Virginia Department of Historic Resources
(dhr.virginia.gov)
For Immediate Release
March 25, 2025

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

State Historical Marker to Be Dedicated for Old Folks Home in Essex County

—The Old Folks Home represented a nationwide trend of social reform that began in the late 1800s in which charitable groups, often led by women, established residences for the indigent elderly as alternatives to public almshouses—

—Text of 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 – A state historical marker approved by the Virginia Department of Historic Resources (DHR) will be unveiled this weekend for The Old Folks Home, a facility in Essex County that offered care and boarding for poor, elderly Black people in the early 1900s for about 30 years.

The dedication ceremony for the marker will be held Saturday, March 29, starting at noon, at the marker’s location across Route 17 from 28882 Tidewater Trail in Dunnsville, Virginia (22454). Limited roadside parking will be available at the dedication site. Guests may also find parking at Angel Visit Baptist Church on 29566 Tidewater Trail, which is less than a mile away from the dedication site. Free shuttle service is available from the church to the dedication site beginning at 11 a.m. This event is free and open to the public.

The dedication program will begin with an invocation led by the Reverend Dr. Maurice Dabney Finney, a descendant of a founding trustee of The Old Folks Home, followed by a statement of occasion delivered by Bessida Cauthorne White, chair of the Old Folks Home Highway Marker Initiative, and the pouring of libation led by both the Reverend Dr. Ella Harris Johnson, second vice moderator at the Southside Rappahannock Baptist Association, and Alexandria Hunt-Quarles, president of the State Youth Ministry of the Baptist General Convention of Virginia. Cherie Harris, president of the Southside Rappahannock Baptist Association Women’s Ministry, and the Reverend Dr. Griselda Amy Bayton, first vice president of the Baptist General Convention of Virginia, will offer greetings. The Reverend Dr. Carla E. Lightfoot, moderator of the Southside Rappahannock Baptist Association, will preside over the dedication. Also scheduled to speak are the Reverend Dr. Leonard Edloe, pastor of New Hope Fellowship in Hartfield; Martin Townes, deputy butler at the Executive Mansion of Virginia and a member of the Virginia Board of Historic Resources; and the Reverend Dr. Barbara A. F. Brehon, immediate past moderator of the Southside Rappahannock Baptist Association. Descendants of the seven founding trustees of The Old Folks Home and descendants of six later trustees are expected to be in attendance at the ceremony and will lead the unveiling of the marker. A post-dedication public reception will take place at Angel Visit Baptist Church, located at 29566 Tidewater Trail in Dunnsville.

The Woman’s Baptist District Missionary Convention opened The Old Folks Home in Essex County circa 1909 to provide care for impoverished elderly Black people, some of whom had been enslaved. Supervised by a live-in matron and a trustee board made up of all women, The Old Folks Home offered its residents life essentials as well as burial services. Funded by churches, individual donors, and timber sales, the Home operated for approximately 30 years. It exemplified a nationwide social reform that began in the late 1800s in which charitable groups, often led by women, established residences for the indigent elderly as alternatives to public almshouses. During its years of operation, The Old Folks Home—like other residences for senior Black people—experienced the effects of racism and poverty.

The Virginia Board of Historic Resources, which is authorized to designate new state historical markers, approved the manufacture and installation of the Old Folks Home historical marker in December 2023. The marker’s sponsor, the Southside Rappahannock Baptist Association, covered its manufacturing cost.

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 Marker:

The Old Folks Home

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 do-nors, 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.

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