OLD TOWNE, ALEXANDRIA Walking through colonial America -1

IF you want to experience more

than three centuries of

American history in a single

day, take a walk through Old Towne, Alexandria, in

Virginia.

In the Philippine summer and American spring of

1996 when I was on a research fellowship in the

Washington, D.C. area, I spent almost a month as

a resident of the reconstructed colonial town of

Old Towne. Since then, it has become one of my

favorite places in the urban jungles of the United

States, matched only by New York City's Lower

East Side and Greenwich Village. I had the chance

to visit it again last April.

The quaint city of Alexandria is a mere five miles

away from downtown Washington, D.C., and was

once one of the busiest seaports in America.

Situated just across

the Potomac River

from Washington,

Alexandria has

blossomed from being

an estate named

after a Virginia

plantation (and slave)

owner, John

Alexander, who, in 1669, was said to have

acquired the land on which the town began. In

1749, Alexandria was incorporated as a town and

grew quickly into a major port. It also became the

northern state's gateway to the south by rail.

From 1801 to 1847, it was part of the District of

Columbia and was later occupied by federal troops

of the Union during the Civil War.

Alexandria would be ''requisitioned'' from 1861 to

1865 as headquarters for the US Military Railroad

under the northern Union forces led by US

President Abraham Lincoln. This was while the rest

of the state of Virginia (of which Alexandria was a

part) would vote to secede from the Union and join

the rebel Confederate forces of the South.

By the early 20th century, Alexandria had also

become a major railroad center. Since 1946, it has

been considered an important historic district in

the US while serving as the ''Fun Side of the

Potomac.'' Today recorded as one of the United

States' oldest ports, Alexandria has a surprisingly

miniscule land area of 15.75 square miles and an

estimated population of 115,000 (as of 1999).

Unique

The Alexandria that I rediscovered is a very unique

city: a blend of America's earliest history, with

George Washington calling it his ''home--where no

estate in United America is more pleasantly

situated than this...'' along with his plantation in

Mt. Vernon where he lived and died, and the

future, with many high-tech companies nestled

and doing business among historic townhomes. It is

a good model for architectural preservation for our

own Intramuros and many historic cities (especially

Manila) and our vintage Hispanic towns (which are

even older by two centuries!).

I was told that because of its close proximity to

the US capital, Alexandria has had to balance

growth with preserving the qualities that make the

city great. For if you venture south of King Street

near the Potomac River, you will see that the city

looks much as it did during the days of the

American founding fathers. The numerous historic

landmarks blend easily with the modern

conveniences of the information age.

But the heart of Alexandria City is the historic Old

Towne (spelled officially as Old Town) and its main

road, King Street. The best way to experience Old

Towne is on foot, and you can literally walk

through colonial history.

Long-time residents will proudly tell you that Old

Towne is the ''Paris of Virginia'' because it is ''a

place for leisure.'' Here, in the midst of

restaurants, nightspots and historic shops, one

can stroll down 10 blocks of cobbled streets to the

brick-and-stone colonial style residential houses,

the restored old buildings converted to wonderful

boutiques, intriguing antiques shops and

fascinating art galleries. One can smell the wooden

houses arranged along the sidewalks as if time had

never passed. Quaint colonial homes line King

Street, as well as North Washington, Patrick, and

Duke Streets.

Here, I visited the stately boyhood home of the

young Robert E. Lee, the Civil War's most famous

confederate general. At Gadsby's Tavern which

was built in the 1700s, I enjoyed drinking a couple

of Budweisers with friends and, later, a few blocks

away, my family had an outdoor picnic along the

bustling Potomac riverfront.

Restored

At Old Towne, US history is fully restored and

reconstructed. The buildings and grounds reflect

the sense of history and grace that make Old

Towne so seductive and irresistible. If the

American leaders like Washington, Lee and George

Mason were to take a stroll along Old Towne

today, they would still recognize their hometown

because of the meticulous preservation of

hundreds of early public buildings, townhouses and

private homes.

Some of the finest examples of Georgian

architecture are found here--in the brick dwellings

with gambrel roofs, stone belt courses and window

lintels, with carved wood or stone cornices.

Centuries-old trees are lined alongside

pieds-á-terre, producing a truly picture-perfect

setting. Indeed, the vertiginous streetscapes

begged me to take photographs at almost every

corner. It was as if three centuries of American

history were courting my camera.

There is an air of civility in Old Towne that I

haven't found anywhere else in the United States.

As I walked through the cobbled streets once

frequented by Washington, I could smell boxwood

and sweet bay in the narrow alleys. I peeked

through ornamental wrought-iron gates and saw

pre-Civil War houses. Some of the houses had

small ''pleasure gardens'' with fruit trees and beds

of seasonal blooms--which, I could imagine,

provided a peaceful haven in the urban setting.

The town's genteel roots had an aristocratic

plantation society flourishing. Vestiges of that

plantation economy remain in the form of more

than 2,000 buildings and townhouses built before

1860, most of them classically restored.

But the terrible irony that shook me was that the

beauty one still sees today was made possible by

the institution of slavery.