Photo for Visit Alexandria by R. Kennedy
Freedom House
An expansion of the Freedom House Museum and renovations to the historic building it is in are in the works.
Earlier this year, the Northern Virginia Urban League put the historic townhouse at 1315 Duke St. it owns up for sale for $2.1 million, after going through a difficult period keeping up payments on the property, according to The Washington Post.
The townhouse was once the headquarters of the country's largest slave-trading company, Franklin & Armfield, and the Freedom House Museum is housed in the basement.
Now, the City of Alexandria is planning to purchase the building with City funds for an undisclosed sum, allowing the Northern Virginia Urban League to keep a few offices in the building for five years.
Moving forward, the City has envisioned a partnership with the Commonwealth of Virginia and with private donors to fund the building's restoration and an expansion of the museum onto the first and second floors of the building.
Gov. Ralph Northam's recently proposed budget includes $2.443 million to help fund the restoration of the building and renovation and expansion of the Freedom House Museum. (Private donations specifically designated for the Freedom House will be accepted by ACT for Alexandria. Contact ACT for Alexandria for more information on how to donate.)
The City describes the property as once being "part of the headquarters for the largest domestic slave trading firm in the United States, Franklin & Armfield. Enslaved people were brought from the Chesapeake Bay area and forced to the slave markets in Natchez, Mississippi and New Orleans either by foot or ship." The building also used by another slave trading company, Price, Birch & Co.
According to the National Park Service, "The Freedom House is a three-and-a-half-story structure of gray-painted brick with a large, three-story rear brick L-shaped addition. Despite alterations to both its exterior and interior, the Franklin & Armfield building still stands as a reminder of a dark chapter in U.S. and human history."
