State approves historical marker honoring Suffolk’s Belleville community

Among seven new historical markers coming to roadsides in Virginia are signs that will highlight three communities founded by formerly enslaved African Americans after the Civil War, including Suffolk’s Belleville community.

The Virginia Board of Historic Resources approved the markers in June during its quarterly meeting.

The origins of the Belleville community can be traced to 1896, when William Saunders Crowdy, who escaped enslavement during the Civil War, founded the Church of God and Saints of Christ in Kansas. Today, the predominantly African American Judaic community has members and missions in the United States, Jamaica, and Africa.

In 1903, Crowdy bought 40 acres of land in Suffolk. The site became the international headquarters of the church in 1919, and the Belleville community developed around the church in the 1920s.

At the height of its existence, Belleville encompassed more than 700 acres and included a sacred tabernacle, farms, a school, a home for widows and orphans, stores, an electric plant, a music hall and athletic facilities.

The Suffolk marker, proposed for the intersection at Bridge and Townpoint roads will read:

Belleville Community

William Saunders Crowdy (1847-1908), who escaped enslavement during the Civil War, established the Church of God and Saints of Christ, a now predominantly African American Judaic community, in Kansas in 1896. He purchased 40 acres here in 1903 that later formed the nucleus of Belleville, which emerged in the 1920s. Expanding to more than 700 acres at its peak, this self-sufficient community featured a sacred tabernacle, farms, a school, a home for widows and orphans, stores, an electric plant, a music hall, and athletic facilities. In 1919 the site became the international headquarters of the Church of God and Saints of Christ, which has members and missions in the U.S., Jamaica, and Africa.

The two other approved markers honoring communities settled by freed or formerly enslaved African Americans after the Civil War are in Richmond and Cumberland County.

In Cumberland, the Rev. Reuben T. Coleman, born into slavery, became an entrepreneur after the Civil War and established Lucyville, which he named after his daughter. In the 1890s,

In Richmond, emancipated African Americans who settled in the city after the Civil War organized St. John Baptist Church in 1868 and built a sanctuary in 1893 in the neighborhood now known as Washington Park. The Washington Park community included the Market Inn nightclub, which was listed in the Green Book, a guide for Black travelers during Jim Crow.

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. Markers cost $2,880 in manufacturing expenses, paid for by sponsors.

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.

Follow Us