Shockoe Hill Burying Ground Historic District

The Shockoe Hill Burying Ground Historic District is a historic district located in the city of Richmond, Virginia, and is a significant example of a municipal almshouse–public hospital–cemetery complex of the sort that arose in the period of the New Republic, following disestablishment of the Anglican Church. The district illustrates changing social and racial relationships in Richmond through the New Republic, Antebellum, Civil War, Reconstruction, and Jim Crow/Lost Cause eras of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. It was listed to the National Register of Historic Places on June 16, 2022; and listed on the Virginia Landmarks Register on March 17, 2022. History The Shockoe Hill Burying Ground Historic District occupies 43 acres (17 ha) of land bounded to the south by E. Bates Street, to the north by the northern limit of the Virginia Passenger Rail Authority (previously the CSX rail line) right-of-way (City of Richmond parcel #N0000233022) at the southern margin of the Bacon's Quarter Branch valley, to the west by 2nd Street, and to the east by the historic edge of the City property at the former location of Shockoe Creek. The District encompasses most of a 28.5-acre (11.5 ha) tract acquired by the city of Richmond in 1799 to fulfill several municipal functions, along with later additions to this original tract. The district features a suite of municipal functions and services concerned with matters of public welfare, health, and safety, which the City of Richmond relegated to its then-periphery on its northern boundary during the nineteenth century. It includes three properties which have long been recognized and celebrated, that are individually listed on the Virginia Landmarks Register and the National Register of Historic Places: the Almshouse, Shockoe Hill Cemetery, and Hebrew Cemetery. It additionally includes four newly identified sites: the City Hospital and Colored Almshouse Site, the City Powder Magazine Site, the Poor House of 1806, and the Shockoe Hill African Burying Ground. The district was also the site of the city gallows. The Shockoe Hill African Burying Ground is likely the largest burial ground for free people of color and the enslaved in the United States. It is conservatively estimated that over 22,000 people of African descent were buried in its 31 acres (13 ha). It was opened in 1816, and closed in 1879 due to overcrowded conditions. It is one of "Virginia's most endangered historic places". Current threats to the burial ground include the DC2RVA passenger rail project (high-speed rail), the east-west Commonwealth Corridor, and the proposed widening of I-64, along with various infrastructure projects. See also National Register of Historic Places listings in Richmond, Virginia References External links Richmond Cemeteries, Shockoe Hill African Burying Ground Richmond Cemeteries, Shockoe Hill Cemetery Richmond Cemeteries, Approaching the National Register – Shockoe Hill U.S.News & World Report, Woman Wants to Memorialize Unmarked African Burial Ground Richmond Free Press, Hospital Street burial ground gets support as new historic district Dead Reckoning: The Historical Recovery and Unsettled Place of Richmond's Shockoe Hill African Burying Ground – The 2021 Elske v.P. Smith Lecture featuring Ryan K. Smith, Professor in the Department of History Richmond Times-Dispatch, "Kaine, McEachin endorse nomination of Shockoe Hill African Burying Ground to National Register of Historic Places", 3/21/2022 The Cultural Landscape Foundation: It’s Not OK to Put High Speed Rail Lines Through the Shockoe Hill African Burying Ground NBC News: The growing movement to save black cemeteries Sapiens: At the Heart of It All Richmond Times Dispatch – Keep Black history visible and viable, by Michael Paul William, 02/23/2022 Sapiens: Talk Back Episode 3 National Trust for Historic Preservation – Preserving Sacred Ground: Shockoe Hill African Burying Ground Richmond Cemeteries: A moment to celebrate for Shockoe Hill Richmond Times-Dispatch: Shockoe Hill African Burying Ground is added to the state landmark registry, 3/18/2022 March 18, 2022: Check out A1 Minute NOW – Shockoe Hill African Burying Ground is VA landmark VCU News, March 18, 2022, "Long-neglected Black cemetery in Richmond added to Virginia Landmarks Register", by Brian McNeill Historic Richmond: Shockoe Hill Burying Ground Historic District The Cultural Landscape Foundation: Shockoe Hill African Burying Ground is Now a VA Landmark Radio IQ WVTF – Shockoe Hill African Burying Ground in Richmond gets landmark designation VCU – Listing a Threatened Burial Ground on the National Register of Historic Places, April 29, 2022 CBS Mornings – Descendant works to reclaim Virginia African American burial ground National Register of Historic Places Weekly List of Actiona Taken on Properties: 6/10/2022 Through 6/17/2022 Richmond Cemeteries: The Crest of Shockoe Hill DHR Virginia Department of Historic Resources, 127-7231 Shockoe Hill Burying Ground Historic District Washington Post, October 28, 2022 "Where’s Kitty Cary? The answer unlocked Black history Richmond tried to hide." by Gregory S. Schneider Virginia Passenger Rail Authority, DC2RVA Section 106 Records (Memorandum, letters and correspondance) added 2023 Richmond Times-Dispatch: Richmond gets land for Burying Ground trail, by David Ress, 1/09/2023 Willis, Samantha, Virginia Mercury " Once a dead end, a Richmond cemetery earns new respect". January 30, 2023 Lazarus, Jeremy M., Richmond Free Press, "Rail agency begins historic cemetery review for estimated 22,000 souls", February 2, 2023 Williams, Michael Paul, Richmond Times-Dispatch, "At any speed, we don't need a train station in Shockoe Bottom", February 22, 2023 THE CULTURAL LANDSCAPE FOUNDATION: Landslide Update - Shockoe Hill African Burying Ground, Jan 29, 2024 Williams, Michael Paul, Richmond Times-Dispatch, "Williams: A for-profit billboard has no place at the Shockoe Hill African Burying Ground", February 11, 2024 Yancey-Bragg, N'dea, USA TODAY "Black cemeteries are being 'erased.' How advocates are fighting to save them", February 14, 2024 Larsen, Patrick, VPM npr News "Stoney says ad firm using African burial ground as ‘bargaining chip", February 23, 2024 Richmond Cemeteries, "The burying ground and the billboard", by Ryan K. Smith, February 26, 2024 Kerley, Andrew, The Commonwealth Times, "VCU Health removes ad on African burying ground, billboard company refuses to follow suit", February 28, 2024 Williams, Michael Paul, Richmond Times-Dispatch, "Williams: The Shockoe Project is about our past and our future", March 2, 2024 Washington Post, July 5, 2024,"Richmond makes surprising find at desecrated Black cemetery: Intact graves", by Gregory S. Schneider THE CULTURAL LANDSCAPE FOUNDATION:Remove the Billboard that Desecrates the Shockoe Hill African Burying Ground, August 27,2024