Site of Assembly Hall (Historical Marker)

Here follows the inscription written on this roadside historical marker:

Site of Assembly Hall
Alexandria City Hall

Here was held March 22 1785 the first conference between representatives Alexander Henderson and George Mason of Virginia and Major Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer, Mr. Chase and Mr. Stone of Maryland. This conference resulted in the framing of the Constitution of the United States.

Erected by Alexandria Chamber of Commerce.


<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>
<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>

Alexander Henderson of Virginia was soldier in the American Revolution. George Mason of Virginia and Daniel of of St. Thomas Jenifer of Maryland attended the Constitutional Convention, but only the latter signed the U.S. Constitution on September 17, 1787. Thomas Stone and Samuel Chase both signed the Declaration of Independence for Maryland on August 2, 1776. This conference was subsequently moved to the home of George Washington. It produced a trade treaty between Maryland and Virginia known as the Mount Vernon Compact.


<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>
<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>

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

Old Town Alexandria Historical Plaques:
Assembly Hall

Corner of N. Fairfax and Cameron (City Hall)

They were heady days, those of the late 1700s, when small meetings and determined patriots pushed ideas into goals for the infant nation. George Mason was one such captain of change. He met his colleagues on this spot in 1785, a gathering that has been seen by some as the start of the framing of the U.S. Constitution.