Welcome to Historic Fort Ward Park

Fort Ward Park is a 43.46 acre park owned and operated by the City of Alexandria and recognized on the National Register of Historic Places as a historically significant site. Fort Ward was one of the largest Union forts in the Civil War Defenses of Washington and is today the best preserved of the few fort sites still existing in the region. After the Civil War, an African American community known as "The Fort" was established on the grounds and nearby, creating a century-long legacy of community life and heritage before the park was founded in the early 1960s. Today, about 90% of the fort's original earthwork walls remain, the Northwest bastion has been authentically restored, and the site includes a self-guided tour beginning at the Fort Ward Ceremonial Gate, a museum with a Civil War collection, exhibits, public programs, a specialized reference library, preserved and documented evidence of the post-Civil War community including burial sites, archaeological findings, heritage trees, and road traces, as well as picnic areas, a playground, an amphitheater, and public restrooms.

Alexandria, Virginia · United States