ALEXANDRIA, Va. -- A northern Virginia row house that once housed one of the nation's largest slave-trading businesses is up for sale.
The Northern Virginia Urban League owns the home in Old Town Alexandria and operates it as a museum called Freedom House.
News outlets report the league put the building up for sale to shed the financial burden of operating a lightly attended museum in an old building with high maintenance costs.
City officials say they'd prefer the building not be sold to a private entity, but that Alexandria is not in position to take over the museum's operation.
Slave traders used the building as a holding pen for several decades in the 19th century to keep slaves arriving through the city's port until they were sold into the Deep South.
