Jim Morrison's Boyhood Home

Long before he became The Lizard King, a young Jim Morrison called this corner unit in the North Ridge neighborhood of Alexandria, Virginia home.

He lived here in the 1950s and early 1960s while his father was working at the Pentagon. After learning that a previous resident had committed suicide in the basement, he moved his belongings into the subterranean room and set up shop there in order to “get the vibe.”

In 1961, following his senior year at George Washington High School in Del Ray, he headed west and formed The Doors while studying at UCLA’s film school. The band became infamous for their wild live performances. 

The Doors returned to the area for a pair of shows on August 18, 1967, playing an evening gig in Annapolis, Maryland and following up with a memorable show at the long defunct Alexandria Roller Rink, which doubled as the Alexandria Rock Arena and hosted a number of legendary acts. The mercurial Morrison had a spat with the rest of the band between the two engagements and they refused to share a ride with him on the way to Virginia.

In spite of being heavily inebriated, it was a great show by all accounts, right up until they closed with the hallucinatory marathon, “The End.” At some point during the song, Morrison reportedly threw a cymbal stand into the crowd injuring a woman. As the mic was being pulled away from him, he ended the show with a middle finger salute to his hometown crowd.

A mural at St. Elmo’s Coffee Pub in Alexandria’s Del Ray neighborhood pays tribute to the famous singer.