Alexandria, Virginia

"Long before the town of Alexandria, Virginia, was built on the shores of the Potomac River, the area was home to Native Americans who fished the river in dugout canoes. In the 17th century, settlers arrived from England, and by the 18th century, Alexandria has become a busy port city. Once an important center of the slave trade, Alexandria was also home to a thriving free black community, even before the Civil War. Over the next 100 years, Alexandria continued to grow." "In the 1960s, across the United States, old buildings were being demolished to make room for new developments. A race began to save Alexandria's past. Volunteers stayed one step ahead of the builders to reconstruct a Civil War fort. When bulldozers began to tear down parts of historic Alexandria, they uncovered abandoned wells and outdoor privies full of buried history. Luckily for archaeologists, the moist environment of the wells and privies had preserved the trash that residents had thrown into them. Dishes, combs, and even a musket have all been rescued and used to piece together how Alexandrians lived over hundreds of years. Pamela J. Cressey, Alexandria's City Archaeologist, and Margaret J. Anderson explore not only the history of Alexandria, but also how it changed from a city rescuing its artifacts to a community preserving its past."--BOOK JACKET.