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E-86 Historic Alexandria
Alexandria was named for the family of John Alexander, a Virginia planter who in 1669 acquired the tract on which the town began. By 1732, the site was known as Hunting Creek Warehouse and in 1749 became Alexandria, thereafter a major 18th-century port. George Washington frequented the town; Robert E. Lee claimed it as his boyhood home. From 1801 to 1847 Alexandria was part of the District of Columbia, and was later occupied by Federal troops during the Civil War. By the 20th century it had become a major railroad center. In 1946, Alexandria created the third historic district in the United States to protect its 18th - and - 19th century buildings

E-89 Alexandria Academy
On 17 Dec. 1785, George Washington endowed a school here in the recently established Alexandria Academy “for the purpose of educating orphan children.” In 1812, an association of free African Americans founded its own school here in space vacated by white students. Young Robert E. Lee attended another school in the Academy from 1818 to 1823, when it closed and the building was sold. During the Civil War the Academy served as a freedman’s hospital. Returned to the Alexandria School Board in 1884, the Alexandria Academy was used as a school and administrative facility until 1982. The Historic Alexandria Foundation restored it in 1999.

E-92 Site of First Synagogue of Beth El Hebrew Congregation
On this site stood Beth El Hebrew Congregation's synagogue, the first structure built as a Jewish house of worship in the Washington metropolitan area. Founded in 1859, Beth El, the first reform Jewish congregation in the Washington area, is northern Virginia's oldest Jewish congregation. Beth El built the synagogue here in 1871 and worshipped in it until 1954. A new synagogue on Seminary Road, Alexandria, was dedicated in 1957.

E-91 Lee's Boyhood Home

E-106 Washington-Rochambeau Route-Alexandria Encampment

Most of the American and French armies set sail from three ports in Maryland--Annapolis, Baltimore, and Head of Elk--in mid-Sept. 1781 to besiege the British army in Yorktown. The allied supply-wagon train proceeded overland to Yorktown, its itinerary divided into segments called "Marches." Its "Fourth March" was from Georgetown to Alexandria; the wagons took two days, 24-25 Sept., to cross the Potomac and reunite in Virginia. The Alexandria camp was roughly a half-mile in area, located north of Oronoco Street and bisected by Washington Street. The train left Alexandria on 26 Sept.

E-93 Lee Fendall House

F-4 President Monroe's Home

F-5 Wayne's Crossing

Route 15 near Leesburg, Va

Near the intersection of Route 15 and 50

In Leesburg, Va

in Leesburg, VA

Just South of Leesburg, VA

B-12 Colonel John Singleton Mosby
This road, along which many of his skirmishes took place, is named for Colonel John Singleton Mosby, commander of the 43rd Battalion of Confederate Partisan Rangers. Their activities in this area helped keep the Confederate cause alive in Northern Virginia toward the end of the Civil War.

B-13 Battle of Ox Hill (Chantilly)

Maj. Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson's wing of the Army of Northern Virginia reached here 1 Sept. 1862. Jackson's march from the battlefield of Second Manassas turned the position of Maj. Gen. John Pope's army at Centreville and threatened the Union line of retreat near Fairfax Court House. Here at Ox Hill, the Confederates encountered Federal troops of the IX and III Corps and a fierce battle was fought amid storm and darkness. Union generals Isaac Stevens and Philip Kearny were killed. Pope retreated to Alexandria and the defenses of Washington. Thus ended the Second Manassas campaign.

B-14 Camp Russell A. Alger

Named for Secretary of War Russell A. Alger, the camp was established in May 1898 on a 1,400-acre farm called Woodburn Manor. Some 23,500 men trained here for service in the Spanish-American War. The large military population greatly affected the lives of the residents of the small communities of Falls Church and Dunn Loring. The camp was abandoned early in August 1898 after an epidemic of typhoid fever. The War Department began the sale of land in September 1898.

B-29 Maryland (Antietam/Sharpsburg) Campaign

Following the Battle of Ox Hill (Chantilly) on 1 Sept. 1862, Gen. Robert E. Lee pondered his options and strategy. Encouraged by Confederate victories and Federal disorganization, Lee acted quickly to continue the offensive. On 3 Sept., Lee's Army of Northern Virginia marched north toward Leesburg, from where it could cross into Maryland, flank the Washington fortifications, and draw the Union army out of Virginia. The troops of Maj. Gens. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson and James Longstreet moved north on Ox Road past Frying Pan and Herndon Station to Dranesville. The army concentrated around Leesburg and forded the Potomac into Maryland Sept. 4-7.

BW-2 Burke's Station Raid

Burke's Station, four miles south, was raided by Stuart's cavalry, December, 1862. Stuart telegraphed to Washington complaining of the bad quality of the mules he had captured--a famous joke.

BW-3 Burke Station

Burke Station was raided in December, 1862, by Confederate General J. E. B. Stuart. It was from this site, originally the Burke Station Depot, that he sent his famous telegram to Union Quartermaster General Meigs complaining of the poor quality of the Union mules he had just captured.

B-26 Mosby's Midnight Raid
Col. John Singleton Mosby formed the 43d Battalion Virginia Cavalry "to weaken the armies invading Virginia by harassing their rear." Near midnight on 8 March 1863, he led his horsemen undetected through Union lines to disrupt communications between Dranesville and Alexandria. Without losing a man or firing a shot, Mosby and his Rangers rode into and out of the garrisoned village at Fairfax Court House and captured Union Brig. General Stoughton in his bed, as well as two captains, thirty enlisted men, and fifty-eight horses. It was Mosby's most famous raid.

C-1 Clay and Randolph Duel

Although dueling was illegal in Virginia, Secretary of State Henry Clay challenged U.S. Senator John Randolph of Roanoke. Clay called Randolph out to defend his honor after Randolph insulted him in a speech on the Senate floor. Randolph confided to Senator Thomas Hart Benton of Missouri that he had no intention of hurting Clay, who was married and had a child. The duel took place on 8 April 1826 a half mile north at Pimmit Run. Both first shots missed their intended targets. Clay's second shot also missed, and Randolph raised his pistol and fired it in the air. The duel then ended, and the unhurt adversaries met each other halfway and shook hands.

C-2 World's First Public Passenger Flight

On September 9, 1908, near this site, Orville Wright carried aloft in public his first passenger, Lt. Frank P. Lahm, for a flight lasting 6 minutes and 24 seconds. Three days later, he took Major George O. Squier on a flight of 9 minutes and 6 seconds duration. From this primitive beginning has evolved an air transportation system that today spans the globe.

C-7 Orville Wright's First Virginia Flight

Orville Wright made his first heavier-than-air flight in Virginia at Fort Myer for the U.S. Army on 3 Sept. 1908. He flew the plane slightly more than a minute, reaching a speed of 40 miles per hour. During the next two weeks here, Wright broke world records for speed and time spent in the air for a heavier-than-air craft. On 17 Sept. 1908, however the plane crashed, killing Lt. Thomas Selfridge and injuring Wright. In 1909, the Wright brothers returned to Fort Myer. After additional flight tests, the Army bought their plane for $25,000 on 31 July 1909 for its first military aircraft.