Encompassing Bundy Street, North Buckmarsh Street, North Church Street and Liberty Street
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Last updated on May 20, 2024
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Directions from Clermont to Site 6:
- Continue West on VA-7BUS/E Main Stt for 0.8 mile
- Turn right onto 1st St and take the next left onto Liberty St
- Drive 0.4 mile and turn right onto N. Church St (You will drive past Osborne St)
- Continue driving, and the road becomes Bundy St
- These directions take the visitor to approximately the center of Blackburn Town. Visitors are encouraged to drive around the streets but be respectful of private property
- This area is a collection of private residences therefore, driving through the neighborhood is encouraged, but stopping along the street is not
This neighborhood appears in the 1930s Sanborn Insurance Map as “Blackburn Town,” around what is now Bundy Street. (Previous page) The community developed shortly after the Civil War, before the establishment of Josephine City. The original African Methodist Episcopal Church on N. Buckmarsh (208 North Buckmarsh) was built on land granted by Robert Hall and his wife to the trustees of the church in 1869. A small cemetery remains behind the building. St. Luke's Baptist Church on Liberty Street, originally known as The Free Will Baptist Church, was also built in 1869. On the south edge of the neighborhood lies Saint Mary’s Episcopal Church and Parish Hall. The church was built in 1914, and the parish hall was constructed in 1905 on the property of Wickliffe church to teach African Americans who attended the church. It was later moved to Berryville. There is also a small barber shop located on Osborne Street that is still in operation.
Most notable are the people who lived in Blackburn Town:
Isaiah “Mike” Brown, Jr., owner of Mr. B’s BBQ (20th century)
George E. Thomas, valet to JFK (mid-20th century)
Emma Weeks, longtime Clarke County educator (20th century)
Nancy Parker, a Free Black woman who lived with her family along North Buckmarsh Street (the same house later owned by Emma Weeks) (19th century)
Charles Henry Slowe, father of Lucy Diggs Slowe (19th century)
G.L.D. Harris, editor and publisher of People’s Journal, Berryville’s African American Newspaper (19th Century) About 15 editions of the paper are displayed the Josephine School Community Museum. A shed in back of the house housed the printing machinery which was later sold to Professor Gibson (an early principal in Winchester) who owned African American newspaper there.
Robert Hall, who assisted in purchasing land for Josephine City (19th century)
Fanny Massey, who lived adjacent to Saint Mary’s, donated some of her land to the construction of the church. (20th century)
Isaiah “Mike” Brown, Jr., owner of Mr. B’s BBQ (20th century)
George E. Thomas, valet to JFK (mid-20th century)
Emma Weeks, longtime Clarke County educator (20th century)
Nancy Parker, a Free Black woman who lived with her family along North Buckmarsh Street (the same house later owned by Emma Weeks) (19th century)
Charles Henry Slowe, father of Lucy Diggs Slowe (19th century)
G.L.D. Harris, editor and publisher of People’s Journal, Berryville’s African American Newspaper (19th Century) About 15 editions of the paper are displayed the Josephine School Community Museum. A shed in back of the house housed the printing machinery which was later sold to Professor Gibson (an early principal in Winchester) who owned African American newspaper there.
Robert Hall, who assisted in purchasing land for Josephine City (19th century)
Fanny Massey, who lived adjacent to Saint Mary’s, donated some of her land to the construction of the church. (20th century)
