Fort Worth (Virginia)

Fort Worth
Part of the Civil War defenses of Washington, D.C.
Alexandria, Virginia
Site information
TypeEarthwork fort
Controlled byUnion Army
ConditionDismantled
Location
Coordinates38°48′54″N 77°05′56″W / 38.815°N 77.099°W / 38.815; -77.099
Site history
Built1861
Built byU.S. Army Corps of Engineers
In use1861–1865
MaterialsEarth, timber
Demolished1865
Battles/warsAmerican Civil War

Fort Worth was a timber and earthwork fortification constructed west of Alexandria, Virginia as part of the defenses of Washington, D.C. during the American Civil War.

Built in the weeks following the Union defeat at Bull Run, Fort Worth was situated on a hill north of Hunting Creek, and Cameron Run, (which feeds into it). From its position on one of the highest points west of Alexandria, the fort overlooked the Orange and Alexandria Railroad, the Little River Turnpike, and the southern approaches to the city of Alexandria, the largest settlement in Union-occupied Northern Virginia. In modern times, the site of Fort Worth sits within the boundaries the City of Alexandria (the land west of Quaker Lane, was annexed from Fairfax County in the 1950s) just off Seminary Road. Fort Worth Ave, a residential street approximates Fort Worth's Civil War location.

It was named for William Jenkins Worth.