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ALEXANDRIA, Va. - The city will formally celebrate the rededication of Moses Stevens Street on Saturday, July 11, with a public ceremony at the Alexandria Black History Museum, 902 Wythe St., from 10 to 11 a.m.
The event will feature remarks by Mayor Alyia Gaskins, Historic Alexandria Director Gretchen Bulova, genealogist Char McCargo Bah, and a member of the Stevens family. Refreshments will be served.
City Council approved the rededication in February as part of its ongoing effort to strip Confederate honors from city streets. Stevens Street had been named for one of two Confederate brigadier generals — Clement Hoffman Stevens or Walter Husted Stevens.
The rededication honors Moses Stevens, a pioneering Black entrepreneur in post-Civil War Alexandria who operated a successful livery business, founded Mt. Jezreel Baptist Church, and was an early adopter of both telephone and automotive infrastructure in the city. The name "Stevens" remains unchanged on street signs and addresses — only the historical figure the name honors has shifted.
Bah, who will speak at Saturday's ceremony, is a published author, freelance writer, independent historian, genealogist, and a Living Legend of Alexandria who wrote a 2019 profile of Stevens for the Alexandria Gazette Packet.
The three rededications approved in February — Stevens Street, Calhoun Avenue, and Frost Street — are part of Phase 2 of Alexandria's multi-year street-renaming process, which launched in 2023 under the City Council Naming Committee. The Naming Committee is also undertaking a public process to rename Iverson Street to Edmonson Street, following a public hearing held in April.
A rededication differs from a full renaming in that it assigns new historical meaning to an existing street name without changing it — meaning residents and businesses on Stevens Street face no address changes or administrative burden.
Phase 1, completed in June 2024, renamed or rededicated four streets, including renaming North Breckinridge Place as Harriet Jacobs Place. The Brief covered the Phase 2 rededications when City Council approved them in February.
Saturday's ceremony is free and open to the public. The Alexandria Black History Museum is located at 902 Wythe St.
