Information Panel: What's Below The Water At Jones Point

Information Panel: What's Below The Water At Jones Point

Photo: NPS / Claire Hassler

Quick Facts

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Historical/Interpretive Information/Exhibits, Tactile Exhibit

For more that 9,000 years, people have been attracted to the rich fisheries of the Potomac River near Jones Point. Archeological evidence indicates that indigenous people set up seasonal fishing camps on the Point to take advantage of herring, shad, eel, striped bass and sturgeon runs. Large scale harvesting of fish continued into the 19th century, but began to decline in the 20th century as pollution increased.

In the 1870s, commercial fishing on the Potomac became Alexandria's leading industry. A seasonal shantytown along the waterfront, called Fishtown, was devoted to processing the catch. According to an 1883 account, that there "were seventeen shores fished, which employed over five hundred men and sixty horses."

Anadromous Life Cycle

Shad and sturgeon were the most prized catch for both natives and Europeans. These species are anadromous- they hatch upriver, swim out to sea, and, once full- grown, ascend the river to their birthplace to spawn.