Ashcake Road at Egypt Road and surrounding area, Hanover County
African Americans formed community in this area, just south of Ashland, VA and now bisected by the interstate 95 corridor, following the Civil War.
Residents linked their farms and homes via a network of trails that also connected Brown Grove Baptist Church (9328 Ashcake Road) and local stores. Formerly a plantation, the community grew into a self-sufficient agricultural community settled by freed people in the late 19th century. It became a middle-class residential area in the 20th century.
The community has faced a number of threats over the years. Like Richmond’s Jackson Ward neighborhood 15 miles to the south, the building of interstate 95 in the 1950s physically divided the Brown Grove community. The building of a small municipal airport in the 1970s further encroached on the community, as did the opening of a landfill and a concrete mixing plant. Most recently, the community battled a 1.7 million square foot distribution center by grocery giant Wegman’s.
The distribution center would lead to a number of negative factors for surrounding community members, including noise, light, air, and water pollution. By Wegman’s own estimates, an increase of nearly 3,000 vehicle trips daily would take place on the community’s two-lane roads. In response to this proposed development, resident Kimberlyn Harris-Washington told TAG24: “Where do Black people live? Where do Black people establish a community if you’re constantly putting stuff in there to endanger our lives?”
To better combat long-term threats of encroachment, the Brown Grove Preservation Group formed in 2019. Due to its work, the state recognized the Brown Grove Rural Historic District in 2021. It is only the second historical rural district designation in the state. Ostensibly, such a designation will help residents better preserve their community against future development plans.
Despite sustained community opposition, the Wegman’s distribution center is mostly built and set to open soon. However, the community recently won two victories. First, it stopped the expansion of a local landfill. Second, the Supreme Court of Virginia awarded residents the right to legally challenge zoning decisions that impact them, a right that Hanover’s Circuit Court had denied them in 2020 when opposition to Wegman’s initially coalesced.
To learn more:
- Virginia Dept of Historic Resources, “Brown Grove Rural Historic District” https://www.dhr.virginia.gov/historic-registers/042-5802/
- Bob Lewis, “It Didn’t Have to Be This Way, Wegmans” Virginia Mercury, March 28, 2023.
- C. Suarez Rojas, “Virginia Residents Worry for Black Community’s Future” Washington Post, July 26, 2020.
- Sean Yoes, “Our Community is Being Wiped Out” Afro News, March 10, 2022.