The principle merchants of this place have failed in consequence of losses abroad, or unfortunate speculations. Those who carry on business at present employ their capitalism in a more cautious manner. Manufacturers are yet in their infancy. There are 9 or 10 physicians, but there is no medical society. The obstetric art is in the hands of old women who are supposed to possess it as a gift of nature.
Baths have been lately established, the price of which is half a dollar.
The inhabitants are truly hospitable. Transportation Alexandria entered a new era of transportation in 1815 as the steamboat Washington began packet service between Georgetown, Washington, Alexandria and Aquia Creek. Other vessels soon engaged in the trade, including the Camden and the Dandy and Surprise which sailed between Alexandria and Georgetown. In August 1818 a group of entrepreneurs gathered at the Exchange Coffee House to establish a major steamboat operation which would ply the waters between Alexandria and Norfolk. Before the construction of the Mason's Island causeway in 1808, barge and boat traffic to Alexandria could descend the river from above Georgetown.