The Historic Alexandria Waterfront

Sources for Further Study on the Waterfront

Alexandria Canal lock at the Potomac River during the Civil War. Photograph shows sailing ships at the wharf, workers and horses and a tent by the lock perhaps for a guard.

Alexandria Archaeology Publications: (Available for purchase at the Alexandria Archaeology Museum or on-line.)

• A Community Digs Its Past: The Lee St Site. Alexandria Archaeology Museum, 1999
• Acoustic and Magnetic Remote Sensing Site Identification Survey Along the Alexandria, Virginia Waterfront Between Oronoco and Franklin Streets and Oronoco Bay. Gordon P. Watts, Jr. Tidewater Atlantic Research, 1986.
• The Alexandria Canal: Tidewater Terminus of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal System. Keith L. Barr, 1989. Alexandria Archaeology Publications, No. 22
• The Alexandria Waterfront Forum: Birth and Rebirth 1730-1983. Pamela J. Cressey and Steven J. Shephard, 1983. Alexandria Archaeology Publications, No. 1
• Maritime Alexandria: An Evaluation of Submerged Cultural Resource Potentials at Alexandria, Virginia.  Donald G. Shomette. 1985.
• Ship’s Cargoes of Alexandria, Virginia in 1792: Imports from Foreign Ports. Philip M. Erickson, Steven J. Shephard, ed., 1995. Alexandria Archaeology Publications, No. 66

Alexandria Archaeology Site Reports -- The Waterfront 

Alexandria Artifact Stories - The Alexandria Gazette Packet, a weekly newspaper column, by Pamela J. Cressey, 1994-1997, covering many topics on the history of Alexandria.

The Alexandria Canal: Its History & Preservation. Thomas Swiftwater Hahn and Emory L. Kemp. West Virginia University Press, 1992. (Available for purchase at the Alexandria Archaeology Museum or online.)

Col. John Carlyle Gent.: A True and Just Account of the Man and His House. Dr. James D. Munson. Northern Virginia Park Authority, 1986. (Available for purchase at the Northern Virginia Park Authority website.)

Discovering the Decades - Alexandria Archaeology Volunteer Newsletter, a series in honor of the City's 250th Birthday in 1999. Includes information on the history of the Waterfront.

The Fireside Sentinel, the Alexandria Library, Lloyd House Newsletter published from 1987 to 1995. Articles on waterfront history by T. Michael Miller and others. Available for study at the City of Alexandria Library, Barrett Branch, Local History/Special Collections Division, 717 Queen Street. Select articles are listed below.

Wandering Along the Waterfront:

• Cameron to King
• Foot of Oronoco
• King to Prince
• Prince to Duke, Part I
• Prince to Duke, Part II
• Princess to Queen
• Queen to Cameron
• Windmill Hill

Maritime Alexandria: the Rise and Fall of an American Entrepot. Donald G. Shomette. Heritage Books, Inc., 2003, second printing 2005. (Available for research at Local History/Special Collections at Barrett Branch of the Alexandria Library.)

Oral Histories of Alexandrians who Remember the Waterfront:

• Dee Campbell, Boyhood as a “Wharf Rat.” 
• John Pierpont, Working at the Torpedo Factory as a teen.

A Seaport Saga: Portrait of Old Alexandria, Virginia. William Francis Smith and T. Michael Miller. Norfolk, Va.: Donning Co., 1989, (out of print). (Available for research at several branches of the Alexandria Library.)

This Was Potomac River. Frederick Tilp. Bladensburg, Md., 1978. (Several copies available at the Alexandria Library.)