George Washington High School - Compass Yearbook (Alexandria, VA)

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ALEXANDRIA - HEART OF NATION’S HERITAGE i i i ■ i 1— FRIENDSHIP VOLUNTEER FIRE COMPANY was organized in 1774 by George Washington. On display in the engine house is a fire engine do- nated to the company by George Washington in 1775. 2— CHRIST CHURCH was begun in 1767 by James Parsons and completed by John Carlyle in 1773. Chosen by the Parish in 1765 as one of twelve ves- trymen, George Washington remained a member of the congregation until his death. As a boy, Robert E. Lee was confirmed in this church. En- graved by James Wren for the sum of eight pounds, the panels bearing the Lord’s Prayer, the Creed and the Ten Commandments and the goblet-shaped pul- pit are two examples of colonial workmanship. 3 — BRADDOCK CANNON is one of a number of large cannon abandoned by General Braddock in 1755 because of the difficulties of transporta- tion. After use in the Revolutionary War at Fort Columbia on Jones Point, the cannon were placed at the corners of principle streets. The cannon bears this inscription: This monument marks the trail taken by the army of General Braddock, which left Alexandria 20th April, 1755, to defend the western frontier against the French and Indians.” 4 — RAMSAY HOUSE is called Alexandria’s Old- est House”. Believed to have been built in 1724 and brought to its present site in 1751, it was the home of Alexandria’s first and only Lord Mayor, William Ramsay.