A Tour of Scottsville - A Juneteenth Celebration!

Dear Friends: We're very pleased to invite you to join Preservation Piedmont for a tour of Scottsville on Saturday, June 24. This is part of a week of events in honor of Juneteenth in Southern Albemarle.

*  10:00AM: Meet at Union Baptist Church, 275 Hardware Street Extended to learn of the history of this African-American congregation that was formed right after the Civil War ended. The brief presentation will also mention the adjacent cemetery.  Several prominent African-Americans are buried there including Marguerite Ross Barnett, the first African-American Female President of a major university in the United States. * 10:45AM: Reconstruction: The Church & School Connection.  It's walking distance down to the former Washington/Rosenwald Segregated Negro School that is now a personal residence.  Architectural historian, Jody Lahendro, has surveyed and researched this structure thoroughly at Fisk University's Special Collections Library and documented its date of origin in addition to its community funding. *11:30AM:  View the historical marker of Minerva Bell Lewis placed in the parking lot of the Scottsville Farmers Market last June 2022.  Her family was the first African-American retail establishment in the Town of Scottsville during the reconstruction era. *12:00PM:  The tour will conclude at the Scottsville Museum where there is a special collection of historical artifacts related to the Scottsville, Esmont and Southern Albemarle African-American history. *12:30PM: Enjoy lunch in downtown Scottsville! Hope you can join us! Earlier in the week on Wednesday, June 21, from 3-8 p.m., the annual James River Batteau Festival makes a stop in Scottsville. The highlight is the afternoon arrival (subject to weather and river conditions) of a flotilla of 15-20 historic replica, hand-crafted  wooden, flat-bottomed, poled boats that were once used to carry tobacco, grain, other goods, and passengers on the James River.  There are traditionally several activities along the river bank including music, food and fun!