Virginia Department of Historic Resources
(dhr.virginia.gov)
For Immediate Release
October 23, 2024

Contact:
Ivy Tan
Department of Historic Resources
Marketing & Communications Manager
ivy.tan@dhr.virginia.gov
804-482-6445

9 New State Historical Highway Markers Approved

—Markers cover topics in the counties of Orange, Culpeper, Mathews, Dinwiddie, and Westmoreland; in the cities of Richmond and Harrisonburg; and in the towns of Marion and Leesburg—

—Text of each marker reproduced below—

PLEASE NOTE: DHR creates markers not to “honor” their subjects but rather to educate and inform the public about a person, place, or event of regional, state, or national importance. In this regard, erected markers are not memorials.

RICHMOND – The Department of Historic Resources (DHR) has announced nine new historical markers coming to roadsides in Virginia. The markers will recall various topics in the Commonwealth’s history, including the story of how a town in Southwest Virginia became known as the birthplace of modern Mountain Dew; the importance of churches and religion in Virginia communities; and the impact of civil rights litigation in the Commonwealth during the 19th and 20th centuries.

The Virginia Board of Historic Resources approved the markers on September 19, 2024, during its quarterly meeting hosted by DHR.

The town of Marion was dubbed the birthplace of modern Mountain Dew after William H. “Bill” Jones, one of the town’s residents, helped develop the top-selling soda’s famous flavor. Mountain Dew originated as a clear lemon-lime beverage in Knoxville, Tennessee, in the 1940s. Distributors of early versions of the drink included bottlers in Johnson City, Tennessee, and Lumberton, North Carolina. In 1957, Jones became president of Marion’s Tip Corporation, a formulator of flavors for soft drinks. Tip acquired the trademark for Mountain Dew, and Jones refined the soda’s formula circa 1961, in part by conducting taste-tests with Marion residents. Drink sales grew as a result and distribution expanded. The Pepsi-Cola Company bought Tip Corporation in 1964.

Two newly approved markers highlight the significance of churches and religion to Virginians during the late 18th and 19th centuries:

• In Orange County, Baptist ministers Elijah Craig and Aaron Bledsoe organized the North Pamunkey congregation in 1774 as their denomination grew. Craig and Bledsoe had previously been imprisoned for preaching without permission from the Church of England, the established church in the colony of Virginia. Both men as well as others in the community petitioned for religious freedom during the Revolutionary War while also providing support for the patriot cause. James Madison won the political support of several prominent local Baptists, including that of Bledsoe, by promising to secure religious liberty in the 1780s. Bledsoe served as a pastor at North Pamunkey Baptist Church for 32 years. The present church building was completed in the 1850s. Many enslaved people were members of the church before the Civil War but left after Emancipation.

• Formed circa 1850 by 11 free African American Methodists, the original congregation of the Third Street Bethel African Methodist Episcopal (A. M. E.) Church built its sanctuary in the city of Richmond around 1856. In May 1867, the church joined the Virginia Annual Conference of the African Methodist Episcopal Church at its organizational meeting, which was held at the sanctuary in Richmond, and became known as Third Street Bethel. Civic groups, mutual aid societies, and other organizations devoted to civil rights and community uplift met at the church regularly to educate and organize patrons. Maggie L. Walker, the renowned civic leader and first Black woman to establish and become president of a bank in the United States, spoke at the church on August 20, 1901, to announce her plan to start a bank, newspaper, and emporium. In 1975, Third Street Bethel achieved designation on the Virginia Landmarks Register and National Register of Historic Places.

The Board of Historic Resources approved one marker that will highlight early 19th-century Virginia during the nation’s era of expansion:

• Well-recognized members of the Lewis and Clark Expedition to the Pacific Ocean, which occurred from 1803 to 1806, included brothers Joseph Field (d. 1807) and Reubin Field (d. ca. 1822). Both brothers were born in Culpeper County, most likely by 1782, to Abraham and Elizabeth “Betty” Field. In the fall of 1784, the family moved to Jefferson County, located near Louisville in present-day Kentucky, where the brothers grew up. Known as skilled woodsmen and hunters, the Field brothers were among the first three men William Clark recruited for the Expedition. Meriwether Lewis noted in 1807 that the brothers had been “engaged in all the most dangerous and difficult scenes of the voyage, in which they uniformly [acquitted] themselves with much honor.”

Three markers will recall the tragedies that resulted from racial discrimination and violence against Black people in Virginia in the 20th century:

• On July 31, 1902, Charles Craven, a Black man about 25 years old, was lynched in the town of Leesburg. Craven had been accused of murdering a White man. Soon after his arrest, a mob of 300 to 500 men formed outside the jail where he was being held. Fearing violence, the sheriff requested that the governor deploy militia troops to Leesburg. However, before troops could arrive, the mob stormed the jail, overwhelming the deputies, and seized Craven. The mob beat Craven and took him half a mile away from the jail. He was hanged and then shot hundreds of times. Craven proclaimed his innocence until his death. As with most cases of lynching in the Jim Crow South, nobody was ever brought to justice despite many eyewitnesses and several arrests.

• Gwynn’s Island in Mathews County was home to 135 Black residents—17 percent of the population—in 1910. Many of them were landowners. This community likely originated in the 1600s and had its own church and school. However, all Black citizens had left Gwynn’s Island by 1921. While some may have departed for economic reasons, the primary cause of the exodus was the racial tension that resulted after a fight among Black and White men in December 1915. Subsequent threats against Black residents led them to fear for their safety, so they left, selling their property under pressure and losing their community and the institutions they had built. During the Jim Crow era in the 20th century, threats and violence drove many Black families from localities across the country.

• Bruce Tucker, a Black man and the oldest son of Spencer and Emma Tucker, grew up in Dinwiddie County. Tucker suffered a head injury from a fall on May 24, 1968. Doctors at the Medical College of Virginia (later VCU Health) declared him dead the next day. Without the consent or knowledge of his family, surgeons removed Tucker’s heart and kidneys with a medical examiner’s permission and placed his heart into a White man. This was the first cardiac transplant in Virginia and the 16th performed in the world. Tucker’s brother William filed a wrongful-death lawsuit. The jury was instructed to consider the concept of brain death despite its absence from the Code of Virginia. The jury ruled in favor of the defendants in 1972. The following year, the Virginia General Assembly added brain death to the Commonwealth’s legal definition of death. Tucker is buried at Little Bethel Church in Dinwiddie County.

The impact of civil rights litigation in Virginia grounds two forthcoming markers:

• On August 15, 1884, while traveling aboard the steamer Sue from Baltimore to visit family in the Kinsale community of Westmoreland County, four Virginia-born sisters, Martha and Winnie Stewart, Mary Johnson, and Lucy Jones, were denied first-class quarters because they were Black. The sisters filed a lawsuit in federal court with help from the Rev. Harvey Johnson, a civil rights leader and the longtime pastor of Union Baptist Church in Baltimore, contending segregated quarters were illegal and that the Sue’s were unequal. The trial court ruled that segregation was reasonable but gave the sisters $100 each because the quarters were unequal. This ruling was affirmed on appeal. The case was one of many brought by Black women in the late 1800s and became an impetus for the creation of the Mutual United Brotherhood of Liberty, a forerunner of the NAACP.

• In the city of Harrisonburg, the federal judge John Paul issued the first order to desegregate schools in Virginia—ruling in favor of the NAACP in a suit against Charlottesville City Public Schools—in July 1956, two years after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Brown v. Board of Education that racial segregation in the nation’s public schools was unconstitutional. Appeals in this case went on for two years. Paul again sided with the NAACP in a suit against Warren County Public Schools in September 1958. In response to the courts’ decisions, J. Lindsay Almond, the governor of Virginia at the time, closed the schools that were slated to admit the Black student plaintiffs in the two cases. This was the first time that the state used its Massive Resistance laws to shutter public schools. In 1959, the Virginia Supreme Court and a special federal court declared the school closures unconstitutional.

Following the Board of Historic Resources’ approval of the markers, it can take upwards of eight months or more before a new marker is ready for installation. The marker’s sponsor covers the required $3,000 manufacturing expenses for a new sign.

Virginia’s historical highway marker program began in 1927 with installation of the first markers along U.S. Route 1. It is considered the oldest such program in the nation. Currently there are more than 2,600 state markers, mostly maintained by the Virginia Department of Transportation, except in those localities outside of VDOT’s authority.

Full Text of Markers:

(VDOT must approve the proposed location for each sign in its right-of-way; local public works departments must do so in jurisdictions outside VDOT’s authority.)

North Pamunkey Baptist Church
Baptist ministers Elijah Craig and Aaron Bledsoe organized this congregation in 1774 as their denomination grew in VA. Both men had earlier been imprisoned for preaching without permission from the established Church of England. They and others in the community petitioned for religious freedom during the Revolutionary War while also providing support for the patriot cause. Bledsoe, pastor here for 32 years, was one of several prominent local Baptists whose political support James Madison won in the 1780s by promising to secure religious liberty. The present sanctuary was completed in the 1850s. Many enslaved people were members of the church before the Civil War but departed after Emancipation.
Sponsor: North Pamunkey Baptist Church
Locality: Orange County
Proposed Location: 15109 Pamunkey Lane

Field Brothers: Lewis and Clark Expedition
Brothers Joseph Field (d. 1807) and Reubin Field (d. ca. 1822) were highly valued members of the Lewis and Clark Expedition to the Pacific Ocean (1803-1806). Both were born near here, probably by 1782, to Abraham and Elizabeth “Betty” Field. The family relocated to Jefferson County, near Louisville in present-day Kentucky, in the fall of 1784, and the brothers grew to adulthood there. Known as skilled woodsmen and hunters, they were among the first three men William Clark recruited for the Expedition. In 1807, Meriwether Lewis noted that the Field brothers had been “engaged in all the most dangerous and difficult scenes of the voyage, in which they uniformly acquited themselves with much honor.”
Sponsor: Virginia Lewis and Clark Legacy Trail
Locality: Culpeper County
Proposed Location: Intersection of Kelly’s Ford Road (Rte. 674) and Rte. 620

Third Street Bethel A. M. E. Church
This congregation, formed by 11 free African American Methodists ca. 1850, built its sanctuary here ca. 1856. In May 1867, the church joined the Virginia Annual Conference of the African Methodist Episcopal Church at its organizational meeting, held here, and became known as Third Street Bethel. Civic groups, mutual aid societies, and other organizations that were devoted to civil rights and community uplift met at the church regularly to educate and organize. On 20 Aug. 1901, Maggie L. Walker spoke here and announced her plan to establish a bank, newspaper, and emporium. Third Street Bethel was listed on the Virginia Landmarks Register and National Register of Historic Places in 1975.
Sponsor: History Committee, Third Street Bethel
Locality: City of Richmond
Proposed Location: 614 N. Third St.

The Stewart Sisters v. The Steamer Sue
On 15 Aug. 1884, Virginia-born sisters Martha and Winnie Stewart, Mary Johnson, and Lucy Jones were denied first-class quarters because of their race when traveling on the steamer Sue from Baltimore to visit family in Kinsale. With support from the Rev. Harvey Johnson, they filed suit in federal court asserting that segregated quarters were illegal and that the Sue’s were unequal. The trial court’s ruling that segregation was reasonable but giving the sisters $100 each because the quarters were unequal was affirmed on appeal. The case, one of many brought by Black women in the late 1800s, was an impetus for the creation of the Mutual United Brotherhood of Liberty, a forerunner of the NAACP.
Sponsor: Middle Peninsula African-American Genealogical and Historical Society
Locality: Westmoreland County
Proposed Location: 13890 Cople Highway, Kinsale

Charles Craven Lynched, 31 July 1902
Charles Craven, a Black man about 25 years old, was lynched here on 31 July 1902. Accused of murdering a White man, Craven was being held at the Leesburg jail. Soon after his arrest, a mob of 300 to 500 men formed outside the jail. Fearing violence, the sheriff requested that the governor deploy militia troops to Leesburg. Before troops could arrive, the mob stormed the jail, overwhelmed the deputies, seized Craven, beat him, and took him a half-mile to this site, where he was hanged and then shot hundreds of times. Craven proclaimed his innocence until his death. Despite many eyewitnesses and several arrests, no one was ever brought to justice, as with most lynchings in the Jim Crow South.
Sponsor: Loudoun County NAACP
Locality: Town of Leesburg
Proposed Location: North side of East Market Street near the intersection with Catoctin Circle

Black Exodus from Gwynn’s Island
In 1910, Gwynn’s Island was home to 135 Black residents (17 % of the population), many of them landowners. This community, which likely originated in the 1600s, had its own church and school—yet by 1921, all Black citizens had departed. Some may have left for economic reasons, but the primary cause of the exodus was racial tension that followed a Dec. 1915 fight among Black and White men. Subsequent threats against Black residents led them to fear for their safety. They left, selling their property under pressure and losing their community and the institutions they had built. During the Jim Crow era, threats and violence drove many Black families from localities across the U.S.
Sponsor: Mathews County NAACP
Locality: Mathews County
Proposed Location: To be determined

Resilience Amid Resistance
In July 1956, two years after the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Brown v. Board of Education, federal judge John Paul of Harrisonburg issued the first school desegregation order in VA, ruling for the NAACP in a suit against Charlottesville City Public Schools. In Sept. 1958, after two years of appeals in this case, Paul also sided with the NAACP in a suit against Warren Co. Public Schools. In response, Gov. J. Lindsay Almond closed the schools slated to admit the Black student plaintiffs in these two cases. This was the first use of the state’s Massive Resistance laws to shutter public schools. The VA Supreme Court and a special federal court declared the closures unconstitutional in Jan. 1959.
Sponsor: Rocktown History
Locality: City of Harrisonburg
Proposed Location: U.S. District Court, 116 N. Main St.

Birthplace of Modern Mountain Dew
William H. “Bill” Jones of Marion played a pivotal role in the development of Mountain Dew, one of the top-selling sodas in the U.S. The drink originated as a clear lemon-lime beverage in Knoxville, TN, in the 1940s. Bottlers in Johnson City, TN, and Lumberton, NC, were among those who distributed early versions. In 1957 Jones became president of Marion’s Tip Corporation, at 517 N. Main Street. Tip, a formulator of flavors for soft drinks, acquired the trademark for Mountain Dew. After Jones refined the drink’s formula ca. 1961, in part by conducting taste-tests with Marion residents, sales quickly increased and distribution expanded. The Pepsi-Cola Company purchased Tip Corporation in 1964.
Sponsor: Town of Marion
Locality: Town of Marion
Proposed Location: 517 N. Main St.

Bruce Oliver Tucker (1913-1968)
Bruce Tucker, an African American man and oldest son of Spencer and Emma Tucker, grew up near here and is buried at Little Bethel Church. On 24 May 1968, Tucker suffered a head injury from a fall. Physicians at the Medical College of VA (later VCU Health) declared him dead on 25 May. Without the consent or knowledge of Tucker’s family, surgeons removed his heart and kidneys with a medical examiner’s permission and placed his heart into a White man in VA’s first, and the world’s 16th, cardiac transplant. Tucker’s brother William filed a wrongful-death lawsuit; the jury, instructed to consider the concept of brain death despite its absence from the Code of VA, found for the defendants in 1972.
Sponsor: VCU Health System
Locality: Dinwiddie County
Proposed Location: Route 40 (McKenney Hwy) and Route 626 (Flatfoot Road), northeast corner

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