Swann-Daingerfield House

Here follows an excerpt from the Clio Foundation website about the Swann-Daingerfield house as written by Ben M.:

Introduction
Named after its builder and second owner, the Swann-Daingerfield House represents two centuries of local architectural and educational history. Prominent lawyer and businessman Thomas Swann (1765-1840) built the original part of the house around 1800 in the Federal architectural style. The second owner, Henry Daingerfield (1802-1866), was a successful shipping magnate, a board member of the Bank of the Potomac, a councilman for the third ward of Alexandria, and founder of the nearby town of Springfield, Virginia in 1847. He bought the house in 1832 and converted the exterior into the Second Empire style. From 1899 to 1943, the Sisters of the Holy Cross operated a girls high school in a large addition they erected at the rear of the house. The Alexandria Hospital School of Nursing occupied the house from 1943 to 1976 during which it was named Carter Hall. In 1958, the school became the first in the country to accept male nursing students. The house is a private residence today and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2019.

Backstory and Context
Thomas Swann was born in Charles County, Maryland to parents Edward and Nancy Swann. He arrived in Alexandria in 1785 to study law and became a successful and well-known lawyer in the region. In 1794, he married his wife, Jane Byrd Page (1771-1812), who came from a prominent family. Swann's business activities included co-founding the Fairfax County Turnpike Company and the Fire Insurance Company of Alexandria. He was also appointed the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia in 1821 and served until 1833. Swann purchased the property where the house now stands in 1797 and built the house about three years later. The Swanns' eldest son, Thomas Swann Jr. (1809-1883), lived in the house until 1825 at which point he moved to Washington D.C. He served as the 19th mayor of Baltimore and as Maryland governor from 1869-1973. He also served two consecutive terms in the U.S. House of Representatives. He sold the house to Henry Daingerfield in 1832.

Daingerfield's father was a ship captain and a surveyor of Alexandria's port. The family line in America dates back to 1667 when ancestor William Dangerfield patented land on the Rappahanock River. In addition to serving as a councilman and bank board member, Daingerfield served as director of the Marine Insurance Company and invested in land. By the time of his death in 1866, Daingerfield had acquired landholdings in Virginia and Maryland worth $180,000. Interestingly, he was a close friend of future Confederate General Robert E. Lee, who visited the house often. Tragically, both of his sons committed suicide in the 1890s.

The Sisters of the Holy Cross established the school, which was named St. Mary's Academy, in 1869. At the time, there were several girls schools in Alexandria. St. Mary's eventually outgrew its original location by the early 1890s, prompting the Sisters to buy the Swann-Daingerfield House in 1899. The school opened in September. Enrollment increased in the next few years so the school built another addition (the south wing) in 1906. High school boys from a closed Xavieran Brothers school started to attend St. Mary's in 1934 and within a few years it became clear that a brand new building was needed. A new school was built in 1942 and the Sisters sold the Swann-Daingerfield property to Alexandria Hospital that year. The nursing school opened in 1943 and it housed administrative offices, classrooms, laboratories and dormitory bedrooms. The city acquired the house in 1971 but the nursing school remained until 1973. The next owner restored the house and converted the east and south wings into condominiums.