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A Guide to Historic Alexandria explores Alexandria, Virginia’s remarkable story—one intertwined with the story of America.

From lands once traveled by Indigenous peoples to the surveying of its streets by a young George Washington, Alexandria has long been shaped by the Potomac River’s pull. As the nation grew, its proximity to the Federal City placed it at the center of political, economic, and social change from the American Revolution through the civil rights movement and beyond. Today, Alexandria’s neighborhoods reveal this history. From Gadsby’s Tavern Museum in Old Town to Ben Brenman Pond in the West End, each neighborhood has important landmarks, big and small. Incorporating the newest research with historic and modern photographs, this updated edition reveals Alexandria’s evolution across centuries and celebrates a city whose past continues to shape the character of the Commonwealth and the nation.

Cured with a unique combination of salting and smoking, Virginia ham stands proudly alongside the most delectable meats in the world in taste and in heritage.

Born of indigenous, African, and European practices, savory hams were an ever-present fixture on the tables of Virginia’s elite, including George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and James Monroe. The smoked and salted hog retains its place in the Old Dominion diet to this day and has become synonymous with one town in particular: Smithfield.

Journalist John DeMers leads a lively tour through ham’s journey from China and Italy across the Iberian Peninsula and England on its way to becoming the perfect meat for Britain’s ever-carnivorous Virginia colony. 

On October 29, 1900, Indiana Fletcher Williams died, leaving her 8,000-acre plantation estate and almost $1 million to create the Sweet Briar Institute.

Later renamed Sweet Briar College, it was founded by Williams to honor her daughter, Maria Georgiana Daisy Williams, who died tragically in 1884 at age 16. For over a century, Sweet Briar has recruited dedicated faculty and staff to teach exceptional students. The school's award-winning lands include old-growth forests, rare arboreal and floral species, scenic hiking and riding trails, and two lakes. Complementing these natural resources are beautiful campus buildings, many of which are listed in national and state historic registers. Each of these features is rare for a college campus; taken together, they compose the rich physical and community heritage of a historic college that celebrates its 115th birthday in 2016

Ghost stories from Coastal Virginia have never been so creepy, fun, and full of mystery!

Welcome to spooky Coastal Virginia! 

Stay alert! Ghosts lurk around every corner. Even the most unexpected places might be haunted across Hampton Roads.

Did you know that a phantom pirate prowls the woods at First Landing State Park in Virginia Beach? Or that a cast of Caspers sometimes steals the show at the Wells Theatre in Norfolk? Can you believe that every July—above the Lynnhaven River's blue crabs and oysters—a ghostly light glimmers at the site of the Witch Duck?

Pulled right from history, these ghostly tales will change the way you see Coastal Virginia forever, and have you sleeping with the lights on!

History You Didn’t Learn in School

Discover powerful stories left out of most history books. Author Jeffrey Bennett reveals the hidden legacy of Black Virginians. From 1865 to 1877, over 80 Black politicians served across the state. Learn about a brave Black woman who spied on Confederate President Jefferson Davis while disguised as an enslaved worker.

See the history of more than seventy Black communities lost in Virginia. Read the story of a 135-year-old church and the meaning behind land passed down through generations. These stories show the strength and impact of Black families before and after slavery. Perfect for history lovers and older readers, this collection brings forgotten voices back to life.

Discover the rambunctious early history of Roanoke, a Wild West town in Virginia’s Blue Ridge.

During the 1880s, the new city of Roanoke attracted a large and diverse workforce and a multitude of merchants and investors. But like the Western cow towns and mining camps of the same period, the city also attracted sex workers, professional gamblers, charlatans, and common thieves. By the early 1900s, Roanoke had become well known for its brothels, saloons, gambling halls, and rampant lawlessness.

Despite a campaign to clean up the city, Roanoke was unable to shake its unsavory image. This was particularly true after Virginia went dry in 1916. With easy access to the moonshine whiskey that had long been produced in the surrounding mountains, bootleg kingpins boldly transported illegal liquor into the city and used violence to protect their operations.

Author Phillip Andrew Gibbs explores Roanoke’s early criminal underworld and how civic leaders and law enforcement struggled to free the city from its wild, wicked, and unrepentant reputation.

A Lifeline from Darkness

More than a year before America entered World War II, a ship from Europe became one of the nation’s first and closest experiences with the wickedness of the Holocaust. As war raged across their homeland, dozens of Jews boarded the SS Quanza in the summer of 1940, desperate to escape Nazi evil. Tragically, the United States barred their entry. When Mexico denied them as well, it seemed that they would become the next victims of the Holocaust. But a lucky stop in Norfolk, Virginia, saved their lives. Sallie and Jacob Morewitz, lawyers who had fought for the Jewish community for years, rushed into court on their behalf, and Jewish and pro-refugee groups rallied to their cause. Even Eleanor Roosevelt stepped in. After many defeats, America welcomed them to a new, safe life.

Award-winning journalist Jason Norman unfolds this remarkable story of deliverance.

Nannie Berger Hairston was a crusader for justice in twentieth-century Virginia.

Nannie Berger Hairston was born in West Virginia in 1921, half a century after the end of the Civil War. She attended segregated schools, graduated, married and started a family. When Nannie’s husband, John, lost his job in the coal mine, the Hairstons moved to Southwest Virginia. It was the height of Jim Crow, and yet, against great odds, she and John became leaders in the community, advocating for civil rights and social justice. Nannie Hairston’s advice was sought by the powerless as well as the powerful. At the time of her death in 2017, she had taken her place as an icon for truth, justice and love.

Local author Sheree Scarborough uses Nannie Hairston’s own words to tell her story.

A Century of Faith

The first Mass was offered for what would eventually be known as St. Rita Church in the humblest of places, a cobbler’s shop on East Custis Avenue in the Del Ray neighborhood of Alexandria. The ladies of the yet-to-be-established parish provided its name—St. Rita of Cascia is the patron of impossible causes. The first small church was built on Hickory Street in Mt. Ida and a parish was founded on September 21, 1924. Through depression, war and post-war growth, political and social change and into a new millennium St. Rita Church has grown under its namesake’s patronage. A beautiful new church was built in 1949 and a school was founded in 1952. The St Rita Centennial Committee tells the stories of a century of community.

The history of a town is almost like a personal diary, each day filled with the events and people who made their mark.

This collection could be thought of as Hampton’s diary, as authors Wythe Holt and Edward B. Hicks offer up a day by day history of the stories that shaped this jewel of the Commonwealth. The city’s story begins at the origins of Old Point comfort as early as 1608 on the coast of Virginia and about 25 miles from the first permanent English settlement in the New World, Jamestown, but that’s only the beginning of the story. The Emancipation Proclamation was first read to the public on the grounds of what is now Hampton University under what would soon be called the Emancipation Oak. NASA’s Langley Research Center helped send astronauts to space and tested the Apollo Lunar Lander. Fort Monroe encompasses nearly two centuries of service to the country, as historic and symbolic site during the Civil War as a Union stronghold in the midst of the Confederacy and as the largest stone fort in North America. Join Holt and Hicks and enjoy the rich historical legacy of Hampton every day of the year.

The award-winning barbecue cook and author of From Barbycu to Barbecue: the Untold History of an American Tradition shares the flavorful history of the Old Dominion’s unique culinary heritage.

With more than four hundred years of history, Virginians lay claim to the invention of southern barbecue. Native Virginian Powhatan tribes slow roasted meat on wooden hurdles or grills. James Madison hosted grand barbecue parties during the colonial and federal eras. The unique combination of vinegar, salt, pepper, oils and various spices forms the mouthwatering barbecue sauce that was first used by colonists in Virginia and then spread throughout the country.

Today, authentic Virginia barbecue is regionally diverse and remains culturally vital. Drawing on hundreds of historical and contemporary sources, author, competition barbecue judge and award-winning barbecue cook Joe Haynes documents the delectable history of barbecue in the Old Dominion.

"Is Virginia the true motherland of Southern barbecue? If you want to say it isn't, you should be prepared to go toe-to-toe—and footnote-to-footnote—with Joseph Haynes, author of Virginia Barbecue: A History. Across 236 exhaustively documented pages (another 42 of notes), Haynes lays out the historical foundations supporting his argument that “the only unbroken line of Southern barbecue history begins in Virginia.”" ~Caroline Kettlewell, Virginia Living

Photographs and text present the evolution of Fort Myer in its first 100 years, including its buildings, people, and events.

Overlooking Washington, DC, Fort Myer holds a commanding view of America's capital. As the war ended and reconciliation began, only this fort remained and was later renamed to honor the US Army's first signal officer, Brig. Built in 1863 from the Custis-Lee estate, one of 70 defensive Civil War fortifications of the capital, this historic US Army post was known as Fort Whipple. Gen. Albert J. Myer. These acres of Arlington Heights are distinguished by unique events, including the beginnings of military aviation, the Army Cavalry showcase, ""The Three Sisters,"" and the National Weather Bureau. During World War I, Army officers trained here to fight ""Over there,"" and today two units call Fort Myer home: the Army Band (""Pershing's Own,"" since 1942) and the 3rd Infantry (""The Old Guard,"" since 1948). Photographs and text present the evolution of this national landmark in its first 100 years, including its buildings, people, and events.

Honeybees have been a part of Virginia's history since they arrived with the first European colonists.

They were Jamestown's valuable addition, a Civil War soldier's sweet if painful temptation, and served as home front heroes when the world wars caused sugar shortages. In recent years mead has seen a resurgence along with beekeeping, and has claimed a place as a craft beverage in the Old Dominion.

Join author Virginia Johnson to hunt escaped swarms flying wild in the forests, visit modern-day observation hives and follow the mead path across the Commonwealth for a taste of history.

Ghent, perhaps more than any other Norfolk suburb, has a story to tell that transcends its historic port city lineage, reaching national importance in its planning and execution.

The Ghent District is a historic and treasured neighborhood within Norfolk, and though the story of its origins have been muddied over the years, its legacy is clear, as the Ghent Historic District has been on the National Registry of Historic Places since 1980. Despite changing times and tastes, Ghent's period architecture, tree-lined streets, and attractive waterfront location combine to ensure that Ghent will remain a beloved, integral area of Norfolk for generations.

Historian Carole Herrick uncovers the history of this former farming village to thriving community in over 200 vintage images.

McLean was a farming community in 1910, when Henry Alonzo Storm established a general store that included the McLean Post Office. The store was located on Chain Bridge Road beside a stop on the Great Falls and Old Dominion Railroad, an electrified trolley that ran from Rosslyn to Great Falls Park.  The stop was named after John R. McLean, a founder of the trolley and owner of the Washington Post newspaper. A village and vibrant community gradually developed around Storm's Store..The Franklin Sherman School, the first consolidated public school in Fairfax County, opened near the store in October 1914; McLean Day, the first event of its kind in the county, started in 1915 to raise money for the school; and the McLean Volunteer Fire Department incorporated in 1923 as Station 1 in Fairfax County.

On December 31, 1862, 16 men perished that stormy New Year's Eve when the USS Monitor sank off Cape Hatteras, N.C.

The United States Navy's first ironclad warship rose to glory during the Battle of Hampton Roads on March 9, 1862, but there's much more to know about the USS Monitor. Historian John Quarstein has painstakingly compiled bits of historical data gathered through years of research to present the first comprehensive picture of the lives of the officers and crew who served faithfully in an iron ship unlike any vessel previously known.

The Monitor Boys, a moniker the men gave themselves, is a reflection of how these hundred-odd souls were bound together through storms, battles, boredom and disaster. Just living aboard the ironclad took uncommon effort and fortitude. Their perseverance through the heat, stress and unseaworthiness that defined life on the ship makes the study of those who dared it a worthy endeavor. Many recognized that they were part of history. Moreover, the Monitor Boys were agents in the change of naval warfare.

Following Quarstein's compelling narrative is a detailed chronology as well as appendices including crew member biographies, casualties and statistics and dimensions of the ship. Readers can dive into the world of the Monitor and meet William Flye, George Geer and the rest of the men who risked everything by going to sea in the celebrated cheesebox on a raft and became the hope of a nation wracked by war.

A Hidden History of Unequal Access

During the Jim Crow era, many public libraries were segregated. The public library plays a fundamental role in communities by providing free educational resources, boosting literacy and knowledge, and serving as a place of refuge. Despite this, many were inaccessible to Black residents and continued to resist integration even after the landmark case Brown v. Board of Education. Discover the truth about the barriers imposed on the Black community and learn about the citizens-turned-activists who used protests and lawsuits to achieve more equitable library services. Their legacy resonates today as libraries continue to evolve and embrace more inclusive practices.

Join Fairfax County librarians Chris Barbuschak and Suzanne LaPierre as they investigate the overlooked and little-known history of segregated library services in Northern Virginia.

Author and researcher Char McCargo Bah recounts the stories of the men and women buried in Alexandria's freedman's cemetery and the search for their descendants.

At the beginning of the Civil War, Federal troops secured Alexandria as Union territory. Former slaves, called contrabands, poured in to obtain protection from their former masters. Due to overcrowding, mortality rates were high. Authorities seized an undeveloped parcel of land on South Washington Street, and by March 1864, it had been opened as a cemetery for African Americans. Between 1864 and 1868, more than 1,700 contrabands and freedmen were buried there. For nearly eighty years, the cemetery lay undisturbed and was eventually forgotten. Rediscovered in 1996, it has now been preserved as a monument to the courage and sacrifice of those buried within.

Shiver at the stories of the numerous ghosts, wraiths, spirits and spectral wanderers of Virginia's Blue Ridge Highlands.

A Confederate soldier forever lost at Cumberland Gap, the wispy woman of Roanoke College and the spectral horse that runs the streets of Abingdon are among the restless spirits of southwestern Virginia. Join local author Joe Tennis as he takes readers on both sides of the Blue Ridge to explore the ghostly tales of Appalachia and the Crooked Road. Peer over the rim of the New Castle Murder Hole, dive into the mysteries of Mountain Lake and wander among the lost graves of Wise County to discover the haunted lore of Virginia's Blue Ridge Highlands.

With a forward by Elizabeth Thalhimer Smartt, learn about William Thalhimer's elaborate plan to save Jewish Germans from Hitler and the Third Reich.

During Hitler's rise to power in the 1930's, Richmond department store founder, William Thalhimer and his family traveled to Germany to visit relatives and business contacts. Thalhimer was deeply disturbed and increasingly alarmed as the anti-Semitism that he and his family witnessed escalated into the violence Brown Shirts and Kristallnacht, the Night of Broken Glass. Thalhimer became determined to aid Jews fleeing from Germany, and he eventually met a representative of Gross Breesen, a German-Jewish agricultural training institute. The mission of Gross Breesen, and eventually Thalhimer, was to train young Jews in agriculture in hopes that the expertise gained would ensure the students' successful emigration from Germany. Thalhimer purchased a farm, Hyde Farmlands, in Burkeville, Virginia to give the students a home in Virginia.

A fascinating history of Virginia wines, documenting the wine industry's very foundation in this state.

Go beyond the bottle and step inside the minds, and vines, of Virginia's burgeoning wine industry in this groundbreaking volume. Join grape grower and industry insider Walker Elliott Rowe as he guides you through some of the top vineyards and wineries in the Old Dominion. Rowe explores the minds of pioneering winemakers and vineyard owners, stitches together an account of the wine industry's foundation in Virginia, from Jamestown to Jefferson to Barboursville, and uncovers the fascinating missing chapter in Virginia wine history. As the Philip Carter Winery motto explains, ""Before there was Jefferson, there was Carter. "" Rowe goes behind the scenes to interview migrant workers who toil daily in the vineyards, makes the rounds in Richmond with an industry lobbyist and talks shop with winemakers on the science and techniques that have helped put the Virginia wine industry on the map. Also included are twenty-four stunning color photographs from professional photographer Jonathan Timmes and a foreword by noted wine journalist Richard Leahy.

The alma mater of both Dr. Booker T. Washington and Wanda Sykes, Hampton University's history is a story of ingenuity and inspiration.

Hampton University is situated on an arm of Hampton Roads, two miles from Fort Monroe. Founded under the leadership of Brig. Gen. Samuel Armstrong in 1868 and incorporated in 1870 as Hampton Normal & Agricultural Institute, it was the first permanent school for freedmen in the South. Industrial and normal education through self-help was the fundamental principle of the school; trades and industries were taught and practiced. Among the university's noteworthy alumni are Dr. Booker T. Washington, renowned orator and Tuskegee Institute founder; Alberta Williams King, mother of Martin Luther King Jr.; Marcus Dixon, NFL player for the Kansas City Chiefs; and Wanda Sykes, comedian and actress. Today, the university is recognized for the Hampton University Proton Therapy Institute, the world's largest cancer proton treatment center, and its local commitment to the commercial revitalization of downtown Hampton, Virginia. Through the use of vintage photographs, Hampton University shows how the university community continues to uphold Armstrong's legacy by ""keeping their eye to the future.""