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Wilkes Street
The 1843 stone tide lock at the southern terminus of the Alexandria Canal, which connected the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal at Georgetown with the Alexandria waterfront via a seven-mile spur.
- 1843
- Utilitarian
- Extant
- National Register of Historic Places
Place narrative
The Alexandria Canal was chartered in 1830 to give Alexandria’s merchants direct access to the commerce of the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal, which terminated across the Potomac at Georgetown. The seven-mile spur crossed the river on a purpose-built aqueduct, ran south along the west bank of the Potomac, and descended through locks to a tide basin at the Alexandria waterfront [1] HABS Alexandria survey Government record . The canal opened for traffic in 1843.
The stone tide lock at the south end of the basin allowed canal boats to exchange the fresh water of the canal for the tidal water of the Potomac and be loaded onto ocean-going vessels. For a generation the canal carried coal, flour, and other western commodities to Alexandria’s wharves [2] Powell, History of Old Alexandria, 1928 Book . The Civil War interrupted operations; Union forces destroyed the aqueduct in 1861 to deny its use to Confederate troops, and though the canal resumed limited service after the war, the rise of the railroads made it obsolete.
The canal was abandoned by 1886 and most of its route was filled and built over in the following decades. Excavations along the waterfront in the 1970s and later uncovered portions of the stone tide lock, which has been partially preserved and interpreted in place. The present tide lock installation sits at the foot of Wilkes Street in a small waterfront park [3] Alexandria Library Special Collections Manuscript .
Timeline
4 chronological entries across 2 eras.
The building
- Utilitarian
Gallery
Placeholder illustration of Alexandria Canal Tide Lock. Seed placeholder — KingSt.com, 2026. To be replaced with archival photograph. 
Secondary placeholder view of Alexandria Canal Tide Lock. Seed placeholder — KingSt.com, 2026. To be replaced with archival photograph.
Connected
Benjamin Dulany
b. 1752 · d. 1816
Maryland-born merchant and planter with extensive landholdings on both sides of the Potomac, including Shuter's Hill west of Alexandria. His household straddled the social world of …
Visitor notable · Canal subscriber · %!d(float64=1840)–%!d(float64=1845)
Freedmen of the Contrabands Camp
founded 1861
Collective entity representing the several thousand formerly enslaved people who fled to Union-occupied Alexandria during the Civil War, settling in camps at Shuter's Hill, around …
Resident · Waterfront · %!d(float64=1862)–%!d(float64=1865)
Nearby in time
Farragutful · via Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0 228 South Pitt Street
Federal-Greek Revival 1817 sanctuary, the second oldest Episcopal congregation in Alexandria after Christ Church. NRHP-listed 1985.
712 Prince Street 712 Prince Street
Federal-style 1820s townhouse later occupied by mayor and judge Henry Daingerfield's family. NRHP-listed 2019.
Alexandria Market House & City Hall (Masonic Hall), 301 King Street, Alexandria, Independent City, VA · Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division · http://www.loc.gov/item/va1295/ 301 King Street
Alexandria's seat of municipal government, the present 1873 building stands on the footprint of the 1817 City Hall and Market House. …
APK · via Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0 1707 Duke Street
Antebellum jail compound operated by slave trader Joseph Bruin from the 1840s through emancipation. NRHP-listed 2000.
Nearby in space
Placeholder illustration of Interarms Warehouse Complex South Union. Seed placeholder — KingSt.com, 2026. To be replaced with archival photograph. South Union Street
Complex of converted warehouse buildings along South Union Street used by Interarms from the late 1950s to the late 1990s to store surplus …
Placeholder illustration of Interarms Hq 10 Prince Street. Seed placeholder — KingSt.com, 2026. To be replaced with archival photograph. 10 Prince Street
Former office of International Armament Corporation (Interarms) at the foot of Prince Street; administrative headquarters of Samuel …
Ben Schumin · via Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0 Strand Street
The Potomac waterfront from the Torpedo Factory south to Jones Point, subject to a decades-long redevelopment project that has converted …
Doug Kerr from Albany, NY, United States · via Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 2.0 321 South Fairfax Street
Brick Presbyterian meeting house begun in 1775; site of the city's memorial services for George Washington on December 29, 1799, four days …
Now
No current occupant on file. Are you, or someone you know, the present occupant? Claim this place to add operating hours, a current photo, and a short note.
Wilkes Street
Named for John Wilkes — English politician and Patriot ally, c. 1796.
Interpretive signs nearby
The City of Alexandria has installed 1 historical interpretive sign within walking distance of this place. Each links to the actual sign image on alexandriava.gov.
W side S. Union at entrance to Windmill Hill Park
Sources
- 1.
Historic American Buildings Survey, Alexandria, Virginia records, National Park Service / Library of Congress.
Government record
- 2.
Mary G. Powell, The History of Old Alexandria, Virginia, from July 13, 1749 to May 24, 1861, Richmond: William Byrd Press, 1928.
Book
- 3.
Alexandria Library, Local History/Special Collections, Barrett Branch, Alexandria, Virginia.
Manuscript
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