Sugartown Alexandria Trail: A Short Stroll Through History

In the midst of Old Town Alexandria lies a hidden, gently overlooked past.  This past includes sugar houses, a fire house, and beautiful homes, both past and present.  The Alexandria Historical Society and other citizens decided to uncover this past for the casual stroller, even if the walker can't always see it.  In the book Walk and Bike the Alexandria Heritage Trail, the reader and walker is guided through a walk that is less than a mile and shows where Alexandria history rests.

The Sugartown trail starts at the Alexandria Black History Resource Center and Reading Room, which began as the Robinson Library until the 1960s when the local community revived the site and turned it into the Alexandria Black History Resource Center and reading room.  After that, the walker passes a bunch of beautiful townhouses before getting to the next visible historical site.

The next site is what the book calls the Friends Burial Ground, but what you initially see is a local library.  Upon closer inspection, there is one, and only one, burial site -- the grave for Alexandria Quaker, a person whose name inspired the Quaker Lane that runs from I-395 all the way to Duke Street.  The town of Alexandria itself may have been named after this remembered person!  Strangely, the book does not mention this grave site or person at all, just the Friends Burial Ground.  This omission leaves one of many mysteries about the history of Alexandria.
The hidden history lies most at the addresses where there used to be sugar houses (two different ones) but are now simple modern buildings such as the American Red Cross and stores.  As the reader may know, in the early 19th century, Alexandria was one of the largest producers of refined sugar in the United States.  This fact says a lot about the size of our country at the time.  Old Town Alexandria was very small, and had only two sugar houses.  Not much sugar would have been produced from just those two, and yet they were the largest sugar producers.  There must not have been enormous demand yet at that time.  Our country was still small.

One of the last historical landmarks on this walk is the town's favored historical firehouse, which is now a museum that is open to the public.  Ironically, the fire house itself survived two fires, and the date on the door commemorates one re-building of the fire house itself.
The walk goes for two further blocks, to include two houses that are famous old houses in Alexandria's historical homes tours.  Although little is known about the houses, the initial residents, or why their styles are so vastly different while they are across the street from each other, they are still worth seeing. 
Unlike the last walk, this one is short enough with a specific enough subject (sugar houses) to keep the walk short.  There are other walks and bike rides from this book that I will likely venture on throughout the summer!  For the casual history stroller, I recommend the Sugartown Trail.

Walk and Bike the Alexandria Heritage Trail: Guide to Exploring a Virginia Town's Hidden Past (Capital Travels)