A guide to historic Alexandria

A Guide to Historic Alexandria by William Seale, Second Edition, is a great book to have whether you live in Alexandria or are visiting it for a few days. The first chapter gives a detailed, if short, history of the town, from when it was called the Town on Hunting Creek to the late 20th Century. The second chapter is a break down of the town, neighborhood by neighborhood, each historic house, building or spot given a number which can be found in the maps at the end of book. This makes it easy to not only find a certain home of a person from history, but as the numbers are color coded, you can also find related sites linked together by time and events on the same street or block. Taverns, gardens, and houses from before the Revolution, to the Civil War and up to World War Two, all that history still exists within the borders of this city. It comes with an index but has little in the way of current tour information. You want to use this guide in the first stages of planning and then, once you have a list of places you wish to visit, I suggest logging onto the Internet to get the details such as times, ticket prices and so on. I bought the book at the Lyceum, the Alexandria City Museum, and have gotten a lot of use out of it.