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Est. MMXXVI · Alexandria, Virginia

Virginia Theological Seminary, Alexandria, VA
John W. Cross · via Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 2.5

Institutional · Alexandria, VA

3737
Seminary Road

Episcopal theological seminary founded in Alexandria in 1823 and relocated to its present hilltop campus in 1827. Occupied by Union forces during the Civil War and used as a military hospital.
Civil War and Occupation
38.8205, -77.0921 Claim this place
Year built
1827approx
Style
Gothic Revival
Status
Extant
Designations
National Register of Historic Places

Narrative

Place narrative

The Virginia Theological Seminary was established in 1823 by the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia and opened at a temporary location in the city. In 1827 the school relocated to a ninety-acre hilltop tract on what was then the western outskirts of the town. The complex of brick buildings that rose on the hill, including the original Aspinwall Hall, stood on ground high enough to be visible from the Washington skyline [1] Source 1 HABS Alexandria survey Government record .

In May 1861, Union forces occupied Alexandria and requisitioned the seminary. Most faculty and students had departed for Confederate territory in the preceding weeks. Federal authorities used the campus as a military hospital and later as barracks for the remainder of the war [2] Source 2 NARA Civil War records Government record . The proximity of the seminary to 4301 West Braddock Road Place 4301 West Braddock Road Earthwork fort raised in 1861 as part of the ring of Union fortifications around Washington; the fifth-largest of the Civil War defenses of the capital. After the war the fort's … — only about a mile away — made the hilltop a useful rear area for the defensive ring around Washington.

The seminary resumed operations after the war and rebuilt substantially through the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries. It remains the oldest and largest accredited Episcopal seminary in the United States. In 2021 the institution committed $1.7 million to a reparations fund directed toward descendants of enslaved people who had worked on and around the campus [3] Source 3 Alexandria Library Special Collections Manuscript .

A Place in Time

Timeline

4 chronological entries across 2 eras.

· · Early Republic Civil War and Occupation
Early Republic · 1775–1830 2 entries
  1. –

    Before the war, enslaved laborers worked on the construction and maintenance of the seminary campus; the institution's 2021 reparations commitment acknowledged this history. [1] Source Alexandria Library Special Collections

    Freedmen of the Contrabands Camp enslaved_person domestic_labor

  2. Seminary relocates to the hilltop campus [2] Source HABS Alexandria survey

    construction
Civil War and Occupation · 1861–1865 2 entries

  1. Union occupation and requisition [3] Source NARA Civil War records

    news mention
  2. –

    Union authorities used parts of the campus as a hospital and refuge; the grounds became a temporary home for displaced Black refugees. [3] Source NARA Civil War records

    Freedmen of the Contrabands Camp resident hospital

Architecture

The building

Style
Gothic Revival

Images

Gallery

  • Historical-style illustration of Virginia Theological Seminary (Civil War-era institutional building).
    Historical-style placeholder of Virginia Theological Seminary, c. 1864. Seed placeholder — KingSt.com, 2026. To be replaced with archival photograph.
  • Stylized illustration of Virginia Theological Seminary (Civil War-era institutional building).
    Placeholder illustration of Virginia Theological Seminary. Seed placeholder — KingSt.com, 2026. To be replaced with archival photograph.
  • Secondary illustration of Virginia Theological Seminary (Civil War-era institutional building).
    Secondary placeholder view of Virginia Theological Seminary. Seed placeholder — KingSt.com, 2026. To be replaced with archival photograph.

People & organizations

Connected

  • Family · Notable

    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 …

    Enslaved person · Domestic labor · %!d(float64=1827)–%!d(float64=1861)

Contemporary

Nearby in time

Geographically

Nearby in space

Current

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.

About this street

All Old Town street origins →

Seminary Road

Named for Virginia Theological Seminary (founded 1823 on the hilltop), c. 1823.

References

Sources

  1. 1.

    Historic American Buildings Survey, Alexandria, Virginia records, National Park Service / Library of Congress.

    Government record

  2. 2.

    National Archives and Records Administration, Union Provost Marshal records and Civil War-era military correspondence (RG 109, RG 110, RG 393).

    Government record

  3. 3.

    Alexandria Library, Local History/Special Collections, Barrett Branch, Alexandria, Virginia.

    Manuscript

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