Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1915-03-12
ALEXANDRIA'S
EXTENDED AREA

The opinion of Judge Card"c!I Of
the Supreme Court of Appeals yes
tcrday reversing tho decree Of Judge
+. #. Gordon, Of Nelson county, VIZ
presided in the Circuit Cour: i"F
Alexandria county in The summer Of
1912, and decided against the city III
the suit which had been brought
against Alexandria and ralrfaH
counties for The annexation OF certain
outlying territory. has been the rrln-
fcisG5tt theme of conversation hero
aboat# since Yesterday afternoon,
vh,.gs it was learned from bulletin
ii sran: of the Gazette office that
he city had won on an appeal. By
Lbs decision Alexandria will soon
itsslagie jurisdiction over about two
squar c miles of adjacent territory.
Alexandria city will then be bound
cd on the south by Hunting creek. on
the west by Roberts crossing, era
bracing West End. on the north by
Lloyd's lane. and on the east by the
Potomac river. The union passenger
depot and Il large slice Of the Foto-
mac railroad yards will he incorpo-
rated into the city's Limits.
The nucleus of the present city OF
Alexandria was Point West. few
yards north of the city gas works. IL
the seventeenth century patent for
six thousand acres Of land had been
granted to Robert Howsing i,y the
Virginia Land Office for and in GOV
Sidcratiou Of the transportation Of one
hundred and twenty persons into the
Colony OF Virginia. The first settle
mcnt on this patent was made In
1865 10y Thunas Pearson on what is
known as "pcarson's Isa;ld." At
this early day tobacco grown in ce:-
tain parts of Virginia was brought
to this locality where il WAS placed
on English ships near what is known
now as Fishtown. The cove WHICH
runs north from that point TO The
outlet lock of the old Alexandria Ca
nal was navigable at that time for
vessels which crossed the ocean, and
that cove extended some distance
west and as far as the extreme
northern ends of Royal and Pitt
streets covering what is now known
as Petersburg. The water in this
arm of the Potomac was dcep. ami
some boats We're enabled to come to
points between what are now Queen
and Cameron streets. This locality
had been gradually filling up since
the latter part Of the iifticS when the
Alexandria, oudoun and Hampshire
Railroad Company. now the Wash
ington and Old Dominion. erected the
embankment from the depot almost
to the canal outlet. which cut oil the
water from the river.
In those days the water lavcd Lee
street, ut the east of the Braddcck
House. and most of the terra firma Of
Lee and Union streets of on" days
was navigablc in oldcn times.
\ planter named Rclhavcn erected
q warehouse on Point West where
tobacco was shipped. hlc tobacco.
which was in hcgshcads, was rolled
20 the point. The hogsh"adS were
constructed as spools and iron bars
were run through them. No doubt
hundreds Of hogshcads were rolled
through what is now Commerce
street. which runs northeast an!
southwest, pointing directly to the
original site of the city, the onjcc-
tive point of planters in colonial days
The site Of the present city o'
Alexundria was formed in las by Il
rrant from the House Of BurgesscS'
The northern limit was tlshtowh'
the southern 4 line running through
Duke and Wolfe streets, the West
Royal and Pitt, and the east the 70
tomac river. The names OF the
streets in that area show the loya'-
ty of our forefathers, who were tories
at that time-King. Queen, Prince
Princess, Duke and Royal.
After the revolutionary war, whei
the area of the city was extended
other names were used, Washington
Columbus. Henry. Fayette. Franklin
jefferson. Madison. etc
the close OF the civil war iht
IS spread to the west. Hor,i
a- orthwest. and several SINAI
y,r have grown UP almost upon tn