1900
King Street
Washington Metro station opened December 1983 at the west end of King Street, catalyzing mixed-use redevelopment of the surrounding blocks over the subsequent four decades.
- 1983
- Late Modern
- Extant
Place narrative
The King Street–Old Town station of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority opened in December 1983 as part of the initial Blue and Yellow Line extensions into Northern Virginia. The station sits at the west end of King Street, just east of the Virginia Railway Express station and the Alexandria Union Station building [1] Alexandria Library Special Collections Manuscript .
The opening of the Metro accelerated redevelopment along the western reaches of King Street. Formerly industrial and commercial parcels near the station were rezoned through the 1980s and 1990s for mid-rise mixed-use buildings; the area is now dense with office buildings, hotels, apartment buildings, and restaurants. The contrast between the Federal-era eastern blocks of King Street — the Washington-era core — and the late-twentieth-century western blocks near the Metro is a legible record of Alexandria’s Metropolitan Washington integration.
Timeline
1 chronological entry across 1 era.
Opening of King Street–Old Town Metro station [1] Source Alexandria Library Special Collections
The building
- Late Modern
Gallery
Placeholder illustration of King Street Metro Area. Seed placeholder — KingSt.com, 2026. To be replaced with archival photograph. 
Secondary placeholder view of King Street Metro Area. Seed placeholder — KingSt.com, 2026. To be replaced with archival photograph.
Nearby in time
Farragutful · via Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0 310 South Royal Street
Founded in 1795 as the first Catholic parish in Virginia. Present Greek Revival church on South Royal Street completed 1827; congregation …
1200 Duke Street 1200 Duke Street
Headquarters of T. J. Fannon & Sons at 1200 Duke Street, the Alexandria heating-fuel firm founded by Thomas J. Fannon as a wood-and-coal …
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 …
The Burke & Herbert Bank building in Alexandria, Virginia, a city immediately south of Washington, D.C., and once a larger, more thriving river port than the nation's capital city · Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division · http://www.loc.gov/item/2020724810/ 100 South Fairfax Street
The 1903 neoclassical home of at the corner of King and South Fairfax streets, the bank's sixth and final headquarters after a half-century …
Nearby in space
Beyond My Ken · via Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0 110 Callahan Drive
1905 railway terminal at the foot of King Street, currently serving Amtrak, VRE, and Washington Metro Blue/Yellow lines. NRHP-listed 2013.
Bruce Andersen from Washington, DC · via Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 2.0 7 Russell Road
Second of the original DC southwestern boundary stones, placed 1791-1792. NRHP-listed 1991.
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.
Streetcar-suburb residential neighborhood developed 1908 onward on the western edge of Alexandria, characterized by Colonial Revival and …
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.
King Street
Named for King George II of Great Britain (reigning 1727-1760), c. 1749.
Interpretive signs nearby
The City of Alexandria has installed 4 historical interpretive signs within walking distance of this place. Each links to the actual sign image on alexandriava.gov.
Amtrak Station 110 Callahan Dr
1787 Commonwealth Ave
Alexandria War Memorial
Callahan Drive at Amtrak Station
Sources
- 1.
Alexandria Library, Local History/Special Collections, Barrett Branch, Alexandria, Virginia.
Manuscript
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