Historic Structure Report
The Historic Structures Report (HSR) for 1315 Duke Street, the Freedom House Museum, was formally presented by SmithGroup on October 28, 2021. The report was updated in 2023.
A historic structure report provides documentary, graphic, and physical information about a property's history and existing condition. Broadly recognized as an effective part of preservation planning, a historic structure report also addresses management or owner goals for the use or re-use of the property. 1315 Duke Street was once part of the headquarters for the largest domestic slave trading firm in the United States, Franklin and Armfield. Enslaved people were brought from the Chesapeake Bay area and forced to the slave markets in Natchez, Mississippi and New Orleans either by foot or ship. On March 25, 2020, the City of Alexandria completed the purchase of the 1315 Duke Street from the Northern Virginia Urban League (NVUL). This purchase allows the City to preserve and interpret this National Historic Landmark and ensure it is open to the public for future generations.
This Historic Structures Report was funded in part by a generous donation from John Bessette and a grant from the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund, a program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
Read Historic Structure Report
0:00 - Welcome by Audrey Davis, Director, Alexandria Black History Museum
2:04 - Introductions of Presenters
4:11 - Project Background
9:05 - Investigative Process
20:47 - Building's History and Significance
35:54 - Periods of Development
46:22 - Period of Significance (1828-1861)
47:48 - Physical Description and Inventory
49:22 - Conditions Assessment
50:07 - Work Recommendations
51:58 - Treatment and Use - Options and Recommendations
55:29 - Further Recommendations and Studies
1:00:47 - Live Q&A
History of 1315 Duke Street
The Freedom House Museum is what remains of a large complex dedicated to trafficking thousands of Black men, women, and children from 1828 - 1861.
Built around 1812 as a residence, by 1828 it was leased by Isaac Franklin and John Armfield and used as a "Negro Jail" or slave pen for slaves being shipped from Northern Virginia to Louisiana. Franklin and Armfield were active until 1836, exporting over 3,750 slaves to cotton and sugar plantations in the Deep South. Later, other firms continued trading in slaves here. A sign seen in Civil War period photographs has the name of Price, Birch & Co. During the Civil War the building and its surrounding site were used as a military prison for deserters, the L'Ouverture Hospital for black soldiers and the barrack for contraband-slaves who fled the confederate states and sought refuge with Union troops.
Later the building housed apartments and offices. The Northern Virginia Urban League opened a museum exhibit in the basement of their offices in 2008. The City of Alexandria purchased the site in 2020. This purchase allows the City to preserve and interpret this National Historic Landmark and ensure it is open to the public for future generations.