Alexandria Market House and City Hall

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Alexandria Market House and City Hall (and Masonic Hall) EABS No. VA-33
(Alexandria City Hall)
301 King Street
Alexandria(independent City)
Virginia
PHOTOGRAPHS
WRITTEN HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE DATA
Historic American Buildings Survey
-■ National Park Service
U.S. Department of the Interior
Washington,D.C, 20240
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hk. VA-33
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ISTORY AND DESCRIPTION
OF CITY HALL
ALEXANDRIA, VIRGINIA
Historical account and list of sources prepared by
Penny C. Morrill, Media, Pennsylvania
Architectural description prepared by
Kim Heartwell, Building Conservation Technology, Washington, D.C.
Coordinated by Suzanne Schell, Division of Historic Resources,
City of Alexandria
Research Assistant, Gale E. Thompson
We1, lesley Col lege, Massachusetts
Prepared for
AMERICA'S CITY HALLS
a project cosponsored by
The American Institute of Architects
The U. S. Conference of Mayors
The U. S. Department of the Interior
Submitted September 9, 1981
Name:
Original: Alexandria Market House and City Hall (and Masonic Hall)
Present: Alexandria City Hall
Location:
301 King Street, Alexandria, VA 22313
City of Alexandria, Virginia
(City is independent jurisdiction within the state and is not
located in a county.)
Presently bounded by North Royal, Cameron, North Fairfax, and King
Streets (block includes Market Square).
Main entrance is in 1960-61 addition facing south on Market Square
and King Street.
Originally bounded by North Royal, Cameron, North Fairfax Streets and
Sharp Shin Alley, At that time the main entrances were located
on Cameron and North Royal Streets.
Present Owner, Occupant, Use:
The City of Alexandria owns and occupies the building for City offices
and Council Chambers.
SIGNIFICANCE
From the earliest days in Alexandria's history to the present, the
Market Square has been the established center of the city. In 17^9* two
half-acre lots were set aside for a Town Hall-Court House and Market. The
building which now stands on lots hi and k3 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 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 (Morrill, Who Built Alexandria? pp 21-22). 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.
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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.
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• I. HISTORICAL INFORMATION
A. PHYSICAL HISTORY
1. Date of Construction
The plans for the 1871 City Hall were received by the City Council
only days after the May 19th fire (Alexandria Gazette, May 26, 1871).
Construction was paid for by the sale of 2000 shares in the Orange and
Alexandria Railroad, held by the City's Sinking Fund, to the Baltimore and
Ohio Railroad. The $40,000 from the sale and $10,000 insurance from the
destroyed building financed the new Ctty Hall (Alexandria Gazette, June 3,
1873). The Commissioners of the Sinking Fund were to receive rental of
market stalls and offices, and this money was to be invested in City
bonds to alleviate the City's loss on the railroad stock.
Adolph Cluss' plan was adopted by the Common Council, June 28, 1871
(Alexandria Gazette, June 28, 1871). A local builder, Edward H. Delahay,
presented a bid for $45,000, which was received and accepted October 5,
1871 (Alexandria Gazette, October 5, 1871).
The Alexandria-Washington Lodge approved Cluss' design on April 2,
1872, and made a contract with E.H. Delahay for the construction of the
Masonic portion of the building, April 29, 1872. A local architect,
Benjamin F. Price, provided a plan for the steeple at a cost estimate of
$8,000. This structure was paid for by private donations from Alexandria's
citizens, most especially from John B, Daingerfield.
Dedication, or "topping off" ceremonies, took place as each section
of the building was finished. The following ts a list of these "topping
off" ceremonies, as well as several completion dates notes in the
Alexandria Gazette.
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September 11, 1872 - Topping off of Sun Engine Company.
October 15, 1872 - Topping off of Masonic Temple.
October 28, 1872 - Topping off ceremonies for Market House steeple.
December 31, 1872 S- January 1, 1873 - Rang bell for first time.
Farewell to old year and welcome to the new.
January 28, 1873 - First meeting of City Council.
September 5, 1873 - Superintendent of new Market building, Joseph
Hopkins certified acceptance of finished Market House.
September 21, 1873 - Courthouse occupied.
November 3, 1873 - Masonic Temple occupied.
November 11, 1873 - Fish Market moved into Market House.
February 2k, 187^ - Dedication ceremony of Masonic Temple.
2. Architect
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The Alexandria Gazette announced on May 26, 1871 , that Adolph Cluss
had presented a plan to the Common Council for the new City Hall, and on
June 28th, it was accepted. Cluss came to Alexandria several times to
explain the plans to contractors who were bidding on the construction
(Alexandria Gazette, August 28, 1871I September 3, 1871). On October 31,
after the building had begun, Cluss found that some of the brickwork on
the inside of the walls was not according to contract and ordered it taken
down and the wall reconstructed (A1exandria Ga2ette, October 31, 1871).
A year later, on September 2*f, 1872, Cluss visited the site and was
pleased with the manner and style with which the work was progressing.
It is important to note that the Commissioners for the Sinking Fund went
to Washington on October \b, 1872, to inspect the Central Market which had
been designed by Cluss in 1870. The Commissioners wished to arrive at a
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style for market stalls, pavement, and "other internal arrangements"
(Alexandria Gazette, October 14, 1872). During the last months of construc-
tion, it was mentioned in the July 19, 1873 Alexandria Gazette that :
Mr. Cluss, the architect of the new Market House, was down
here this morning, inspected that building, and passed it as one
of the best jobs that ever came within his knowledge.
The Masons of the Alexandria-Washington Lodge now have in their
archives a drawing by Cluss of the City Hall. This must have been the
original sketch for the building presented to Common Council. The
depicted clock tower on the Royal Street facade is not B, F. Price's
design for a reconstruction of the Latrobe tower, approved by the City
on June 12, 1872. Also in the archives is the contract made with E. H.
Delahay for the construction of the Masonic Lodge. Cluss is mentioned in
these papers specifically as architect of the City Hall.
Adolph Cluss was born in Heilbronn-Wurtemburg, Germany on July 14,
1825. His father and grandfather were architects. Cluss studied civil
engineering and architecture. He was a friend of Karl Marx in the late
1840's and worked with the Communist Party in Mainz (McLellan).
Cluss came to Washington, O.C. in 1848, and from 1855 to 1859, he
worked in the office of the Supervising Architect in the Treasury Depart-
ment under Ammi B. Young. Cluss established a partnership with Joseph
Wildrich von Kammerhueber in 1862. Their designs for school buildings
won awards in several major international expositions. Cluss and Kammer-
hueber designed and built the Masonic Temple in Washington in 1867-1869,
the U.S. Department of Agriculture in 1869, and in 1870, the Center
Market, which was located where the National Archives now stands. Cluss'
part in designing these three buildings was of importance in 1871, when
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he was chosen to design Alexandria's City Hall.
Cluss was elected a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects
in 1867 and later was president in 1888. In 1890 he served on the Board
of Directors. In the early 1870's, Cluss was appointed inspector of
Buildings and served as Chief Engineer on the Board of Public Works.
After Kammerhueber's death in 1870, Cluss worked with, first,
Frederick Daniel, and after 1877 with Paul Schulze. Cluss and Schulze
designed and built the U, S. National Museum (now the Smithsonian Arts and
Industries Museum) in 1877-1881, and after devastating fires, they were
responsible for reconstructing the U. S. Patent Office and the east end
of the Smithsonian. This firm, in the 1880's, designed the Portland
Apartments, the first large apartment building in Washington, Catholic
University, and the Army Medical Museum and Library. From 1890-1895,
Cluss served as Inspector of Buildings of the United States. He died on
July 2h 1905.
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Throughout his career, Cluss emphasized the importance of building
regulations for safety and strength in construction. Cluss used the most
advanced machine-made products available. His designs reflect his emphasis
on efficiency, function, and safety. He used brick with concrete footings,
cast iron columns, metal or slate roofs. The exteriors were of pressed
brick with cast iron trim. Cluss used these simple materials ornamentally,
chiefly designing in the Second Empire style. Cluss" biographer, Tanya
Beauchamp, says of him:
Cluss made his reputation as an architect of great technical
skill, able to design creatively in terms of function and the most
up-to-date technology. A thorough professional, his values were
entirely architectural. . . . This concern for modernity, for
workmanship, and for honesty of form and function leads away from
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the Romantic histortcism of the antl-bellum years to more
relevant contemporary concerns. (Beauchamp, 1972, 20, 25.
See this Master's thesis for more complete biographical
material on Cluss.)
3. Builders, Contractors, Suppliers
1. Edward H. Delahay - Builder and Contractor for City Hall/Market
House and for Masonic Lodge.
2. Benjamin F. Price - Contractor and Builder for Market steeple,
for entrance on Royal Street, erection of doors in lower story
of Market House, fitting up of butcher and huckster stalls,
fitting up of hall and office for Superintendent of Schools.
3. Joseph Hopkins - Superintendent of new Market Building.
k. Alexander Lyles - Fitting up new court room and records vault.
5. Thomas Wilber - Slater
6. Wools and Taylor - Plasterers.
7. Brill and Beach - Tlnwork.
8. Philip Park - Plumber.
9- A, C. Kell - Painter.
10. Jamieson and Collins - Iron work.
11. William Cogan - Gas fitter.
12. T. E. Kemp - Stair builder.
13. Other Contractors and Suppliers listed:
Emmanuel Francis - Probably bricks and plastering supplies.
Smoot - Probably hardware, lumber.
Markeley - Probably carpenter, plasterer.
1*t. Green S- Bros. Furniture Co. - Furniture for Chambers of Common
Council and for Masonic Lodge.
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