Near Gloucester Point in Gloucester County, Virginia — The American South (Mid-Atlantic)

The Irene Morgan Story Begins

Photographed by Devry Becker Jones (CC0), February 26, 2021

1. The Irene Morgan Story Begins Marker

Inscription. On this site stood the Hayes Store Post Office, where Irene Morgan boarded a Greyhound bus on 16 July 1944. Morgan, an African American woman, was returning home to Baltimore, MD, after visiting her mother. About 25 miles north of here, the bus driver ordered her to give up her seat so that white passengers could sit. Refusing to comply, she was arrested and jailed in Saluda, VA. Her case reached the U.S. Supreme Court, which decided in Morgan v. Virginia (1946) that laws requiring segregation of passengers in interstate transportation were unconstitutional. Morgan took her stand 11 years before Rosa Parks in Montgomery, AL.

Erected 2019 by Department of Historic Resources. (Marker Number NW-7.)

Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: African Americans • Civil Rights • Roads & Vehicles • Women. In addition, it is included in the Virginia Department of Historic Resources (DHR) series list. A significant historical date for this entry is July 16, 1944.

Location. 37° 16.581′ N, 76° 30.173′ W. Marker is near Gloucester Point, Virginia, in Gloucester County. It is at the intersection of Hayes Road (County Road 1216) and Hook Road (County Road 1219), on the right when traveling north on Hayes

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Road. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 2425 Hayes Rd, Hayes VA 23072, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is on the Middle Peninsula

and in the Hampton Roads Metropolitan Area.

It is also in the American South,

specifically in the Upper South,

in the Tidewater,

and in the Chesapeake Bay Region.

Globally, it is in the North Atlantic Region,

North America,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture,

one of the original Thirteen Colonies,

one of the Confederate States of America,

and the Antebellum South.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 2 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Battle of the Hook (within shouting distance of this marker); "The Hook" (within shouting distance of this marker); Tarleton's Last Fight (within shouting distance of this marker); 1953 Benthall Peanut Picker (approx. 0.9 miles away); 1920's Farm Equipment (approx. 0.9 miles away); Gloucester Point Chapel (approx. one mile away); Duc de Lauzun and the Battle of the Hook (approx. 1.2 miles away); French Soldiers Killed at the Battle of the Hook (approx. 1.2 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Gloucester Point.

Another marker is no longer nearby. "The Hook" (was within shouting distance of this marker but has been replaced with another marker now near it).

Photographed by Devry Becker Jones (CC0), February 26, 2021

2. The Irene Morgan Story Begins Marker

Hayes Store Post Office Site image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Evan Dwyer, April 11, 2026

3. Hayes Store Post Office Site

Is behind the marker on this corner. The building is gone.

Irene Morgan Exhibit image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Evan Dwyer, August 8, 2025

4. Irene Morgan Exhibit

In the Middlesex County Museum.

Credits. This page was last revised on April 23, 2026. It was originally submitted on March 1, 2021, by Devry Becker Jones of Washington, District of Columbia. This page has been viewed 732 times since then and 67 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on March 1, 2021, by Devry Becker Jones of Washington, District of Columbia. 3, 4. submitted on April 20, 2026, by Evan Dwyer of Richmond, Virginia.