5001 Williamsburg Ave., Richmond
Community members and city leaders held a groundbreaking ceremony for the Historic Fulton Memorial Park in summer 2020.
The park represents a years-long effort by residents to both document and preserve the history of Fulton while also increasing city investment in the neighborhood to benefit both current and future residents.
Fulton lies in the far east end of Richmond and today includes suburban style family homes adjacent to a brewery, an industrial park, and factory infrastructure recently redeveloped into luxury housing. The African American community of Fulton once flourished here but since the 1970s, it has experienced waves of urban removal and development as a result of partnerships between private developers and the Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority (RRHA).
Hailed by the Richmond Times-Dispatch as “the Birthplace of Richmond,” Fulton was a seat of power for paramount chief Powhatan prior to English colonization. It was one of the first communities that African Americans established after emancipation; it contained grocery stores, barber shops, churches, and community centers. Samuel Gravely, the U.S. Navy’s first Black Admiral, lived here and today, a neighborhood road bears his name. Residents built deep intergenerational relationships as they established a self-sustaining community.
In the 1930s, as a result of redlining, many African American communities, including Fulton, could not access private or public funds for infrastructure improvements and homeownership programs. In 1967, RRHA conducted a survey of the neighborhood, calling Fulton “a slum, the worst in Richmond,” priming it for urban “renewal” efforts. Residents led by William Henderson developed an alternate plan to demolition, creating the Fulton Ad-Hoc Committee. RRHA espoused a commitment to work alongside residents, but in 1972, local policy makers accelerated this effort after the neighborhood flooded.
Rising Mt. Zion, a prominent African American church, rested among the neighborhood’s 850 homes and 2,900 residents. After conducting their final service at their Fulton location at 800 Denby Street in October 1977, they formed a hundreds-car long motorcade to their new church in nearby Henrico County. Concerned about the wellbeing of the church, the leadership hired Spencer E. Jones III to watch over it. A committed community activist and Fulton resident, Jones noted: “Where you grew up, whether it was Wisconsin [street], Norfolk [street], Maine [street], you had houses all around you. Visualize…sitting on the porch and just watching the community disappear in front of your very eyes.” After a protracted legal battle, the city destroyed Mr. Jones’ residence, home to at least three generations of his family, the last in the neighborhood to be razed. While rendering his decision, Judge D. Dortch Warriner blasted RRHA’s action: “[Fulton residents] were afraid you were going to destroy [Fulton] and they were right…There was a community. There isn’t one anymore.”
Fulton continues to celebrate a rich tradition of organizing. The Greater Fulton Civic Association thrives, and in recent years, residents have implemented initiatives to establish a community center, complete an oral history project, and create a memorial park. Freda Johnson, a former Fulton resident, coordinated the Fulton Oral History Project to help preserve the neighborhood’s history. She recalls: “As a child, I watched my grandmother and neighbors in Historic Fulton fight and protest injustices in the late 60s and 70s. In 2012, I joined meetings held in the community…It was truly rewarding learning of our community and its people, from its people. We put together a prominent piece of history for generations to come. It was done in truth. It was a joy. Newspapers, books, and magazines claim Fulton was a horrible place to live. The interviews proved otherwise.” Historic Fulton Memorial Park is the latest result of the community’s efforts to preserve and steward their neighborhood for future generations.
To learn more:
- Historic Fulton Oral History Project: https://digital.library.vcu.edu/islandora/object/vcu%3Aful
- Campbell, Benjamin. Richmond’s Unhealed History. Richmond: Brandylane, 2012.
- Richardson, Selden. Built by Blacks: African American Architecture and Neighborhoods in Richmond. Mt. Pleasant, SC: History Press. 2008.
- Komp, Catherine. “Indelible Roots: Historic Fulton and Urban Renewal.” VPM. July 21, 2016.
Image: Admiral Gravely Blvd in Fulton, 2020. Credit: Kim Lee Schmidt