Fort Ward Changed More This Year Than Its Earthworks Let On

When did you last walk past the museum at Fort Ward and up the hill? If it was before August, the top of that slope looks different now. Crews cleared the old playground last winter, installed the new equipment on the hilltop in the spring, and reopened it in August. The low ground where it used to sit is being replanted as woods. Along the way, the City put up new markers at burial grounds that most people walking the earthworks never knew were there.

The fort itself looks the same. The Northwest Bastion still holds its ground, and the museum still opens Thursday through Sunday. Most of what changed at Fort Ward this year happened in the land around the fort. Some of that work makes the park easier to use. Some of it recognizes the families who lived here after the Civil War.

The playground climbed the hill

The project took years. In 2023 the City chose "Option B," which moved the playground to the top of the hill. The contract went to Stevens Construction Corporation of Annandale in September 2025, and crews arrived in November. They removed the old equipment, then put in stormwater systems and planted trees where the old play area had been. Snow in January and February delayed the concrete work. The contractor made up time with weekend shifts.

The playground reopened on August 14. It has a drinking fountain, picnic table pads, an ADA ramp and stairs. The City's November update says the contractor is still finishing landscape work and will start winterizing late in the fall. The City also plans to hold a community ribbon cutting at a later date. So the playground is finished and open, but the plantings around it are still filling in.

Parking changed too. The museum lot and the amphitheater lot each have a new ADA-compliant space, and both were repaved with better drainage. The museum ramp has new handrails. Together with the accessible picnic-shelter path that reopened in 2023, reaching the park's main areas takes less effort than it did a few years ago.

Every shovel had an archaeologist beside it

Most park projects don't get this treatment. At Fort Ward, Alexandria Archaeology watched each step of the playground job, the ADA parking work, a new fiber-optic line and the memorial installation. The park has its own ground-disturbance rules because of what lies under it. Those rules help explain why a playground move chosen in 2023 opened in 2026.

The things below the surface include more than the fort. The City's history of The Fort describes a post-Civil War African American community that lived on this land. The City says those residents were moved out in the 1950s and 1960s, when the park and museum were created. Their family burial grounds are still part of the park, and this year's most important changes are there.

The markers you may have walked past

According to the City's FY2026 interagency report on the park, several projects that recognize the Fort community's burial areas were finished in the past fiscal year:

• Jackson Cemetery Memorial. Finished and installed in early 2026. Office of Historic Alexandria staff worked on it with Jackson family descendants.
• Old Grave Yard, Adams burial plot and Clark burial area. Each now has an identification marker.
• Oakland Baptist Church Cemetery. A new marker replaces the original, which was damaged during winter snow removal.

All of the new signs follow a design template adopted through the park's interpretive planning process. That's why they look alike across the grounds. The City also recorded oral histories with two members of the Fort Ward/Seminary community for its Oral History Center. Excerpts from Seminary-neighborhood interviews appear in "Stories of U.S.: Collections Capture Our History" at the Alexandria History Museum at The Lyceum. That exhibition also includes objects from Fort Ward's Civil War collection.

More is on the way. Friends of Fort Ward has paid for a museum exhibit about the Fort community, planned for fiscal year 2027. The park's newest permanent features are about the people who lived here, and the museum will soon add their story indoors.

The plantings got attention too. In May, City horticulturists surveyed four plots and found 46.8% of the plants were invasive species, against 53.2% native. Contractors have been clearing invasives along the park's edges since June. In March, a new plaque went up at the Charles W. Hendryx Arborist Memorial, as ALXnow reported. The City's report says urban forestry crews also planted native trees around the memorial and in the reforestation area behind the new playground.

The fort's own season is nearly over

The museum's 2026 season ends soon. "Aboard Ship with the Jack-Tars of the Union Navy" opened October 2, 2025, for the U.S. Navy's 250th anniversary. The City says it runs through 2026. The museum is open Thursday and Friday 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Saturday 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday 1 to 5 p.m. It closes on Thanksgiving and Christmas. Count it out and fewer than 30 public days are left in the year. The exhibit is also online, but the objects are only on view in person.

The second exhibition will be up much longer. "Buglers & Brass Bands: Soldier Musicians in the Civil War" opened May 16 and runs through May 2027. It shows period instruments and sheet music from the museum's collection. Admission is $3, and children under five get in free. Admission to all City museums is free for Alexandria residents.

The November 14 tour is two days after this post goes up. It's the one scheduled chance to hear the music exhibit's story told on the earthworks it describes. Christmas in Camp is the larger event. The City describes a Union Santa based on Thomas Nast's 1863 drawing, reenactors in winter camp, period decorations and carols. According to the event listing, children can make holiday cards or ornaments. Friends of Fort Ward sponsors the event each year.

When you reach the Northwest Bastion, look at the guns. City staff have started getting quotes to replace the worn gun platforms and a damaged 6-pounder gun carriage. The bastion you see this December may not look the same next year.

If you bring a dog, keep it leashed in the park. Only service animals are allowed inside the museum. Before an early or late walk, check the park page for current hours.

Lunch is a mile down the road at Bradlee

Fort Ward has no café, so the nearest food is at Bradlee Shopping Center on King Street. The newest spot there is Chord Bread & Bottle at 3690 J King Street, in the former Unwined space. It opened July 19 with sandwiches, salads, soups, wine and craft beer, according to ALXnow. Spicelife Indian Fare at 3616 King Street offers dine-in, carryout, delivery and catering, as the Alexandria Times noted in its August look at the city's Indian restaurants. For hot coffee before Christmas in Camp, Alexandria Pastry Shop at 3690 King Street, Suite H, opens at 8 a.m. on Sundays and 7 a.m. the rest of the week.

A December Saturday could look like this: the Navy exhibit before it closes, a walk up to the new playground, a stop at the Jackson Cemetery Memorial and the new markers, then lunch at Bradlee. On Saturdays the museum stays open until 5 p.m., so there's time to go back after lunch.

At Kristen Jones Real Estate, we keep track of how Alexandria's parks and historic sites change from year to year, because that's part of knowing the city well. If you live near Fort Ward and want to know how this year's changes affect what your home is worth, request your complimentary home valuation and we'll walk you through it.