Free previewStop 7 of Old Town Alexandria Walking Tour: Duke Street to the Waterfront
The Three-Year Experiment That Never Ended
You're on North Union Street, right where King Street runs out of land and meets the Potomac. The long, plain building in front of you, three floors of brick and windows facing the river, still carries the name it earned the hard way: the Torpedo Factory. Step inside and you'll see doorways open onto working studios, with artists at their benches and easels. Hold that picture, because this building was made for something very different.
The Navy began building the U.S. Naval Torpedo Station on November 12, 1918. That's the day after the Armistice ended the First World War. The war was over, and the torpedo factory was just getting started. For five years it built torpedoes. Then it went quiet and became storage for munitions.
The Second World War woke it up.
That's the opening. The rest plays at stop 7 of Old Town Alexandria Walking Tour: Duke Street to the Waterfront (3 min in all). Unlock the tour to hear it all, or try stop 1 free first.
