301 King St
Alexandria, VA 22314, USA

Alexandria Market House & City Hall (Masonic Hall), 301 King St Alexandria, Independent City, VA

From the earliest days in Alexandria`s history to the present, the Market Square has been the established center of the city. In 1749, two half-acre lots were set aside for a Town Hall-Court House and Market. The building which now stands on lots 42 and 43 was designed in 1871 by Adolph Cluss, the major architect in Washington, D.C. during the Victorian period. The earliest Town Hall-Court House from 1752 was paid for by lottery and was designed by gentlemen builders, members of the local oligarchy, who were later participants in the American Revolution (John Carlyle, Richard Conway, William Ramsay). George Washington, Alexandria`s greatest citizen and benefactor, served as a justice in the Fairfax Court, which met in the early Court House; and was a town trustee before the Revolutionary War. A three-story brick town hall was constructed along Royal Street in 1817. Part of this structure, the town clock tower, was designed by Benjamin Latrobe. When the building burned to the ground in 1871, the townspeople raised the money to pay for an exact replica of the Latrobe tower. On Cameron Street, the Alexandria-Washington Masonic Lodge and its museum contained memorabilia associated most especially with George Washington`s part in Alexandria`s history. It was here, in the Masonic reception rooms in 1824, that the Marquis de Lafayette was given a splendid and festive welcome to the city of his great friend, General Washington. Adolph Cluss` 1871 design followed closely the configuration of even the earliest structures. The 1871 building was U-shaped, with town offices in the upper floors of the west wing and northwest corner. In the center of the northern facade was the Masonic Lodge; and in the northeast, were the court rooms and court record vaults. On the east side were the police and fire stations. The market stalls were in the lower floors in the west and north and in the center of the courtyard. The twentieth century saw the remodelling of the City Hall, as part of an Urban Renewal Project. The center of the 1871 U-shaped structure has now been filled with offices; and the southern facade is in a modified Colonial Revival style. A plaza has been created to the south of the building and is now the site for market days and important gatherings, such as the meeting of Scottish clans and bagpipers which takes place during Alexandria`s annual Christmas Walk. The pristine, brick-covered square gives little hint of the bustling, colorful market days of the past, but has stimulated commercial revitalization in the center of the Old Town.