Quite near the Eisenhower Metro Station, the foundations of Cameron Mill, the mill race, and the Roberts Home and outbuildings have been discovered beneath a parking lot of the Hoffman buildings. New development will destroy some or all of these remains dating to the 18th century. The mill race once ran between two mill buildings dating to the 1790s. The Roberts house was built in three sections; the middle structure may have dated to the earlier 18th century and served as a tavern for the village of Cameron, which pre-dates Alexandria. By the 1850s, water from Cameron Run was brought up the slopes to Shuter's Hill by the new water company. Water was then piped downhill into townspeople's homes.

The most spectacular discovery of the archaeological work to date is the West family burial vault. The Wests were one of Alexandria's most prominent business dynasties and developers of West End Village, just west of the City's boundary. Excavation of the 18th-century West vault and nearby area discovered 14 burials. Seven individuals were found in the vault -- two adult males, three adult females, a child and a newborn infant. Sybil West, wife of Hugh West, is probably one of the people buried in the vault, as is her son Colonel George West. The West's daughter, Sybil West Carlyle, may also have been buried in the vault. Seven individual graves were found to the east of the vault. Three adults and one child could be identified from very fragmentary remains. One or more of these people may have been African Americans enslaved to the Wests. One unidentified male grave included a quartz crystal under his shoulder blade. Crystals found in other African American sites have been associated with African spiritual practices.

Cameron Mill Farm (The Roberts Home)
Courtesy, Alexandria Library" Special Collections"