ALEXANDRIA, a city and a port of entry in Northern Virginia, U.S.A., on the W. bank of the Potomac river, 7m. below Washington, D.C.; contiguous to, but independent of, Arlington county. It is served by the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac, the Southern, and the Old Dominion railways, and by the Norfolk and Washington, D.C., Steamboat Company. Through the Potomac yards for the classification of freight, on the northern boundary of the city, there is a daily movement of over 3,000 cars. The river is a mile wide at this point, with a good harbour. The population was 18,o6o in ig2o; of whom 4,112 were negroes; and 24,149 in 193o.
Alexandria is a quaint, old-fashioned city, with quiet, shady streets. Many buildings date back to the r8th century: Christ church (1783-88), in which George Washington and Robert E. Lee worshipped; Carlyle house (1752), where General Braddock in 1755 organized his ill-fated expedition against Fort Duquesne, and where, later in the same year, the famous Council of Gover nors met to determine upon concerted action against the French; City hotel; Washington Free school (1785); Friendship Engine house (1774); the home of "Light Horse Harry" Lee, and his son, Robert E. Lee; Marshall house, where the first fatality of the Civil War took place; and others of historic interest. An imposing modern land-mark, visible for many miles, is the George Washington National Masonic memorial, recently built at a cost of $5.000.000. About 21m. west of Alexandria is the Protestant Episcopal Theological seminary, opened in 1823.
Alexandria is a distributing and jobbing centre for the northern counties of Virginia. There is a United States Naval Torpedo station on the water-front and a large plant for the construction and repair of refrigerator-cars is near the city. There are about 6o other industrial plants. Their principal products are glass, clothing, silk, spark plugs, beverages, ice and fertilizers. The municipality owns its gas plant, but the water supply is under private control. The daily newspaper, the Alexandria Gazette, was founded in 1784.
The first settlement here was made in 169s. In 1749 a town was laid out, called Belle Haven, or Belhaven. A few years later the name was changed to Alexandria, in honour of John Alexander, who had owned the land in the latter part of the i 7 th century. The city soon became an important port for the products of Northern Virginia, from which flour and tobacco were shipped to the West Indies and even to Europe. Improved roads were built for wagon-trains, and "rolling roads" were constructed, on which hogsheads of tobacco were rolled down from the plantations to the port. This economic development was checked by the anomalous political history of the city. From i 790 to 1846 it was part of the District of Columbia, at first with a vague and uncertain status, and later overshadowed by the development of the capital. Hardly had it been ceded back to Virginia before the clouds of the Civil War began to gather, and during the whole course of the war it was occupied by Union troops. After the erection of the State of West Virginia (1863), and until the close of the war, it was the seat of the "Alexandria Government" (see VIRGINIA). In 1814 the city was threatened by a British fleet, but averted attack by a payment of about $100,000. Alexandria was incorporated in 1779 and rechartered in 1852. A commission-manager form of government was adopted Sept. I, 1922.