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American Opportunity

1977 establishments in Washington, D.C.Conservative organizations in the United StatesNew Right organizations (United States)Organizations based in Alexandria, VirginiaPolitical and economic think tanks in the United States

American Opportunity (formerly the Free Congress Research and Education Foundation) is a conservative think tank founded by Paul Weyrich. The full name of the organization is American Opportunity and Security but its DBA name is American Opportunity Foundation. Based in Alexandria Virginia it is a nonprofit research and education organization. From 2010 through 2018 the organization had been headed by former Governor of Virginia Jim Gilmore. The current CEO (starting in 2019) is Dan Kreske (a close associate of Jim Gilmore).

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article American Opportunity (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors).

American Opportunity
North Washington Street, Alexandria

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Latitude Longitude
N 38.814333333333 ° E -77.044583333333 °
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North Washington Street 901
22314 Alexandria
Virginia, United States
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515 North Washington Street
515 North Washington Street

The historical building located at 515 North Washington Street in Alexandria, Virginia, has been used as a cotton mill, prison, factory, office space, and apartments. It was built by the Mount Vernon Manufacturing Company in 1848 in present-day Old Town Alexandria. After the original owners were unsuccessful with their cotton mill business venture, the building was sold in 1855. After a renovation, the new owner was able to operate a successful business, but his success was cut short after the Civil War began. The building was one of many local businesses that the Union Army seized after it entered Alexandria. After briefly serving as a hospital and warehouse, the mill was repurposed and renamed the Washington Street Military Prison, the largest of the five Civil War prisons in the city. Rufus Dudley Pettit was named warden in 1864 and he was responsible for widespread abuse and sadistic behavior towards prisoners. After the war the building briefly reverted to operating as a cotton mill, but after that business venture failed, it was sold and sat empty until 1902 when Robert Portner and his Portner Brewing Company purchased the property. The building operated as a bottling plant until Virginia passed Prohibition legislation, resulting in the plant closing. It was purchased by the Express Spark Plug Company which made spark plugs there until it went out of business in 1928. The building was converted into the Belle Haven Apartment House in the 1930s and it remained in residential use until 1981, when it was renovated and became office space. The building was the headquarters for the International Association of Chiefs of Police from 1992 until 2014, when the property once again underwent a renovation. Since the building is a contributing property to the Alexandria Historic District, the project underwent a review by historic preservation organizations. The property was converted into The Mill, a 25-unit apartment building featuring original architectural details and an adjoining park. An interesting feature of the building is that a mannequin nicknamed Oscar is perched in the cupola. There are a few rumors as to Oscar's origin, but the most likely story is that it was brought into the building sometime around 1920. The other rumors are that it was placed there by local police after an employee was brutally murdered on the property in 1854 or that prison guards would use it as a stand-in when they would go on breaks. Oscar is treated as an historical part of the building and during the most recent renovation, it was carefully preserved.

Lee–Fendall House
Lee–Fendall House

The Lee–Fendall House is a historic house museum and garden located in Old Town Alexandria, Virginia at 614 Oronoco Street. Since its construction in 1785 the house has served as home to thirty-seven members of the Lee family (1785–1903), hundreds of convalescing Union soldiers (1863–1865), the prominent Downham family (1903–1937), the family of powerful labor leader John L. Lewis (1937–1969), and enslaved or free servants of those families. The 1785 house, standing on its original half-acre lot, is in the vernacular "telescopic style" of architecture similar to many Maryland homes, but rare in northern Virginia (see below). The house was renovated in 1850, adding Greek Revival and Italianate elements to the original structure. The historic home is listed on the National Register of Historic Places for state significance and the Virginia Landmarks Register, and is a documented contributing feature to the National Historic Landmark District of Alexandria, Virginia. The property is now owned and operated by the Virginia Trust for Historic Preservation. It is run as the Lee-Fendall House Museum and Garden providing exhibits, tours, and special programs to: Preserve its architectural and historic value Bring to light the key business, political, military, and labor roles played by its enslaved or free people Spread knowledge and appreciation for Alexandrian, Virginian, and American history.The Lee–Fendall House Museum and Garden is usually open for tours on the hour Wed.-Sat. 10–3, and Sun. 1–3. Call (703) 548-1789 to confirm. Special programs, educational videos, and related materials can be found on the Museum web site and social media. The Museum and Garden is also available for private rentals.

Alexandria Canal (Virginia)
Alexandria Canal (Virginia)

The Alexandria Canal was a canal in the United States that connected the city of Alexandria to Georgetown in the District of Columbia. In 1830, merchants from Alexandria (which at the time was within the jurisdiction of the federal District of Columbia) proposed linking their city to Georgetown to capitalize on the new Chesapeake and Ohio Canal (C&O Canal). Congress granted a charter to the Alexandria Canal Company in 1830. Construction began in 1833 and was completed in 1843. The Aqueduct Bridge (also begun in 1833 and completed in 1843) enabled canal boats from the C&O Canal to cross the Potomac River without descending to the river level. The boats would then continue their trips downstream on a canal on the southwest side of the Potomac until they reached Alexandria's seaport. The canal ran southwards for seven miles through today's Arlington County and City of Alexandria, Virginia, dropping 38 feet through a series of four locks between Washington Street and the Potomac River in the northern portion of Alexandria. The Canal ended at a Tidal Basin (Pool No. 1) and a Tidal Lock (Lift Lock No. 1) located at the north end of Old Town Alexandria. The canal was abandoned in 1886. Ten years after the canal closed, an electric trolley line was constructed in 1896 in Arlington on the bed of the towpath that traveled near and along the canal's west side (see: Washington-Mount Vernon line of the Washington, Alexandria, and Mount Vernon Electric Railway). Arlington's South Eads Street now approximates the canal's route in this area.Also in 1896, the Washington Southern Railway opened a line that traveled between the southern end of the Long Bridge and the southern end of the Aqueduct Bridge. The line, which passed the present site of The Pentagon, traveled within the grade of the former canal in the area that lies between Arlington National Cemetery and the Potomac River. The line became in 1904 the Rosslyn Connecting Railroad, which the Pennsylvania Railroad owned through a subsidiary, the Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington Railroad (PB&W).The Rosslyn Connecting Railroad abandoned nearly all of its line in 1962 and closed in 1969. The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority then constructed an open section of Metrorail's Blue Line along a portion of the railroad's route that had traveled within the canal's grade. The section of the Blue Line opened on July 1, 1977.After the Key Bridge was completed in 1923, the old superstructure of the Aqueduct Bridge was removed. During the 1980s, Alexandria City archaeologists and the developer of the neighboring Trans-Potomac Canal Center excavated the Tidal Basin and Lock and covered the original remnants with a reconstruction. Aside from these two features, the abutments of the Aqueduct Bridge in Georgetown and Rosslyn, and a pier of the bridge in the Potomac River upstream of the Key Bridge, all of the canal's remnants have either been removed or remain underground.