Photo by Adedayo Dayo Kosoko for Visit Alexandria
Manumission Tour led by John Chapman
This Juneteenth, ride along through the stories that built Alexandria. The "Old Town Roots: 250 Years of Black Resilience" Manumission Bus Tour rolls out on Saturday, June 20, offering a 90-minute guided journey through the people, places and untold history that have shaped the city since its founding.
Juneteenth—celebrated each June 19—marks the day in 1865 when news of emancipation finally reached the last enslaved Americans, more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation. It is a holiday of freedom delayed and freedom claimed, and there are few places where that story sits closer to the surface than in Alexandria.
A city of contradictions, a community of strength
Founded in 1749, Alexandria grew into one of the busiest ports — and, painfully, into the home of one of the nation's largest slave-trading operations. Yet the very same streets were home to one of the country's most significant free Black communities, whose churches, schools, businesses and activism left a mark that endures today.
That tension—between bondage and self-determination, between erasure and remembrance—is the thread this tour follows. Among the chapters that define Alexandria's Black history:
The slave trade and the fight against it. The notorious firm of Franklin & Armfield operated out of a building on Duke Street that today houses the Freedom House Museum, where three exhibitions tell the story of the Black experience in Alexandria and across America. Nearby, a bronze sculpture honors the Edmonson sisters, who in 1848 attempted a daring escape to freedom aboard the schooner The Pearl.
Faith and community. Alfred Street Baptist Church, built in 1855 and likely designed and constructed by free Black craftsmen, stands as the city's oldest active historically African American congregation—once the heart of "The Bottoms," Alexandria's earliest free Black neighborhood, and today a congregation thousands strong.
An early stand for civil rights. In 1939, attorney Samuel W. Tucker organized one of the nation's earliest sit-ins when five young Black men quietly requested library cards at the whites-only Barrett Library, sat down, and began to read. The protest helped give rise to the segregated Robert H. Robinson Library—now home to the Alexandria Black History Museum.
Freedom seekers remembered. During the Civil War, thousands of African Americans fled to Union-occupied Alexandria in search of freedom. According to the City of Alexandria, roughly 1,800 of them—many of them children—were laid to rest at what is now the Contrabands and Freedmen Cemetery Memorial, a once-forgotten burial ground rediscovered and restored after decades of community activism and dedicated in 2014.
These are the kinds of stories the guide brings to life on the route—history that too often goes untold.
What's on the tour
Over 90 minutes, a knowledgeable guide leads the way through significant sites that played a vital role in Alexandria's Black history, from sacred spaces to centers of commerce and community. Expect:
- Historic landmarks up close. Visit the locations where this history happened—the places where resilience, faith, and activism took root.
- Expert, engaging narration. The guide shares historically accurate, deeply human stories of struggle, triumph, and culture.
- The untold and the uncovered. Go beyond the mainstream narrative to discover the diverse experiences and contributions of Black individuals and families who helped make Alexandria what it is.
Tour details
- Date: Saturday, June 20, 2026
- Departure times: 10 a.m. · 12 p.m. · 2 p.m.
- Duration: 90 minutes
- Cost: $35 per person
- Book Now »
More ways to mark the day
Looking to make a weekend of it? The City of Alexandria marks Juneteenth with a full day of free, family-friendly events on Friday, June 19, including a morning memorial at Douglass Cemetery, a Jubilee Voices concert and an evening festival of food, live music and exhibitors at the Charles Houston Recreation Center. (Find the full schedule on the City's Juneteenth page.) You can also explore the self-guided African American Heritage Trail, an 11-stop waterfront walk beginning at Waterfront Park.
However you choose to observe Juneteenth this year, it's a chance to honor the resilience that has carried this community across 250 years—and to hear its stories.
