What Did Alexandria Look Like

Visit this exhibit in the Alexandria Archaeology Museum
Page updated on November 14, 2024 at 4:32 PM
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A Community Digs its Past: The Lee Street Site

The Lee Street exhibit reveals the archaeological process and the history of Alexandria as seen through the lens of the Lee Street Site (archaeological site 44AX180) and several other waterfront sites.

Preserved on the Lee Street Site was a cross-section of Alexandria's history from its founding in 1749 into the 20th century. Eighteenth-century wharves remained intact below remnants of a bakery, taverns, and residences that had sprung up on the bustling waterfront. The block was later used by the Union Army as a hospital support facility for the huge influx of soldiers during the Civil War. These layers of time were preserved under shallow foundations and a paved parking lot. The exhibit weaves together the story of the wharves, taverns, bakery and Civil War privy excavated at the corner of Lee and Queen Streets with the step-by-step process of archaeology from research and excavation to lab work and conservation.

What Did Alexandria Look Like?

exhibit panel

 

What Did Alexandria Look Like?

­The Lee Street Site is a cross-section of Alexandria’s history from its founding in 1749 to today. 

Map showing the location of the Lee Street Site in relation to the Alexandria Archaeology Museum.
­The Lee Street Site (44AX180) was excavated in 1997 before redevelopment. ­The red line shows the original 1749 shoreline before manmade fill created new land to the east.

Early Alexandrians built wharves and new land along the banks of the Potomac River. ­These features remained intact below remnants of 19th century residences and businesses, which had sprung up on the bustling waterfront of the international port. Evidence of Union Army occupation serves as a reminder of the arrival of troops during the Civil War.

Layers of different soil colors and types
Archaeologists documented the color and texture of each soil layer of the Lee Street Site. This six-foot-deep stratigraphic profile shows the oldest layers of manmade fill at the bottom, evidence of the 19th century in the middle, and the modern fill at the top.

The paved surface of the parking lot that covered the Lee Street Site protected these layers of time. Professional archaeologists and community volunteers excavated and documented the site before the construction of townhouses and an underground garage.

Archaeologists excavate the Lee Street Site.

The city is always changing. The Lee Street Site holds clues to over 250 years of Alexandria's history.

View of Alexandria from the waterfront, transitioning from the 18th century through to the 21st century.

This image combines illustrations of Alexandria from the 1700s to the 1900s.: 

  • Far left, 1760s: Illustration by Elizabeth Luallen.
  • Middle left, 1836: Woodcarving of ship awaiting slaves on the Alexandria waterfront. American Anti-Slavery Society broadside, 1836. 
  • Middle right, 1863: Bird's eye view of Alexandria, VA, 1863. Charles Magnus, Library of Congress.
  • Far right, 1900: Alexandria waterfront with ferry boat, 1900.