Franklin and Armfield Office facts for kids
|
Franklin and Armfield Office
|
|
Freedom House in 2025, following comprehensive exterior renovations
|
|
 Location in Alexandria Historical District
Location in Northern Virginia
Location in Virginia
Location in the United States
|
|
| Location | 1315 Duke Street, Alexandria, Virginia |
|---|---|
| Area | 27 acres (11 ha) |
| Built | 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, now home to the Freedom House Museum, is a very old building in Alexandria, Virginia. It was built around 1810–1820. This building has a sad and important history. It was once the office of the biggest slave trading company in the United States.
This company, started by Isaac Franklin and John Armfield in 1828, bought and sold enslaved people. Records show that at least 5,000 enslaved people were forced through this office.
The building is located at 1315 Duke Street, near Alexandria's Old Town. Its outside look was changed over the years. In 2025, it was carefully restored to its original style from the 1800s.
The building was named a National Historic Landmark in 1978. It is also a Virginia Historic Landmark. The City of Alexandria bought the building in March 2020. It reopened as a museum in June 2022.
Contents
The History of Freedom House
The Freedom House building has a long and complex past. It started as a home and became a place central to the slave trade. Later, it served as a prison and hospital before becoming a museum.
Early Days as a Home
The building was first built as a house in the 1810s. Robert Young, a military general, owned it. It was a three-story house built in the Federal style.
Young faced money problems and had to sell the house. This led to its next, very different, use.
Franklin & Armfield: A Slave Trading Business
In 1828, Isaac Franklin and John Armfield bought the building. They turned it into their main office for buying and selling enslaved people. John Armfield also lived there.
The company placed ads like this one:
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
The property grew to include other buildings. These were used to hold enslaved people before they were sold. They also had jail cells for slave owners visiting Washington. These cells had strong grated doors and windows.
The company even owned three ships. These ships were used to transport enslaved people to other states. One ad listed the ships: "ALEXANDRIA AND NEW ORLEANS PACKETS. — Brig Tribune, Samuel C. Bush, master, will sail as above on the 1st January; brig Isaac Franklin, William Smith, master, on the 15th January; brig Uncas, Nathaniel Boush, master, on the 1st February. They will continue to leave this port on the 1st and 15th of each month, throughout the shipping season. Servants that are intended to be shipped will at any time be received for safe keeping at twenty-five cents a day. JOHN ARMFIELD, Alexandria."
Franklin & Armfield had agents in many cities. These agents helped them find and buy enslaved people. Some cities included Richmond, Virginia, and Baltimore, Maryland.
Isaac Franklin left the business around 1835. John Armfield sold the property in 1836.
Franklin and Armfield became very rich from this trade. They were among the wealthiest men in the country. They bought enslaved people in states like Virginia and Maryland. Then, they sold them in states further south, like Mississippi and Louisiana. This forced movement of people was a huge part of the slave trade.
Price, Birch and Co. Takes Over
From 1858, another slave trading company, 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 in May 1861, they found the company had left. They had taken all but one enslaved person with them. This person was an old man, chained to the floor.
Union soldiers then used the building as a military prison. Later in the war, it became L'Ouverture Hospital for Black soldiers. It also housed formerly enslaved people who had escaped.
After the Civil War
After the war ended, the buildings used as slave pens were torn down. The bricks might have been used for other nearby houses. The main building was changed into apartments in the late 1800s. Around 1905, its outside was updated to a popular style of that time.
In 2005, the Virginia Department of Historic Resources placed a marker outside the building. It tells the story of Franklin and Armfield's slave office.
Freedom House Museum Today
The Northern Virginia Urban League bought the building in the 1990s. They created an exhibit in the basement. The rest of the building was used for offices and classrooms.
In February 2018, the Office of Historic Alexandria began working with the Urban League. They wanted to preserve and share the building's history. The Urban League received a grant to help with this work.
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 share the story of the Black experience in Alexandria and the United States.
The museum's exterior was restored between June 2024 and July 2025. This restoration made the building look like it did when it was a slave trading firm. Workers used old photographs to guide them. They removed later additions and brought back the original 1800s style.
See also
In Spanish: Oficina de Franklin y Armfield para niños
- Alexandria Black History Museum
- Contrabands and Freedmen Cemetery
- List of National Historic Landmarks in Virginia
- Lumpkin's Jail
- National Register of Historic Places listings in Alexandria, Virginia
- Slave trade in the United States
- Slave markets and slave jails in the United States
- List of American slave traders
