Virginia’s most threatened historic places for 2023: Norfolk’s Maury High, Hampton house, Chesapeake Bay sites and more

For National Historic Preservation Month, Richmond-based Preservation Virginia has released its list of historic places that face imminent or sustained threats.

The annual list, which has highlighted 170 sites so far, encourages groups, residents, and local and state governments to find ways to save the buildings or locations. The program has been successful in preserving many of the historic places, according to a news release from Preservation Virginia. Only 10% of the sites listed so far have been lost to demolition or neglect.

”Historic places are at the forefront of debates about the environment, affordable housing and smart growth,” said Elizabeth S. Kostelny, Preservation Virginia CEO, in the release. “We need to work together to address these issues while preserving locations that still have so much to teach about our collective past and present. Once a historic place is demolished, it’s gone forever.”

Virginia’s Most Endangered Historic Places for 2023:

Last headquarters of the Virginia Federation of Colored Women’s Clubs, Hampton

This circa 1925 building served as the last headquarters of the Virginia Federation of Colored Women’s Clubs, which formed around the turn of the century to knit together the state’s African American women’s groups that were working to address the needs of women and children. The home was bought in recent years by the Barrett-Peake Heritage Foundation and the foundation completed a partial rehabilitation. It needs support and funding so it can be a center for educating the public about the Virginia Federation of Colored Women’s Clubs and its founder, Janie Porter Barrett.

Dwellings of enslaved people: statewide

Such dwellings embody the history of slavery and its legacies of racism and oppression. Once widespread, few survive because of weather, deferred maintenance, development and the lack of money for maintenance. Preserving and interpreting slave dwellings with descendants’ communities could help educate the public about the lives of enslaved individuals and provide a meaningful place for conversation and healing.

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African American watermen sites of the Chesapeake Bay: regional listing

African American watermen have been living and working on the Chesapeake Bay since the 1600s. A project to document resources associated with these watermen identified many important sites including shucking houses, marinas, boat-building facilities and blacksmith shops. While some sites are still in use and in good condition, many are vacant and in disrepair. They are vulnerable to redevelopment, recurrent flooding and sea level rise. Few have any zoning or other protections.

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Historic high schools including Maury High School in Norfolk, the Moore Street School in Richmond, Thirteen Acres School in Richmond and the Peabody-Williams School in Petersburg.

Since the Most Endangered Historic Sites program began more than 20 years ago, school buildings of all types have been listed, indicating an ongoing issue with how localities deal with historic schools. The four listed this year face challenges mainly because of deferred maintenance. Whether to renovate or raze and rebuild Maury High has become a controversial topic facing the Norfolk School Board.

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Chapman Beverly Mill, Prince William County

Located in Prince William County’s Rural Crescent, this mill from the 18th or 19th century was heavily damaged in 1998 by arson. The Turn the Mill Around campaign began to stabilize the mill and provide public access, but more support and money is needed.

The Town of Potomac Historic District, Alexandria

The Town of Potomac Historic District in Alexandria was formed to recognize the early 20th-century suburban commuter neighborhood. In recent years, however, about 75 buildings there have been demolished, in part because a lack of protections lets homeowners replace the homes with new, “often outsized and out-of-character” houses, the release said. Creative solutions are needed to provide more space for homeowners while maintaining the character of the district.

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Willa Cather birthplace, Frederick County

Famed American fiction writer and Pulitzer Prize winner Willa Cather was born in an early 19th-century log and frame house in Frederick County. Compared to the nearby Cather family home Willow Shade, or her home in Red Cloud, Nebraska, her birthplace has received little recognition. The house, which was recently sold, is in poor condition and needs immediate evaluation and stabilization.

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Bristoe Station battlefield

Added to the list in 2014, the Bristoe Station Battlefield Park in Prince William County is facing new threats from a development proposal. The hope is that a compromise could be met to at least modify the site plan to preserve a significant part of the battlefield so it can be added to already preserved battlefield land for education and public enjoyment.