MAP III
Boundaries of the Town and City of Alexandria 1749 to 1915
Drafted by W.B. Allison and B. Sims
In 1748, a charter was issued to a group of trustees to establish a Town
"covering 60 acres of land, parcel of the lands of Philip Alexander, John Alexander, and Hugh West, situate, lying and being on the south side of Potomac River about the mouth of Great Hunting Creek and in the county of Fairfax … beginning at the mouth of the first branch above the warehouse, and extending down the meanders of the said River Potomac to a point called Middle Point, and thence down the said river ten poles; and from thence by a line parallel to the dividing line between John Alexander's land and Philip Alexander, and back into the woods for the quantity aforesaid."[33] ]
The land was surveyed and lots sold by auction in July 1749. A map with a notation of the purchasers was made by George Washington,[34] ] at that time a boy of seventeen. On the north, the lots lay along the north side of Oronoco Street, one block below Water Street (later Lee; at that time it was interrupted between Queen and King Streets by the shore line of the River), and on the south, lots were laid off on the south side of Duke Street. The Potomac with its bend between Oronoco and the south side of Prince Street, formed the eastern boundary, while the western was a line of lots on the west side of Royal Street. There were 84 lots in all, four to a block for the most part except for the northwest portion where a stream, rising on Pitt Street between Cameron and Queen, drained into the Potomac north of Oronoco Street. This is the "first branch above the warehouse" referred to in the charter.
The first increment came in 1762 when the General Assembly passed "An Act for enlarging the town of Alexandria in the county of Fairfax."[35] ] On the ground that all of the lots included within the bounds of the town had been built on except for some lying in low wet marsh, this Act included in Alexandria the
"… lands of Baldwin Dade, Sibel West, John Alexander the elder and John Alexander the younger which lie contiguous to the said town … beginning at the corner of the lot denoted in the plan of said town by the figures 77 [at the south side of Duke St., three lots from its intersection with Water (Lee) Street] on the said river Potowmack, at the lower end of the said town, and to extend thence down the said river the breadth of two half acres, and one street thence back into the fields, by a line parallel to the lower line of the said town, such a distance as to include ten half acre lots and four streets; thence by a line parallel with the present back line of the said town to the extent of seventeen half acre lots and eight streets, and from thence by a line at right angles with the last to the river."
Until 1779 the Town of Alexandria had had no formal government, being managed by a Board of Trustees whose interest was primarily in the sale of land. In that year, however, the Town was incorporated by the General Assembly with provision for a Mayor, Council, and other officials. The charter[36] ] made no mention of boundaries except to give the town authorities jurisdiction over the territory within a half mile of the town limits. Another Act[37] ] adopted at the same session stated that lots had been laid off by John Alexander adjacent to the town in 1774 and sold with the stipulation that they be built on within two years. Because of the difficulty of obtaining building materials due to wartime conditions not all the purchasers had been able to meet this requirement. The Act extended the period within which building on these lots was required to two years
"after the end of the present war … and the same are hereby annexed to and made part of the said town of Alexandria."