Origins of Green Valley

Origins of Green Valley. . , Green Valley, formerly Nauck, is a traditionally African American neighborhood. Levi Jones first settled in this area and was later joined by other African American families such as Thornton and Selina Gray, William Augustus and Ellen Rowe, and Frank and Mary Williams. These early residents set the foundations of the community after the Civil War. In 1876, John D. Nauck, a German immigrant, subdivided 69 acres to establish the "Town of Nauck, Alexandria County, Virginia." The eventual closing of Freedman's Village led to its residents to migrate to nearby communities such as Green Valley, Johnson's Hill, Arlingtonville, and Holmesville., [Captions:] , Levi Jones was the first African American to own the land in this area. He purchased a 14-acre property in 1844, likely to be closer to Sarah Ann Gardner, his wife, who was enslaved at the nearby Green Valley Manor. The farm consisted of a log cabin and two barns. After Levi's death in 1886, Sarah subdivided the property and conveyed the majority of the land to family., Anthony Fraser and Presha Lee Fraser built Green Valley Manor in 1821 on what is now the Army-Navy Country Club. Fire destroyed the house in 1924., William Augustus Rowe was an early resident. In 1876 he purchased five acres from Sewell Corbett for $500. A former enslaved person (according to family history), Rowe was an active member of Freedmen's Village, leader of the Alexandria County Radical Republicans, and elected to numerous political positions., The arrival of the electric railway (circa 1900) allowed for additional employment opportunities in Rosslyn and Washington, D.C. The expansion of the neighborhood, however, halted as a result of the 1902 Virginia Constitution that restricted the rights of African Americans in Virginia. To accommodate more people, African American landowners began to subdivide their land, but the neighborhood boundaries largely remained unchanged., The issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, led to an influx of African Americans to the region and prompted the establishment of Freedmen's Village by military officials. Freedman's Village, located on what is now Arlington Cemetery, served as one of the first experiences out of bondage for thousands of African Americans. Originally intended as a temporary accommodation for newly freed enslaved persons, the objective of the camp was to provide its residents protection, education, instruction, and employment. Residents continued to live on the property until the turn of the 20th century.