Maritime Alexandria [Virginia]: The Rise and Fall of an American Entrepôt

Join the author on a wonderful voyage into the past and discover how Alexandria's origins, and the mosaic of its life was influenced, and at times governed, by its relationship to the Potomac River, the Chesapeake Bay, and the great world beyond. This fascinating work is the result of research conducted to assess the potential submerged historic resource base-historic shipwrecks, harbor facilities, and other culturally relevant archaeological features-lying within and adjacent to the waters of the Alexandria waterfront, and buried beneath lands reclaimed from the river during earlier times. In order to fully understand the resource potentials from an archaeological perspective, it was first necessary to reconstruct the context of Alexandria's long maritime history from archival record. The dynamic waterfront development and the evolution of the seafaring industry of this once major maritime entrepôt are presented in a holistic manner, complete with numerous illustrations, maps, and tables.Donald Shomette is director of Cultural Resource Management, a historical consultant for the US Navy and the National Geographic Society, and a former staff member for the Library of Congress.