City and State: Alexandria, Virginia
Listed: 1992
Type of district: National Register Historic District, Virginia State Historic District
Major Intersection: De Witt and Del Ray Avenues
Town of Potomac National Register Historic District Report
Town of Potomac National Register Historic District Map
The Town of Potomac Historic District, a community within Alexandria since 1927, provides a significant example of a late-19th- and early-20th-century suburban development. A planned community, the Town of Potomac was located near railroad and trolley lines and was popular with federal employees who commuted to Washington, D.C. on a daily basis.
Today, the town is still reminiscent of its heyday. The original subdivisions are almost entirely intact, and exemplify the patterns of subdivision development common at the turn of the century. The architecture in the town is varied. It includes an excellent collection of late-19th- and early-20th-century domestic styles as well as commercial, ecclesiastical and civic architecture. Several houses and a Gold Bond Portable Chapel illustrate the commercial phenomenon of mail-order buildings popular during the era. The Town of Potomac also features the work of numerous local builders and architects.