Franklin and Armfield Office facts for kids

Franklin and Armfield Office
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. National Historic Landmark
Freedom House in 2022
Location in Alexandria Historical District Show map of Alexandria Historical District Location in Northern Virginia Show map of Northern Virginia Location in Virginia Show map of Virginia Location in the United States Show map of the United States
Location	1315 Duke Street, Alexandria, Virginia
Area	27 acres (11 ha)
Built	1810 (1810)
Architect	Robert Young
Architectural style	Federal
NRHP reference No.	78003146
Quick facts for kids Significant dates
Added to NRHP	June 2, 1978
Designated NHL	June 2, 1978

The Franklin and Armfield Office, which is now the Freedom House Museum, is a very old building in Alexandria, Virginia. It was built around 1810–1820. At first, it was a private home. Later, it became the main office for the largest slave trading company in the United States. This company was started in 1828 by Isaac Franklin and John Armfield. Records show they sold at least 5,000 enslaved people.

The building at 1315 Duke Street is located just west of Alexandria's Old Town. It is a three-story brick building with a special roof called a mansard roof. The front of the building has a unique brick pattern called Flemish bond. Its style is from the Federal period, with arched windows and an arched entrance.

This building was named a National Historic Landmark in 1978. It is also a Virginia Historic Landmark. The City of Alexandria bought the building in 2020. It reopened as a museum in June 2022. The museum teaches about the history of the slave trade and the lives of enslaved people.

History of the Franklin and Armfield Office

The building was first built as a home in the 1810s. It belonged to Robert Young, a general in the local militia. He had money problems and had to sell the house soon after it was built.

Franklin & Armfield: A Major Slave Trading Business

In 1828, Isaac Franklin and John Armfield bought the building. They turned it into their main office in the Washington area. John Armfield also lived there.

The Franklin and Armfield house with its neighboring slave pens in 1836.

They placed advertisements like this one in newspapers:

Cash in Market.

The subscribers having leased for a term of years the large three story brick house on Duke Street, in the town of Alexandria, D.C. formerly occupied by Gen. Young, we wish to purchase one hundred and fifty likely young negroes of both sexes, between the ages of 8 and 25 years. Persons who wish to sell will do well to give us a call, as we are determined to give more than any other purchasers that are in market, or that may hereafter come into market.

Any letters addressed to the subscribers through the Post Office at Alexandria, will be promptly attended to. For information, enquire at the above described house, as we can at all times be found there.

FRANKLIN & ARMFIELD

Franklin and Armfield added other buildings to the property. These were used to hold and trade enslaved people. They also offered a jail for slave owners visiting Washington for a small fee. The back part of the main house was also used for holding enslaved people. It had high walls and prison-like doors and windows.

The company also used three ships to transport enslaved people. These ships sailed between Alexandria and New Orleans. They would hold enslaved people for safe keeping for a fee before shipping them.

Franklin and Armfield had agents in many cities. These agents helped them buy enslaved people. Some of these cities included Richmond, Virginia; Baltimore, Maryland; and Frederick, Maryland.

Isaac Franklin left the business around 1835. John Armfield sold the property in 1836 to George Kephart, who used to be their agent.

Franklin and Armfield became very rich from the slave trade. They sold more enslaved people and separated more families than almost anyone else in the United States. They were among the wealthiest men in the country. They forced a huge number of enslaved people to move from the Upper South (like Virginia) to the Lower South (like Mississippi and Louisiana). This was a major part of their business.

Price, Birch and Co. Takes Over

"Price Birch & Co Dealers in Slaves", Alexandria, Virginia, 1862

From 1858, another slave trading company called Price, Birch & Co. used the building. This company was started by George Kephart, William Birch, J. C. Cook, and Charles M. Price.

Price, Birch & Co. stopped their business in 1861. When the Union Army arrived at the building on May 14, 1861, the company had left. They had taken almost all the enslaved people with them. Only one old man, chained to the floor, was left behind. The Union forces then took over the building. They used it as a military prison until 1866. Later in the war, it became a hospital for Black soldiers. It also housed "contrabands," which were enslaved people who had escaped to Union lines.

What Happened After the Civil War

After the Civil War, the separate buildings used as slave pens were torn down. The bricks might have been used to build nearby houses. The main building was used for different things over the years. Now, it is the Freedom House Museum. It has exhibits about the slave trade.

In 2005, the Virginia Department of Historic Resources put up a marker in front of the building. It says:

Franklin and Armfield
Slave Office (1315 Duke Street) Isaac Franklin and John Armfield leased this brick building with access to the wharves and docks in 1828 as a holding pen for enslaved people being shipped from northern Virginia to Louisiana. They purchased the building and three lots in 1832. From this location Armfield bought bondspeople at low prices and shipped them south to his partner Franklin, in Natchez, Mississippi, and New Orleans, Louisiana, to be sold at higher prices. By the 1830s they often sold 1,000 people annually, operating as one of the largest slave-trading companies in the United States until 1836. Slave traders continually owned the property until 1861.

Freedom House Museum Today

The Northern Virginia Urban League bought the building in the 1990s. They set up an exhibit in the basement. The rest of the building was used for offices and classrooms.

In 2018, the Office of Historic Alexandria started working with the Northern Virginia Urban League. They wanted to help keep and explain the building's history. The Urban League also received money from the National Trust for Historic Preservation's African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund.

The City of Alexandria bought the building from the Urban League in March 2020.

The Freedom House Museum reopened in June 2022. It now has three exhibits. These exhibits tell the story of the Black experience in Alexandria and the United States.

See also

In Spanish: Oficina de Franklin y Armfield para niños