Alexandria, VA – The History of Commerce Street
Our most recent image is of a street in Old Town bathed in bright fall foliage. Perhaps a bit difficult to discern from the picture, this is Commerce Street — the only diagonal street in the original layout of Old Town streets. Have you ever noticed? Commerce Street was first seen on a map designed by George Gilpin in 1798. But why did surveyors lay out that diagonal street in a street grid dominated by perpendicular streets?…