The Athenaeum

Here follows an excerpt from the Clio Foundation website about the Athenaeum as written by Alex Wemm and Zack Rakes:

Introduction:
Constructed originally as a bank in 1852, the Athenaeum is a building with a history of serving many purposes. Though it is currently the home of the North Virginia Fine Arts Association, it has been used as a bank, office space, and a base of operations for a pharmacy business. Today, the Athenaeum houses many different forms of art, allowing visitors to enjoy a wide variety of artistic exhibits and performances.

Backstory and Context:
Surveyed by President George Washington, the Athenaeum was built originally as the Bank of the Old Dominion. The bank was open to a wide variety of clients in the area, and it remained active until the beginning of the American Civil War. When the Union overtook Alexandria, the Bank was repurposed into the Chief Commissary Office of the U.S. Commissary Quartermaster. This was short-lived, however, and the Bank building was shut down in 1862. The Bank remained inactive until 1870, when it was repurposed as the First Virginia Bank.

In 1907, the Bank was purchased by the firm Leadbeater and Sons, and was used as the building which they based their pharmacy business out of until 1925, when the building was used as a place of worship for the Free Methodist Church of North America. The Church retained use of the building until 1964, when the building was purchased by the Northern Virginia Fine Arts Association. The Association restored the building and named it the Athenaeum, becoming a center for the perpetuation and preservation of fine arts of all kinds. The Athenaeum continues to serve this purpose today, and has found its place in the National Register of Historic Places.


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Here follows an excerpt from the Athenaeum website about the building's history:

The Athenaeum is one of Alexandria’s two surviving examples of Greek revival neo-classic architecture open to the public. The elegant rooms have 24-foot high coved ceilings, enormous windows and beautiful woodwork. The exterior features four soaring Doric columns across the portico and walls of stucco over stone and brick.

Built in 1852 at the head of Captain’s Row, it was constructed to be the Bank of the Old Dominion. Robert E. Lee did his banking here. During the Civil War, the building was the Chief Commissary’s Office for the Union Army. Beginning in 1870, it was owned by the Citizens National Bank. The Stabler-Leadbeater Apothecary Shop bought it in 1907 for use as a factory, and in 1925 it became the area’s first Free Methodist Church. In 1964, the building was purchased by the Northern Virginia Fine Arts Association (NVFAA) repurposed it as an art center and renamed The Athenaeum, from the Greek word Athenaion, a temple of Athena (the Greek Goddess of wisdom).


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Here follows an excerpt from the "Jaybird's Jottings" blog as written by Jay Roberts:

201 Prince Street

At the corner of South Lee and Prince Street is the Athenaeum. Residents today know it as an arts gallery, ran by the Northern Virginia Fine Arts Association. The building was originally built for the Bank of the Old Dominion, and has also been the home for a wholesale drug business and the Free Methodist Church.