Cafe Nicole, the newest independent coffee/lunch spot/cafe in Alexandria has opened in the historic Parker Gray neighborhood at the corner of Queen and North Fayette. Many of you will recognize Nicole Burlimann from her barista years at St. Elmo's in Del Ray and at Starbucks in Potomac Yards.  Her father Erwin, is a Swiss trained chef and was one of the original chefs for Bread and Chocolate.  Both had always wanted a place of their own.  Add an empty building and a burgeoning neighborhood need and voila - Cafe Nicole.  The building - formerly home to Sarge's, a soul restaurant that burned and then closed in 2008 - is unpretentious but comfortable with large windows across the front and a variety of table sizes and shapes. Sarge is still a frequent visitor in the neighborhood and even h... 05/24/2010

Almost two years after after submitting application, Alexandria's Uptown/Parker-Gray Neighborhood has been added to the National Register of Historic Places.  The area will officially known as the Uptown/Parker-Gray Historic District. Bordered on the north by First Street, on the south by Cameron, on the east by Columbus and on the west by Buchannon/Oronoco and parts of West Street, the area ultimately known as Parker-Gray was sparsely settled and and primarily rural throughout the Colonial, Federal and Antebellum periods.  Few structures survive from those eras but one of the most interesting would have been Alexandria's gun powder house, built in the 1790's at what is today the corner of N. Fayette and Queen Streets.  Deemed a potential fire hazard it was deliberately located at a saf... 01/28/2010

Alexandria’s Jefferson Houston Elementary School will receive full state accreditation this fall thanks to dramatic increases in state and federal test scores. The percentage of students passing the English test moved up from 62% to 77% and the percentage of students passing the math test jumped from 59% to 77%. Test scores also insure that the school will meet federal standards under the No Child Left Behind Act. Jefferson Houston - an integral part of the historic Parker-Gray neighborhood - has struggled since a controversial redistricting in 1999 that shifted many West End students to Tucker Elementary in Cameron Station. Inconsistent leadership was a key issue with five principals rotating through in a six-year period. Kimberly Graves was hired in 2006 and within weeks teachers and ... 08/22/2008

  Located on the southern edge of the historic Parker Gray neighborhood and in the shadows of one of the areas’s largest mixed use developments, Alexandria’s African American Heritage Park is a quiet place to learn and reflect. For more information and pictures, pleae visit; Alexandria’s African American Heritage Park is a Proud Memorial and a Quiet Oasis 07/03/2008