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In 1991, the Van Dorn Street station opened and Patricia Ticer became the very first women chosen mayor.: 63 History of libraries [edit] John Wise, a local Alexandria business owner and hotel keeper, hosted a conference in his home in 1789 to talk about the development of a Society for the Promotion of Useful Knowledge.

James Muir, doctor Elisha Cullen Cock, and George Washington's personal attorney Charles Lee. The Society did not last for long. However, on  The Most Complete Run-Down , 1794, the founders of the Society once again fulfilled at Wise's house to develop a membership library. Throughout the first year, one hundred nineteen men signed up with the circulating library which was to be called the Library Company of Alexandria.

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The business was chartered as a corporation in 1798 in an act gone by the General Assembly of Virginia. First city library area within an apothecary store Druggist Edward Stabler was elected the first librarian and the library's very first place is believed to have actually been housed in his apothecary store.

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Kennedy offered books from his individual collection to the Library Business. Those books and other purchased from two regional merchants formed the structure of the membership library. The very first catalog of the library's collection was published in 1797. The collection grew in time, strengthened in part by the fact that some members paid their dues in books.

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One kept in mind female member in 1817 was Mary L.F. Custis, partner of George Washington Parke Custis. The catalog published in 1801 indicated a collection of 452 books, primarily on history and travel. By 1815, there were 1,022 entries in the brochure, and the collection had included more bios, fiction, and publications.

Raising funds for the library was a continuing difficulty. In 1853, a lecture series was developed to raise money. Speakers included Professor Joseph Henry of the Smithsonian, Colonel Francis H. Smith of the Virginia Military Institute, and humorist George W. Bagby. The arrival of the Civil War in 1861 took its toll on the library collection.