ll
proportioned rooms and large, hospitable fireplaces, all done in
miniature, form interiors rare in scale, surprising in elegance, perfect
in balance.

For the better part of ten years after the Revolution, buildings
continued going up as rapidly as bricks could be made and artisans found
to put them together. As the town grew, the gaps along the streets were
filled. Alexandria assumed the character, not of Williamsburg or
Annapolis, but rather of Philadelphia or some Old World town. By 1795 it
wore an air of stability as row after row of fine brick buildings went
up. Alexandria houses were city dwellings and homes of merchants.
Comfortable and inviting they were, too, with a wealth of detail in
finish and appearance. Doorways and cornices for the outside; arches,
mantels and paneling within. Very sad it is to relate how much of this
has found its way into the museums of the country, and sadder still to
tell how much has been wantonly destroyed. The New York Metropolitan
Museum of Art houses one of the great rooms from Alexandria; the St.
Louis Museum another; and some interior woodwork has found its way to
Williamsburg.

[Illustration: Varied were the designs and never were the twain alike]

Conceived and built as a trading center, by 1796, almost without
exception, the first floor of every building was used as a place of
business while the upper floors served as the family dwelling. This
accounts for the more elaborate woodwork found on second floors. The
Mutual Assurance Society archives reveal many instances of a store,
countinghouse, office or shop located in a wing or attached building;
likewise warehouses on the premises as well as along the water front.

ARTISANS AND TRADESMEN

Alexandrians owned and operated shipyards, sail lofts, ropewalks, lumber
yards, brick kilns; print and apothecary shops; manufactories of
harness, saddles, boots, shoes, mattresses, and cloth. And of course
there were the taverns and hotels, inns and oyster houses, markets,
stables, ferries, and fish wharves (where millions of herring were
packed for export). Its citizens maintained churches, schools,
academies, banks, fire companies, counting houses, and newspapers. They
supported ministers, lawyers, doctors, dentists, oculists,
cabinetmakers, artists, musicians, actors, merchants and a town militia.
Mention has already been made of the important building professions--to
the activities of house and ship carpenters, and the "und