George Washington in Alexandria

After Alexandria was founded in 1749, George Washington regarded it as his hometown and came there to conduct business, learn world events, collect mail, and visit friends. He was probably first connected with the town at age 17 as an assistant to the county surveyor helping lay out its original plan, and his older brother Lawrence bought one of the first lots in 1749. Two decades before the American Revolution, while still loyal to the English crown, Washington recruited his first soldiers and drilled them in Market Square, then in the spring of 1754 marched out of Alexandria on his French and Indian War campaign. He was chosen as a town trustee in 1763, and when Alexandria's first bank opened in 1792 he was both a stockholder and depositor. George and Martha Washington attended Christ Church, where the family bought and later rented a box pew, and records preserved by the Stabler-Leadbeater Apothecary Museum show Martha Washington requesting medicines and herbs for family use. At 508 Cameron Street, a modest reconstructed town house first built by George Washington in 1769 provided a domestic alternative to the long ride to Mount Vernon; originally lacking a kitchen, it led him to take meals at local taverns, especially Gadsby's Tavern. After his presidency he was welcomed home at a civic dinner there, and he returned to dance at a ball on his last birthday in 1799. On December 16 of that year, the Alexandria Gazette reported the death of their illustrious benefactor, and his memorial service was held at the Presbyterian Meeting House in Alexandria. Saint Asaph Street was named for the Reverend Jonathan Shipley, English Bishop of Saint Asaph, who supported American independence despite never visiting America.

Alexandria, Virginia · United States