This self-driving tour of the city of Harrisonburg features historic African American sites such as schools, churches, neighborhoods, cemeteries, and businesses and more. The tour starts at Jail Hill and ends at Harriet Tubman Cultural Center and covers a total of 39 sites. A significant portion of the documents important site of the historic Newtwon African American neighborhood in northeast Harrisonburg. We wish to acknowledge and and give a special thanks to the researchers and contributors to this tour: Billo Harper, Sharon Barber, Jennifer Vickers, Monica Robinson. Robin Lyttle, and Taya Whitley for their assistance. Photos courtesy of Robin Lyttle, Jennifer Vickers, Billo Harper unless stated otherwise in captions.
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The Newtown community was Harrisonburg’s historically African American neighborhood. Following emancipation and the Civil War, Harrisonburg's free African American population began to increase steadily from formerly enslaved individuals moving to the city. They settled in the northeast section of the city, once part of the Zirkle's Addition, farmland open to residential development. This area extended from downtown Harrisonburg (East Wolfe Street and Federal Street) to the city's northeast section (East Johnson Street).
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The first lots purchased from Zirkle’s Addition were for the Newtown Cemetery in 1869 by trustees George Hermon, Squire Polland, Jessie Banks, Stephen Hughes, and Harrison Green. Two formerly enslaved black men, Dallard and William Johnson, were among the earlier settlers who purchased land and built homes. More black residents moved into the area and bought lots of Zirkle’s Addition. The new settlement was annexed by Harrisonburg in 1892 and began to be referred to as Newtown. The African American population in Harrisonburg was 997 in 1880 and increased to 1,200 by 1920. Historic black churches, including John Wesley Methodist Church (1865), First Baptist Church (1871), and The United Brethren in Christ Church (Bethel AME Church), were established in the ear in the early years of Newtown. In 1868, a mission school was erected on Rock Street at Blacks. Effinger Street School was built in 1882 for African American children to receive public education, and the school was a center for the community. After almost 60 years of operation, a new school was established in 1939. The Lucy F. Simms School was a hub for the community as it served multiple purposes, such as social events and meetings. Over the years, more homes and businesses sprouted, including a community park and pool. Newtown grew and flourished.
In the 1960s, Newtown suffered destruction and losses. The city of Harrisonburg received funding from the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development for redevelopment through the Housing Act of 1949. The municipality declared eminent domain of homes and businesses in Newtown and forced Black families and business owners to sell and leave their properties. Hundreds of Harrisonburg citizens were displaced. This time would be known as “Project R-4” and included the area bounded by North Main, Broad, Johnson, and Rock streets. Another effort, “Project R-16,” targeted Gay Street to East Elizabeth Street. Harrisonburg Redevelopment and Housing Authority had the authority over these projects. The city classified the low socioeconomic area of Newtown as slums or blighted to justify the urban renewal efforts. It was difficult for families to reestablish themselves, and they may have had to depend on the government for housing support or move away. These drastic changes diminished black entrepreneurship, property ownership, and social life. The original historic First Baptist Church was demolished and rebuilt on Broad Street. Where the Rockingham County Administration Center, Roses department store, 7-Eleven, and the Elizabeth Street parking garage are now was once lined with a vibrant community. The local government was the only benefactor of the seized properties that they then sold to commercial redevelopers instead of public use. The annual tax revenue from the area increased at the expense of pushing the out and back the black neighborhood from downtown Harrisonburg and creating an invisible wall.
An example of the impact of urban renewal is the loss of the home of Henry and Savilla Vickers at 138 East Wolfe Street. The 1930s federal census records show that they lived there with two young professional women who were renting rooms. The pictures below of the front and back of the home Vickers are from the “R4 Project” when workers photographed the properties. The Vickers home was beautiful and in fantastic condition yet demolished with the surrounding homes and businesses. The former house was once located approximately where a parking lot and Gamer Oasis stands today.
As of the September of 2023, local city officials and residents are attempting to reconnect the northeast neighborhood to downtown Harrisonburg. Through grant funding from Smart Growth America and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Community Connectors program aims to help communities across America with transportation and socioeconomic growth hindered by urban renewal projects. Harrisonburg was one of the fifteen cities selected for the grant to repair the harm done by the city. The goal is to establish trust and comfortability with the community members, businesses, and organizations in the northeast neighborhood and undergo projects to benefit the people there.
In the 1960s, Newtown suffered destruction and losses. The city of Harrisonburg received funding from the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development for redevelopment through the Housing Act of 1949. The municipality declared eminent domain of homes and businesses in Newtown and forced Black families and business owners to sell and leave their properties. Hundreds of Harrisonburg citizens were displaced. This time would be known as “Project R-4” and included the area bounded by North Main, Broad, Johnson, and Rock streets. Another effort, “Project R-16,” targeted Gay Street to East Elizabeth Street. Harrisonburg Redevelopment and Housing Authority had the authority over these projects. The city classified the low socioeconomic area of Newtown as slums or blighted to justify the urban renewal efforts. It was difficult for families to reestablish themselves, and they may have had to depend on the government for housing support or move away. These drastic changes diminished black entrepreneurship, property ownership, and social life. The original historic First Baptist Church was demolished and rebuilt on Broad Street. Where the Rockingham County Administration Center, Roses department store, 7-Eleven, and the Elizabeth Street parking garage are now was once lined with a vibrant community. The local government was the only benefactor of the seized properties that they then sold to commercial redevelopers instead of public use. The annual tax revenue from the area increased at the expense of pushing the out and back the black neighborhood from downtown Harrisonburg and creating an invisible wall.
An example of the impact of urban renewal is the loss of the home of Henry and Savilla Vickers at 138 East Wolfe Street. The 1930s federal census records show that they lived there with two young professional women who were renting rooms. The pictures below of the front and back of the home Vickers are from the “R4 Project” when workers photographed the properties. The Vickers home was beautiful and in fantastic condition yet demolished with the surrounding homes and businesses. The former house was once located approximately where a parking lot and Gamer Oasis stands today.
As of the September of 2023, local city officials and residents are attempting to reconnect the northeast neighborhood to downtown Harrisonburg. Through grant funding from Smart Growth America and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Community Connectors program aims to help communities across America with transportation and socioeconomic growth hindered by urban renewal projects. Harrisonburg was one of the fifteen cities selected for the grant to repair the harm done by the city. The goal is to establish trust and comfortability with the community members, businesses, and organizations in the northeast neighborhood and undergo projects to benefit the people there.
Last updated on July 23, 2024
Download a PDF file of the Roots Run Deep Harrisonburg, Virginia booket (1st Ed, 2022) below.
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