History

• The Birth Night Ball celebration in honor of George Washington in the ballroom.
• A review of the troops by General Washington from the steps of Gadsby’s Tavern in 1798.  This was one of his final military appearances. He started and ended his military career in Alexandria.
• A parade by the citizens of Alexandria to honor President John Adams on June 11,1800.
• The inaugural banquet of Thomas Jefferson in March 1801.
• A dinner for President James Madison on May 9, 1808, shortly after his inauguration ceremony in Washington.
• President James Monroe dined here in 1817.
• The Marquis de Lafayette was honored at, what was heralded as, “one of the most brilliant of banquets” on October 16, 1824.  Secretary of State John Quincy Adams (one year before he became president) also attended.
• The Union Governor of Virginia, Francis H. Pierpont was entertained and quartered at the City Hotel in August 1863.
• George Washington’s birthday was celebrated at the Tavern in 1932.  This event was recreated by our Post.  Alexandrians have continued this tradition with an annual parade and banquet.
• Following the Civil War, Alexandria entered into a long period of decline. Gadsby’s Tavern also declined. Nobody would lease it, so the furnishings were auctioned off. 
• In 1917, the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art purchased the ballroom woodwork and the unique musician’s gallery and took them to New York City, along with the dining room mantel piece and front door.
• In 1928, our World War I Post members heard rumors that a developer planned to purchase and demolish Gadsby's. The located heirs of the Irwin family, who had owned the complex for 114 years, negotiated a deal to purchase it for $18,000.
• A public subscription helped the Post raise a $4,000 down payment and assume a $14,000 mortgage. Local civic and patriotic organizations assisted the Post in raising funds for critical structural repairs.
• By the 1960s, the rapidly deteriorating buildings were in dire need of structural improvement, as well as updating electrical, plumbing, and heating systems. Estimated costs were in the millions.  It was proposed to the City of Alexandria that we give them the complex along with all the furnishings. We proposed the city restore the entire complex for the 1976 bicentennial; the back wing (1878) be decorated, furnished and equipped to Legion specifications; the city to maintain it and Post 24 to have use of it as its home in perpetuity, free of any cost or charge whatsoever, other than telephone and television. Also, the Post shall have the privilege to use, free of charge, the two historic buildings and the courtyard for commemorative occasions, and the city was to install a bronze plaque in the Little Tavern crediting Post 24 with saving the historic complex from demolition.
• The original front door and mantelpiece were returned from New York and reinstalled in their original places. Betty Ford unveiled the mantle piece in the dining room. The City Council agreed, and the title was signed over to the city on August 11, 1972.

Additional Post 24 History is available on the American Legion Post 24 Centennial Website. 

American Legion Buddy Checks are making differences in the lives of veterans stuck at home during the COVID-19 pandemic. Alexandria, Va., Post  24 Adjutant James Glassman conducted a special buddy check birthday surprise for World War II veteran H. Warden Foley, a 73-year member of The American Legion. Members of the post prepared in advance for this Buddy Check, preparing cards and gifts, including a quilt from Quilts of Honor.

SSG Ryan Pitts, Medal of Honor recipient was hosted by Post 24 at a private reception on 21 July 2014 after he was awarded the Medal of Honor earlier in the day at the White House. You can read about his heroics at https://www.army.mil/medalofhonor/pitts/profile/

Pictured from left to right are Past National Commander Dan Dellinger, SSG Pitts, Past Post 24 Commander Jim Glassman, Past Department Commander Gerald Rhoads, and Past Department Adjutant Dale Chapman.

Sunday,  November 11, 2018 marked the centennial, now celebrated as Veterans  Day, with a ceremony and plaque unveiling at the ballroom of the  American Legion Post #24 (400 Cameron St.).  

• On  November 11th, the Office of Historic Alexandria and American Legion Post 24 held a commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the armistice to end the First World War, signed November 11, 1918. Fellow Alexandrians marked the centennial of Armistice Day, now celebrated as Veteran’s Day, on Sunday, November 11, with a ceremony and plaque unveiling.
• The  door to the ballroom at American Legion Post #24, 400 Cameron Street, opened at 9:30 a.m. with the program beginning at 10 a.m. The ceremony featured speakers, T.C. Williams JROTC, and the unveiling of a new plaque remembering all from the City of Alexandria who died during World  War One. A reception in the Post #24 Club Room immediately followed the program. 
• As  part of this ceremony, over 8,000 knit and crocheted poppies were displayed and handed to guests in memory of Alexandria’s veterans. Local residents and visitors created the poppies over the last 18 months in preparation for this event. Poppies were officially adopted as a  symbol of remembrance for those who died in service to their country shortly after World War One.

See full article and photographs by The Zebra Community News.