About

Fort Ward was one of the largest of the U.S. Army forts in the Civil War Defenses of Washington and was strategically located to guard the major access routes into Alexandria. After the war, newly emancipated African Americans began settling near the abandoned military stronghold, and through land acquisition and kinship ties, built a community known as "The Fort." The community was eventually displaced in the early 1960s for the creation of Fort Ward Park to mark the Civil War Centennial. The Museum and Historic Site tells the story of this extensive defense system, Alexandria's role as a strategic military location, the everyday lives of soldiers and civilians, and the post-Civil War experiences of the African American residents of the Fort neighborhood.