Lee Corner is a historic part of

Old Town Alexandria Old Town Alexandria is one of the original settlements of the city of Alexandria, Virginia and is located just minutes from Washington, D.C. Old Town is situated in the eastern and southeastern area of Alexandria along the Potomac River. Old ...

, Virginia, at the intersection of North Washington and Oronoco Street. The corner is named after the Lee family, who once owned almost every property on the intersection. After the

American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revoluti ...

, Alexandria, already known as "Washington's Home Town", also became known as the "Home Town of the Lees".

Lee–Fendall House

The keystone of the corner is the Lee–Fendall House at 614 Oronoco Street. The property was originally owned by Col. "Light Horse Harry" Lee, and the original 1785 home was built by Philip Richard Fendall I. The house was home to 37 members of the Lee family, including Philip R. Fendall II, Edmund Jennings Lee I, and Harriotte and Louis Cazenove. It is currently operated as an historic house museum by the Virginia Trust for Historic Preservation.

Robert E. Lee's Boyhood Home

Across Oronoco Street from the Lee–Fendall House stand twin houses: 607 and 609 Oronoco Street. 607 Oronoco Street was the last home of Light Horse Harry Lee. His son, Robert E. Lee (future

Confederate Confederacy or confederate may refer to: States or communities * Confederate state or confederation, a union of sovereign groups or communities * Confederate States of America, a confederation of secessionist American states that existed between 1 ...

General) spent most of his youth living at the house with his mother,

Anne Hill Carter Lee Anne Hill Carter Lee (March 26, 1773 – June 26, 1829) was the First Lady of Virginia from 1791 to 1794 as the wife of the ninth governor, Henry Lee III. She was the mother of the general-in-chief of the Confederate States of America, Robert E. ...

(1773-1829), before he left for his education at

West Point The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known Metonymy, metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a f ...

in 1825. The house is known today as the

Robert E. Lee Boyhood Home The Potts-Fitzhugh House (also called the Robert E. Lee Boyhood Home) is a historic house at 607 Oronoco Street, Alexandria, Virginia. It served in the early 1800s as the home of Anne Hill Carter Lee and her family, including the eponymous Rober ...

Next door, 609 Oronoco, stands a mirror image of Lee's Boyhood Home. The house was home to Cornelia (Lee) Hopkins (1780-1818), daughter of William Lee (1739–1795), where she lived after her marriage to John Hopkins (1795-1873) until her death in 1816.

428 North Washington Street

428 North Washington Street is the house built by Edmund Jennings Lee I (1772–1843), younger brother of Harry Lee, who lived in the house from its 1801 construction until 1837, when he moved across the street to the Lee–Fendall House. Directly south of the Lee–Fendall House, on the corner of Washington and Princess, is the house built by

U.S. Attorney General The United States attorney general (AG) is the head of the United States Department of Justice, and is the chief law enforcement officer of the federal government of the United States. The attorney general serves as the principal advisor to the p ...

Charles Lee (1758–1815), another of Harry's brothers. Charles and Edmund married a pair of Lee sisters, Anne and Sally, the daughters of

Richard Henry Lee Richard Henry Lee (January 20, 1732June 19, 1794) was an American statesman and Founding Father from Virginia, best known for the June 1776 Lee Resolution, the motion in the Second Continental Congress calling for the colonies' independence f ...

(1732–1794), a signer of the

Declaration of Independence A declaration of independence or declaration of statehood or proclamation of independence is an assertion by a polity in a defined territory that it is independent and constitutes a state. Such places are usually declared from part or all of th ...

. The Lee–Fendall House is the only Lee family house on Historic Lee Corner that is now a museum.

References

External links

Official website of the Lee–Fendall House Museum and Garden
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lee Corner Lee family residences Fendall family Houses in Alexandria, Virginia

Lee–Fendall House

Robert E. Lee's Boyhood Home

428 North Washington Street

See also

References

External links