The Great American History Blog

      Weather information goes back a long time in Virginia, thanks to record keeping by observers such as George Washington, James Ma...

Dust Storm      Few things motivate politicians like impending doom.  One of the most peculiar natural phenomena to strike the W...

      World War II brought sweeping changes to communities throughout America. Thousands of men enlisted or were drafted into the milit...

National Airport      In the early days of aviation, Washington had the reputation of having, “the poorest aviation ground facil...

Pope-Leighey House In the 1930s architect Frank Lloyd Wright grappled with the problem of creating a moderately priced house th...

     During the Great Depression of the 1930s, the federal government set up a number of public works programs to provide work for all A...

Interior of Slave Pen in Alexandria, Virginia The vast majority of male slaves worked as farmhands.   Others worked as laborers, ...

 The Robinson Farm Although only about one tenth the size of the slave population, Virginia had the largest free black population in...

 On July 21, 1911 President William Howard Taft was scheduled to address a group of Union and Confederate veterans in Manassas, Virgini...

President Taft addresses the Peace Jubilee On July 21, 1911, the town of Manassas, Virginia hosted a Peace Jubilee to mark the 5...

Major General Philip Kearny Union Major General Philp Kearny lost an arm in the Mexican War and commanded French troops in the Itali...

Established in 1866, The Grand Army of the Republic (G.A.R.) was a fraternal organization of Union veterans.  This photograph shows U...

Christ Church While many churches were turned into hospitals and stables during the occupation of Alexandria, Virginia, Christ Chu...

Remains of the Remeum The “Remeum” was a huge family mausoleum erected, on land belonging to Pohick Church in Lorton Virginia, by c...