Historical Significance Spring Park is the closest modern feature to Young's Springs, the site where on August 10, 1800, fellow conspirators elected Gabriel the General of the Rebel Army. Gabriel was enslaved on the Brookfield Plantation in Henrico…

Historical Significance Known as an architectural gem, Wilton House was the home of a wealthy tobacco planter in the colonial period who one of the largest slave owners in 1760. The museum houses an outstanding collection of period furnishings,…

Historical Significance In what was once known as the colony's capital, Williamsburg, Virginia, enslaved individuals worked as artisans: carpenters, joiners, coppers, masons, blacksmiths, shoemakers, cabinetmakers, and coach makers. Others worked in…

Historical Significance The town of Waterford, Virginia was a place of refuge for African Americans for over 200 years. Waterford was founded in the 1730's by Northern Abolitionist Quakers who were soon outnumbered in the community by other…

Historical Significance Virginia Union University is one of the six historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in Virginia. The school that would become Virginia Union was founded by the American Baptist Home Missionary Society and the…

Historical Significance Virginia's state capitol was designed by Thomas Jefferson in 1785. In part prompted by the Nat Turner rebellion, the General Assembly spent much of its December 1831 session debating the possible abolition of slavery.…

Historical Significance Using dendrochronology, the wood used in the construction of the Thomas Slave Chapel was dated to the postbellum era, around 1876. The chapel was built to provide a place of worship for formerly enslaved African Americans. It…

Historical Significance Poplar Forest, Thomas Jefferson's plantation retreat and architectural masterpiece, offers insight into the community of enslaved workers that took shape on the property during Jefferson's 54 years of ownership. Many of these…

Historical Significance Born enslaved in 1862, Thomas Calhoun Walker became one of the first African Americans to practice law in Gloucester County. Mr. Walker's many achievements are summarized on a marker in front of his home which reads "Here…