Fairfax Seminary Hospitaal

The Fairfax Seminary Hospital was a Union Hospital within the bounds of the defenses at Alexandria, and served many soldiers during the Civil War. The Virginia Seminary (as it is now known) was founded in 1823. During the early days of the Civil War, likely at the same time that Alexandria was being occupied by Union Troops and the defenses of Washington were being built, the Seminary was taken by Union Officers as a headquarters and a hospital.

Seminary Hill

Established in 1823, the Virginia Theological Seminary acquired a sizable amount of its current property off Quaker Lane four years later. In 1857, the Episcopal educational institution announced plans to build a new structure on this site and advertised in local papers and the Southern Churchman publication for proposals.

The new building was to be three stories high, with a prayer hall that could hold at least 100 people, a kitchen, pantry, large dining room, and at least 24 rooms for students. The announcement also noted the building would “stand upon an eminence 256 feet above the Potomac River, overlooking the cities of Washington and Alexandria.” This location might explain the additional request that the plan “embrace a tower, cupola, or spire, arranged for a clock, and a place for observation.”

A Vermont-born architect, Norris G. Starkweather, designed the new building, which featured semi-circular arched windows and doors, corner buttresses, rounded arch openings, and a central tower with a domed cupola. It was named Aspinwall Hall in honor of two benefactors who had donated funding for an earlier building.

On October 3, 1859, Bishop William Meade formally dedicated Aspinwall Hall. Just a couple of years later, the Civil War disrupted operations at the seminary. The Union Army took over the Seminary,
and Aspinwall Hall, seen in this Civil War period photograph, was used as a hospital. Seminary operations resumed after the war with some professors returning in 1865.

Aspinwall Hall is one of the contributing structures that resulted in the Seminary being added to
the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.

https://media.alexandriava.gov/docs-archives/historic/info/attic/2010/attic20100408aspinwallhall.pdf

This photograph, taken around 1864, shows a group of buildings that are part of the Virginia Episcopal Theological Seminary. Aspinwall Hall, including its central structure, Meade Hall, are visible in the picture. Prior to emancipation the Virginia Episcopal Seminary hired enslaved people to work for the institution, and due to this the surrounding neighborhood of “Seminary,” nicknamed, “Mudtown,” was predominantly Black.

Before the Union arrived at Alexandria, most of the students and professors had already left and the building was barely in use, making it a perfect place for the Union Army to use. The hospital served 1700 soldiers during the war time. 500 were also buried on the Seminary’s grounds. The Seminary was reopened after the war and is still around today.

https://lettersfromcharleygoodyear.weebly.com/fairfax-seminary-hospital.html

Virginia Theological Seminary was founded in 1823. 2023 marks the historic moment of 200 years of ministry and mission in the Episcopal Church and the worldwide Anglican Communion.

https://vts.edu/bicentenary/

Driven by the conviction that faithful and thoughtful education was the answer to the problems facing Anglicanism in America, our founders included Bishop William Meade, the third Bishop of Virginia, and Francis Scott Key, whose 1814 poem entitled “The Defence of Fort McHenry” became the text for our National Anthem in 1931.

https://vts.edu/mission/history/

Aspinwall Hall, first named Occident, was constructed as a dormitory in 1861 thanks in large measure to the generosity of John Aspinwall of Barrytown. Aspinwall was later a trustee of the College.

https://digitalcommons.bard.edu/bardbw_ststephensearly/21/

Timeline

https://vts.edu/timeline/

and

https://encyclopediavirginia.org/entries/urban-renewal-in-northern-virginia/#heading2

THE FIRE

Founded in 1823, Virginia Theological Seminary is the largest of the 11 accredited seminaries of the Episcopal Church. The school prepares men and women for service in the Church worldwide, both as ordained and lay ministers, and offers a number of professional degree programs and diplomas. Currently, the Seminary represents more than 40 different dioceses and nine different countries, for service in the Church.