Belvedere in Charlottesville in Albemarle County, Virginia — The American South (Mid-Atlantic)
Free State
Photographed by Devry Becker Jones (CC0), April 9, 2021
1. Free State Marker
Inscription.
Free State, a community of free African Americans, stood here. Its nucleus was a 224-acre tract that Amy Farrow, a free black woman, purchased in 1788. Her son Zachariah Bowles lived here and married Critta Hemings of Monticello, an older sister of Sally Hemings. Free State residents farmed and practiced trades, accumulated personal property, and did business with local whites. The small community expanded after the Civil War and by the early 20th century was home to the Free State Colored School and the Central Relief Association, a local benevolent society.
Free State, a community of free African Americans, stood here. Its nucleus was a 224-acre tract that Amy Farrow, a free black woman, purchased in 1788. Her son Zachariah Bowles lived here and married Critta Hemings of Monticello, an older sister of Sally Hemings. Free State residents farmed and practiced trades, accumulated personal property, and did business with local whites. The small community expanded after the Civil War and by the early 20th century was home to the Free State Colored School and the Central Relief Association, a local benevolent society.
Erected 2014 by Department of Historic Resources. (Marker Number G-5.)
Location. 38° 4.32′ N, 78° 27.671′ W. Marker is in Charlottesville, Virginia, in Albemarle County. It is in Belvedere. It is on Belvedere Boulevard 0.1 miles east of Belvedere Place, on the right when traveling east. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 880 Belvedere Boulevard, Charlottesville VA 22901, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in the Piedmont and in Central Virginia. It is also in the American South and specifically in the Upper South. 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.
Photographed by Devry Becker Jones (CC0), April 9, 2021
2. Free State Marker
Credits. This page was last revised on October 28, 2024. It was originally submitted on April 11, 2021, by Devry Becker Jones of Washington, District of Columbia. This page has been viewed 1,586 times since then and 80 times this year. Photos:1, 2. submitted on April 11, 2021, by Devry Becker Jones of Washington, District of Columbia.
