Dunnsville in Essex County, Virginia — The American South (Mid-Atlantic)

Old Folks Home

Photographed by Bessida Cauthorne White, March 20, 2025

1. Old Folks Home Marker

Inscription. The Woman’s Baptist District Missionary Convention conceived the Old Folks Home in 1894 and opened it here ca. 1909 to care for aged, destitute Black people, some of whom had been enslaved. Under the supervision of a live-in matron and an all-woman trustee board, residents were afforded life essentials as well as burial. Churches, individual donors, and timber sales provided funds for the Home, which operated for about 30 years. The Home exemplified a nationwide social reform that began late in the 1800s as charitable groups, often led by women, founded residences for the indigent elderly as alternatives to public almshouses. Homes serving Black elders coped with the ills of racism and poverty.

Erected 2023 by Department of Historic Resources. (Marker Number O-86.)

Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: African Americans • Cemeteries & Burial Sites • Charity & Public Work • Religion & Religious Structures • Women. A significant historical year for this entry is 1909.

Location. 37° 50.377′ N, 76° 48.167′ W. Marker is in Dunnsville, Virginia, in Essex County. It is on Tidewater

Paid Advertisement

Click or scan to see
this page online

Trail (U.S. 17) 0.2 miles north of Boston Road, on the right when traveling north. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Dunnsville VA 22454, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is on Virginia’s Middle Peninsula.

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 7 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Rappahannock Industrial Academy (here, next to this marker); Site of Rappahannock Industrial Academy (a few steps from this marker); Angel Visit Baptist Church (approx. ¾ mile away); Fort Lowry - Camp Byron (approx. 1.7 miles away); Thomas Washington Lynched (approx. 2.3 miles away); Fort Lowry (approx. 3.8 miles

Old Folks Home and Rappahannock Industrial Academy Markers image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Bessida Cauthorne White, March 20, 2025

2. Old Folks Home and Rappahannock Industrial Academy Markers

away); Mann Meeting House (approx. 4.4 miles away); Essex County Confederate Monument (approx. 6.9 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Dunnsville.

Photographed by Bessida Cauthorne White, March 20, 2025

3. Old Folks Home and Rappahannock Industrial Academy Markers

Credits. This page was last revised on July 24, 2025. It was originally submitted on March 30, 2025, by Bessida Cauthorne White of Jamaica, Virginia. This page has been viewed 491 times since then and 68 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on March 30, 2025, by Bessida Cauthorne White of Jamaica, Virginia. • Bernard Fisher was the editor who published this page.