s struggles and successes. From colonial to current times, come see America grow.

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