Athenaeum

Athenaeum walking tour in Alexandria

Completed in 1852, was once the headquarters for Old Dominion Bank, then a warehouse for the apothecary, then a church, now a museum. It’s open from 12-4, Thursday through Sunday. It’s has a classic greek feel to it, reminiscent of the Pantheon in Athens, yeah I’ve been there no big deal. It’s at the top of Captian’s Row which made it well suited for merchants back in the day. It was a Union Headquarters during the Civil War, the bank survived the the war because they hid all of their assets in a hidden grave until peacetime. It was bought by Leadbeaters & Sons, one of the oldest of Alexandria firms, for their wholesale drug . They handled half of the drugs sold in Washington and northern counties of Maryland and nearly all of the Virginia trade with a radius of 100 miles.

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