Although Alexandria’s Presbyterian congregation may have decided to build a permanent place of worship and begun preliminary work in 1774, the principal phase of construction occurred during 1775. On May 17 of that year, John Carlyle and William Ramsay placed an advertisement in the Maryland Gazette of Annapolis seeking bids for construction work on the new Presbyterian Meeting House and burial ground on South Fairfax Street.
Carlyle and Ramsay, who served as the project’s general contractors, were among Alexandria’s most experienced builders and civic leaders. They had previously overseen construction of a bridge across Broad Run in Loudoun County. Carlyle had also supervised construction of a waterfront warehouse at Point Lumley and Christ Church, while Ramsay had managed construction of Fairfax County’s two-story brick prison.
The project followed Alexandria’s establishment in 1749, the formal organization of the Presbyterian congregation in 1772, and the completion of Christ Church in 1773. The new Meeting House became one of Alexandria’s most important religious and civic landmarks. Its pulpit was originally positioned along the north wall, and worshippers sat on simple benches. One surviving black bench remains at the west end of the southern gallery.
The sanctuary subsequently endured repeated natural and human-made disasters. During the hurricane of July 1786, the roof was torn away and part of a wall and gallery collapsed. A violent hailstorm on June 7, 1811, shattered windows throughout Alexandria, destroying approximately 300 panes of glass in the Meeting House alone.
A pipe organ built by Jacob Hilbus was installed in the south gallery in 1817 and served the congregation until the fire of 1835. The original building had neither a steeple nor a bell tower. Instead, a cupola on the roof enclosed Alexandria’s first bell, cast by Morton and Foster of Loudoun County. The bell summoned worshippers and alerted townspeople when fires threatened the community.
Despite multiple disasters—including the hurricane, hailstorm, and eventually the 1835 fire that gutted the sanctuary—the Meeting House and its burial ground remained central to Alexandria’s spiritual and civic life.
