Current Work at Alexandria Archaeology
As redevelopment takes place, archaeologists are learning more about the city's past. Learn about recent archaeological work in the city. Here are a few current and recent projects.
Revealing Sections of the Alexandria Canal
Alexandria Canal, Site 44AX0028
901 N. Pitt Street
Historic maps show that the ca. 1840 Alexandria Canal, specifically the fourth lock and third basin, lies beneath this portion of the city block bounded by Montgomery St., N. Pitt St., N. Royal St., and First St. Alexandria Archaeology anticipated that the masonry remains of this large-scale piece of historic infrastructure may be preserved despite 20th century development on the block. As part of the redevelopment of the Waterman Place office building, Carr Companies contracted with professional archaeologists from Thunderbird Archeology, a division of Wetlands Studies and Solutions, LLC, to implement an archaeological monitoring plan in accordance with the Alexandria Archaeological Protection Code.
Douglass Memorial Cemetery
Douglass Memorial Cemetery
1421 Wilkes Street
Douglass Memorial Cemetery, located at 1421 Wilkes Street, faces several preservation challenges, including flooding and drainage problems, which are complicated by the presence of unmarked burials and the ownership status of the parcel. The City of Alexandria has staff from the Office of Historic Alexandria, Transportation and Environmental Services, and Recreation, Parks & Cultural Activities working to address these preservation issues.
Limited archaeological fieldwork was conducted in 2024 to delineate areas in which ground-disturbing activities will not be expected to result in impacts to burials. Archaeologists completed testing and made recommendations that all ground disturbing work for the stormwater project be monitored by archaeologists.
Archaeology on the Waterfront
Hotel Indigo Site, 220 S. Union Street
Robinson Terminal South, 2 Duke Street
Robinson Terminal North, Oronoco and N. Union Streets
As redevelopment took place along the waterfront, archaeologists had the opportunity to learn more about the city’s maritime past.
Excavations took place in 2015-2016 at the Hotel Indigo Site at 220 S. Union Street and in 2017-2018 at Robinson Terminal South, at 2 Duke Street, now a complex of residences and restaurants known as Robinson Landing.
At the Hotel Indigo Site, Archaeologists uncovered the remains of the hull of a fifty-foot vessel, as well as John Carlyle's 1755 public warehouse. Excavation took place in 2015-2016, and remains of this ship and warehouse are now undergoing conservation.
At Robinson Terminal South archaeologists located the remains of three 18th century ships, as well as foundations of Hooe's 18th century warehouse and store and the 19th century Pioneer Mill.
Robinson Terminal North is also slated for redevelopment. Learn more about the role that archaeology play is development plans, in Robinson Terminal North: History, Archaeology and New Buildings: An inside look at the role archaeolgy plays in development in Old Town. by Grace Kenyon, Alexandria Living, May 17, 2024.
Archaeology at Shuter's Hill Plantation
Shuter's Hill Site, Site 44AX0175
101 Callahan Drive
Located on the grounds of the George Washington Masonic National Memorial in Alexandria, Virginia, the property has been investigated by Alexandria Archaeology since 1995. Volunteers, field school students, and summer campers have worked with City archaeologists, slowly scraping away the more recent soil layers and peeling back the pages of history. Alexandria Archaeology Summer Camp will again take place at this site in June 2025.
They found that this prominent landmark has been visited and inhabited by people for over 5,000 years. As the 20th-century deposits were scraped away, the archaeologists uncovered evidence of a mid-19th-century estate, artifacts associated with Civil War occupation, vestiges of a late 18th/early 19th-century plantation, and traces of Native American activities.