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Alexandria still had an important port and market in the slave trade , and as talk increased of abolishing slavery in the national capital, there was concern that Alexandria's economy would suffer greatly if this step were taken.
The remaining portion of Alexandria County changed its name to Arlington County in Ellsworth , sortied with a small detachment to remove a large Confederate flag displayed on the roof of the Marshall House Inn that had been visible from the White House. While descending from the roof, Ellsworth was shot dead by James W. Jackson , the hotel's proprietor. One of Ellsworth's soldiers immediately killed Jackson. Alexandria remained under military occupation until the end of the war. Fort Ward , one of a ring of forts built by the Union army for the defense of Washington, D. Failure to do so resulted in incidents including the arrest of ministers in their church.
In and , escaped African-American slaves poured into Alexandria. Safely behind Union lines, the cities of Alexandria and Washington offered comparative freedom and employment. Alexandria became a major supply depot and transport and hospital center for the Union army. Therefore, they were labeled contrabands to avoid returning them to their masters. Contrabands worked for the Union army in various support roles. After all slaves in the seceding states were liberated, even more African Americans came to Alexandria. By the fall of , the population of Alexandria had exploded to 18,—an increase of 10, people in 16 months.
As of ratification of the Fifteenth Amendment , Alexandria County's black population was more than 8,, or about half the total number of residents in the county. This newly enfranchised constituency provided the support necessary to elect the first black Alexandrians to the City Council and the Virginia Legislature. At the turn of the 20th century the most common production in the city was glass, fertilizer, beer, and leather.
The glass often went into beer bottles. Asaph Street plant on February 18, The Old Dominion Glass Company also had a glass works fall to fire, then built a new one. The Belle Pre Bottle Company held a monopoly on a milk bottle that they patented, yet that organization only lasted 10 years.
In the Mt. Vernon Drive-In cinema opened. In , then- Congressman and future President Gerald R. Ford and his family moved to Alexandria from Georgetown. In , the city integrated schools. Williams High School. John Wise, a local Alexandria businessman and hotel keeper, hosted a meeting in his home in to discuss the creation of a Society for the Promotion of Useful Knowledge. Members include Rev. The Society did not last for long. However, on July 24, , the founders of the Society once again met at Wise's home to establish a subscription library.
During the first year, one hundred nineteen men joined the circulating library which was to be called the Library Company of Alexandria. Members agreed to pay an initiation fee and annual dues. The company was chartered as a corporation in in an act passed by the General Assembly of Virginia. Druggist Edward Stabler was elected the first librarian and the library's first location is believed to have been housed in his apothecary shop.
James Kennedy was elected the second librarian, and the library moved to his residence and place of business.
Therefore, they were labeled contrabands to avoid returning them to their masters. In , Ellen Coolidge Burke became director. Government in to help form the new District of Columbia. My Account My Profile Sign out. Become a member of OurTime.
Kennedy sold books from his personal collection to the Library Company. Those books and other bought from two local merchants formed the foundation of the subscription library. The first catalog of the library's collection was published in The collection grew over time, bolstered in part by the fact that some members paid their dues in books.
Most members were initially men, although records exist showing some women were members as early as One noted female member in was Mary L. Custis , wife of George Washington Parke Custis. The catalog published in indicated a collection of books, mostly on history and travel.
By , there were 1, entries in the catalog, and the collection had added more biographies, fiction, and magazines. Raising funds for the library was a continuing challenge. In , a lecture series was created to raise money. The arrival of the Civil War in took its toll on the library collection. Members were able to remove some of the collection prior to the library's occupation by Union troops. The library was used as a hospital and much of the library's collection was lost during this time. After the war, the building was sold to a private owner who planned to turn the building into a private residence and asked the library to remove what was left of the collection.
Funds continued to be hard to come by and in , the Library Company closed. The remainder of its collection was stored in Peabody Hall. In , a group of women in Alexandria formed the Alexandria Library Association. The leaders of the group were Virginia Corse, Mrs. William B. Smoot, and Virginia Burke. They petitioned the school board to open a subscription library in Peabody Hall, using the old books stored there.
Permission was given and doors to the new subscription library opened on December 1, In , the library moved to the first floor of a house in the block of Prince Street while negotiations were underway for a permanent move to the Confederate Hall, located at Prince Street. Lee Camp Hall Museum, where it stayed for 34 years. In , Dr. Robert South Barrett presented a proposal to the Library Association. They agreed to donate a building in memory of Dr. Barrett's mother, Kate Waller Barrett , if the city would commit to running it as a public library. The city agreed and the Society of Friends offered a year lease on an old Quaker graveyard located on Queen Street.
The old library was closed on March 1 for the books to be packed and moved to the new library, which opened to the public in August In , the Barrett library was the scene of possibly the nation's first sit-in demonstrations , as Samuel Tucker , a young law school graduate from the neighborhood, and several other African-American residents insisted on access to the racially segregated library where they had been banned.
Tucker later became a prominent attorney in Richmond. In , the Library Society was reconstituted and took the earlier historic name Alexandria Library Company. A lecture series was also revived. Speakers included Thomas Jefferson biographer Dumas Malone. Barrett's name. In , Ellen Coolidge Burke became director. Burke brought bookmobile services to Alexandria, one of the first services in Virginia.
She oversaw the growth of the library system by the addition of two new branch libraries. Duncan branch at Commonwealth Avenue. Burke retired in According to the United States Census Bureau , the city has a total area of The western portions of the city were annexed from those two entities beginning in the s. The addressing system in Alexandria is not uniform and reflects the consolidation of several originally separate communities into a single city.
In the areas formerly in the town of Potomac , such as Del Ray and St. Elmo, building numbers are assigned east and west from Commonwealth Avenue and north only from King Street. In the western parts of the city, building numbers are assigned north and south from Duke Street.
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The ZIP code prefix uniquely identifies the Alexandria postal area. Delivery areas have ZIP codes , , , , , , , , , , , , , and , with other ZIP codes in use for post office boxes and large mailers , , , Part of the George Washington Memorial Parkway is the one national protected area within the borders of Alexandria. The climate in this area is characterized by hot, humid summers and generally mild to cool winters. At the census , [55] there were , people, 68, households and 30, families residing in the city. The population density was 8, There were 68, housing units at an average density of 4, In , there were 61, households, of which The average household size was 2.
The age distribution was The median age was 34 years.
For every females, there were For every females age 18 and over, there were Department of Defense , and the Food and Nutrition Service. Major employment sectors in Alexandria include management, business and finance, office and administrative Support, computer and mathematical, sales, and legal. In total, firms in Alexandria employ approximately 91, people.
An additional 61, people commute out of Alexandria to work. As of , 2. According to the City's Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, [58] the top public employers in the city are:. A popular Christmastime attraction in Alexandria is the Scottish Christmas Walk, which was established in These parades and other official events are typically led by Alexandria's town crier, who, often dressed in elaborately, by a tradition dating to the 18th century, in a red coat, breeches, black boots and a tricorne hat, welcomes participants.
In , John Hollensbury's home in Alexandria was one of two homes directly bordering an alleyway that received a large amount of horse-drawn wagon traffic and loiterers. I like to live life by focusing on things that are positive and meaningful in this life. I am always gravitated towards people For Men: Making the Connection.
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