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ALEXANDRIA, Va. — On a Saturday afternoon in September, participants in the 2nd Annual Canal Crawl will walk through Old Town North with discounted drinks in hand, tracing the path of a waterway that helped build Alexandria into a commercial powerhouse — and then quietly vanished beneath the streets.
The North Old Town Independent Citizens' Association (NOTICe) will host the Canal Crawl on Saturday, Sept. 19 from noon to 4 p.m. Participants will follow the route of the former Alexandria Canal through the neighborhood, stopping at local restaurants — currently Hank's Oyster Bar, St. Elmo's, and Royal Restaurant, with more to be added — for discounted food and beverages. Volunteer storytellers stationed at each stop will share the history of the canal and the people who lived and worked along it.
The canal they'll be retracing connected the city's wharves on the Potomac to the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal in Georgetown, running seven miles through what is now Arlington County and the City of Alexandria, dropping 38 feet through a series of four locks between Washington Street and the Potomac River in the northern portion of Alexandria. Construction began on July 4, 1831, and the canal boat "Pioneer" made the first trip from Georgetown to Alexandria on December 2, 1843, carrying officials from the Canal Company to mark its opening for commerce. Coal was the most important product barged to Alexandria for shipment to foreign and domestic ports, with lumber, fish, and dry goods transported on the return trip.
The canal went dormant during the Civil War, disrupted by the movement of Union troops and the conversion of the aqueduct to a wagon road. It did reopen after the war, but was continually plagued by the need for expensive repairs. Ultimately, railroad transportation eclipsed the canal system and it was abandoned in 1886. The canal's route through Old Town North lies largely buried beneath the neighborhood's streets and buildings today — though not entirely forgotten. Archaeological remains of a lock and basin were discovered during redevelopment work at 901 N. Pitt St., where Carr Properties is replacing an office building with a mixed-use residential project, offering a rare glimpse of the canal's stone walls and wooden floor still preserved beneath decades of fill.
Pub crawl passes will go on sale in August, with all proceeds benefiting NOTICe and its programs. Volunteers interested in serving as storytellers at canal stops can contact NOTICe Treasurer Trevor Riley at notice.communications@gmail.com. All historical information will be provided and a training session will be available.
The Canal Crawl is part of a broader Old Town North neighborhood weekend that also includes the Taste of Old Town North on Thursday, Sept. 17, and Chalk-a-Block on Saturday, Sept. 19, both organized in partnership with the Old Town North Alliance and Old Town North Community Partnership.
NOTICe was founded in 1999 as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit civic association serving the North Old Town neighborhood, bounded by Oronoco Street to the south, Dangerfield Island to the north, Washington Street to the west, and the Potomac River to the east. Mary Harris, the organization's president, said the association is proud to bring the event back for a second year.
More information is available at www.NOTICe-Alexandria.org.
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