Carlyle House, Alexandria, VA - Philatelic Photographs on Waymarking.com

Scottish merchant John Carlyle immigrated to Virginia in the first half of the eighteenth century and became a prominent citizen, especially after marrying into the wealthy Fairfax family. The mansion he built in Alexandria in 1752 was one of the first residences in that town and the largest. (Alexandria had only been founded three years earlier as a port on the Potomac River). John Carlyle died in 1780 and his son died the year after. By the first part of the nineteenth century, the house had moved out of the Carlyle family.

In 1848, the property was purchased by James Green who also purchased the 1st Bank of Alexandria, diagonally to the northwest of Carlyle House. Having converted the former bank into a hotel, he extended that building across the front lawn of Carlyle House effectively blocking any view of the house from Fairfax Street. For over 100 years, most of Carlyle House remained hidden behind taller buildings and trees. In the early 1970s, historic preservationists demolished the former hotel, revealing the front of the mansion once again. By 1976, just in time for the U.S. Bicentennial, Carlyle House was restored to its eighteenth-century appearance and opened to visitors.

Besides appearing on this 1949 postage stamp, Carlyle House has one other philatelic connection. British General Edward Braddock used Carlyle House as his headquarters when he arrived from England in 1755 in response to the outbreak of the French and Indian War. It was here where Braddock’s ill-fated expedition into western Pennsylvania was conceived. This campaign, more commonly known as Braddock’s Defeat, was commemorated on a 1930 postage stamp.

Stamp Issuing Country: United States Date of Issue: 11-May-1949 Denomination: 6c Color: carmine Stamp Type: Single Stamp Relevant Web Site: Not listed

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Date Logged Log User Rating   02/27/2022 Moorephun visited it