Home page for the St. Louis Village Plan Task Force. This page the names and positions of each members of the Task Force as well as their dates of service in the position. The three Black representatives to the Task Force are Marcus Howard, Laverne Tootie Warner, and Sharon Peterson. Sadly, Marcus Howard passed away at the end of July 2022. His position as the representative from Mt. Zion Baptist Church has stayed vacant since August 2022. The website outlines the goals of the Task Force and provides a link to the Task Force Files page.
Map of the three lots that make up the former Middleburg Preserve II development that had been slated to be built by MOJAX LLC. Lot 596-36-6258 contains the graveyard containing 20 marked graves and over 30 or more unnamed graves of St. Louis residents and enslaved people.
The St. Louis Village Plan is the culmination of over two years work by the St. Louis Village Plan Task Force to shape and direct policy frameworks for the future of the Village.
The Task Force and its draft plan "is the result of community engagement and outreach led by the St. Louis Task Force members that will implement the direction of the Board of Supervisors (Board) to create a policy framework to address land use and infrastructure issues in this rural historic village that has experienced underrepresentation and has reached a critical moment of change."
In the wake of the MP-II and MOJAX incident, the purchase of the land by the Chuck Kuhns-led JK Land Holdings, community-led resistance, and Board of Supervisor action, the St. Louis Village Plan Task Force was brought together to manage growth and preserve the historic nature of the community, while improving infrastructure, water access and quality, and approving proper zoning for the size and nature of the community. Acknowledgement of the county's failures to serve Black community's like St. Louis, and the efforts of Black leadership made this Task Force possible. The plan leaves space for a water feasibility study to be conducted if voted upon by the community. This study is a "technical evaluation and analysis of the potential methods of providing water and/or wastewater solutions to communities, the projected costs, and the extent of work necessary to implement those solutions."
The St. Louis Village Plan will be voted upon in the coming months of Spring 2024.
Map of the impact to the wetlands and water in the Middleburg Preserve cluster development. The document also shows the final development plan set by MOJAX LLC for 30 homes in total, as well as the graveyard inside of the development. MOJAX's plan for the Middleburg Preserve would have had deleterious effects on both the wetland, the community, and the water supply of St. Louis.
Website containing documents, meeting minutes, and audio files for the St. Louis Village Plan Task Force from all task force meetings held between 2022 and 2023.
A chronology of the purchase of the Middleburg Preserve-II property in St. Louis by MOJAX. In this document, the Preservation and Conservation Coalition provide a clear outline of the key events, the missteps, and improper work done MOJAX, as well as the work to resist the development by the community from the period of purchase in 2017 up to its publishing in May 2020. This document also highlights the way in which MOJAX often began work without proper permits, in violation to by right development standards - standards which may give freedom to develop at will as long work falls within guidelines set out by the county, but rely upon having proper permits to begin work. Over the next year and a half following this report MOJAX would eventually seek to sell the property to the County, and later to Chuck Kuhns of JK Land Holdings and JK Movers.
Document that outlines the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors and MOJAX deal to settle MOJAX's land holdings in St. Louis at the Middleburg Preserve II (MP-II) property. MOJAX attempted to secure the Aldie Assemblage Property and have the county buy the MP-II property, in essence trading spaces. This was following the resistance brought forward by residents of St. Louis, and the broader community in opposition to MOJAX's development plan of 9 homes, later to be expanded to 27. The County and MOJAX never reached a deal.
A survey by History Matters of 210 properties that relate to the history of African Americans in Loudoun County, Virginia. Sponsored by the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors & The Black History Committee of the Friends of the Thomas Balch Library, the survey of the 210 properties includes analysis of the different eras in which the properties were built, the themes and lifestyles of the eras, and a description of many of the Black towns, villages, and enclaves in Loudoun. The document provides historiography and background research on communities including St. Louis - however ends its discussions and analysis of Black communities with the end of segregation in the 1960s.
The St. Louis Village Plan's existing conditions report that provides insight into the current status of St. Louis. This report discusses the current challenges St. Louis is facing in water problems, and demographic discussions - which both point to great struggles in water access and changing demographics as suburbanization and development change the community. This report was prepared as part of the St. Louis Village Plan Task Force - formed in response to the communities' experience with and organization against the MOJAX LLC development in their village. This report is a first step process towards conserving the community from further attempts at large scale developments.
Transcript of an audio interview of Sharon Peterson, conducted by Dr. Wendi Manuel-Scott. The interview includes Marcus Howard of St. Louis. Sharon Peterson, Marcus, and Wendi discuss a variety of topics surrounding life in St. Louis, and the experience of living in St. Louis during a time of change.
Important discussions include Sharon Peterson's experience with having to sell land that had become too expensive to continue owning, the experience of shame and remorse for selling family land, and the pain of buying back a small portion for a 1000% increase on the original selling price. Sharon also discusses the experience of growing up without efficient water access and indoor plumbing, and clean water.
Transcript of an audio interview of Laverne Tootie Warner, conducted by Dr. Wendi Manuel-Scott. The interview includes Marcus Howard of St. Louis. Mary Howard, Marcus, and Wendi discuss a variety of topics surrounding life in St. Louis, and the experience of living in St. Louis during a time of change.
Mary Howard, former owner of the land that was later slated to become MP-II by MOJAX, notes the historic problems surrounding water in St. Louis, as well as her youth in St. Louis. She also discusses the interconnections between the Black villages of St. Louis, and the intrinsic ties between the Middleburg Training Course where horse training took place and the Black trainers and workers who helped the course run for decades. This track was recently purchased for conservation by Chuck Kuhns.
Transcript of an audio interview of Laverne Tootie Warner, conducted by Dr. Wendi Manuel-Scott. The interview includes Marcus Howard of St. Louis. Tootie, Marcus and Wendi discuss a variety of topics surrounding life in St. Louis, and the experience of living in St. Louis during a time of change. Important discussions include the slow violence and experience of dispossession that equate to the myth of progress (see transcript below). This is visible through the loss of land under the guise of neo-colonial "discovery" of quality land, after land was once given to formerly enslaved because it was poor quality. Other discussions include Banneker Elementary, and the community members of St. Louis.
Transcript of an audio interview of Cristelle Shorts Hughes, conducted by Dr. Wendi Manuel-Scott. The interview includes Marcus Howard of St. Louis and Mrs. Hughes' daughter Carolyn Grayson. Their interview includes a variety of topics surrounding life in St. Louis, and the experience of growing up in a rural town such as St. Louis. Important discussions are had surrounding the water situation in St. Louis, both in the present and in the past. Mrs. Hughes' experience fetching buckets of water from miles away, off other peoples land, and through driving out of St. Louis points to both the neglect of Loudoun County to not provide clean water systems, but also the displacement in place of a community that had to live with such poor water quality. Mrs. Hughes and her daughter both show their skepticism of what is happening in the MP-II and whether or not they will ever receive public water, believing it will only come when more development comes (72). The interview is a look into the rich history of St. Louis, and the fears of losing a community.
Photographs of Tinner Hill Historic Park, Tinner Hill's monument arch, the historic marker plaque, and the apartment complex formerly containing a Target behind the arch. The stark contrast between the locations across Lee Highway (S Washington St) where the monument arch lies is apparent, Tinner Hill has a secluded feeling, cut off from the developed and commercial lands that lie around it and across from it.
Academic study of Tinner Hill and its history of Civil Rights activism. The research analyzes the same cases of slow violence, exclusionary practices, and structural racism that pushed Tinner Hill and Black Falls Church to organize. Buczkowska et al. provide important research on the history of Tinner Hill and their study is essential reading to understanding the civil rights history of the community, the actors who drove this work, and the location itself.
Article by Ed Henderson II, grandson of E.B. Henderson, on the Black history of Falls Church and Tinner Hill. This article details the history of slow violence, displacement, and structural racism that plagued the Black community in Falls Church for decades, while also highlighting the work done by Tinner Hill, and Falls Church residents to resist attacks on their community.
Article written in a local newsletter about the history of building the Lee Highway, and the impacts it had on Northern Virginia. Page 9 holds an important quote that demonstrates the power of the myth of progress. Quoting Merton E. Church, a real estate agent from Falls Church who wrote to the Washington Post, they state the rise in value of homes, the increases in profits, and the amount of new development along the road due to its construction. Yet, Tinner Hill, who was spllit down the middle by this road experienced few to no economic gains - only displacement in the case of multiple homeowners who were required to leave or move their homes. Page's article also neglects to mention the impact of the road on Tinner Hill.
Document created by the Library of Congress that outlines the location, a short history, and the historic importance of Tinner Hill. This document also contains a list of additional sources - books, academic references, interviews, articles, and maps - that document the history of Black Falls Church, Tinner Hill, and topics involving Tinner Hill and its community's residents. The document also provides a list of historians who have studied the area.
History of the Tinner Hill area ranging from its earliest days to the present. Provides clear insight and background into the community's experiences with retrocession, segregation, civil rights organizing, and Lee Highway.
The THHF website with links to their civil rights history, the historic preservation efforts, and the 100 Years of Black Falls Church archival website (https://research.centerformasonslegacies.com/s/bfc/page/about). An invaluable resource and accessible way to study the history of Tinner Hill, and the impacts of the early 20th century civil rights work of Tinner Hill's residents.
Amendment to the Falls Church City Comprehensive plan to establish the Tinner Hill area as a historic and cultural district. This historic district would be comprised of primarily the area that was designated as Segregation District 1 in the 1917 maps that marked the zones of the 1915 Town Council ordinance. This amendment to the Comprehensive Plan would be honorific, and according to this amendment would not impact zoning, permitting, or taxation. This would continue to honor the legacy of the early Tinner Hill civil rights workers, the remaining Tinner Hill community, and those in the past who worked to maintain Tinner Hill for generations. This proposed amendment was created in part with the Tinner Hill Heritage Foundation, and if passed opens opportunities to promote heritage tourism, implement historic projects, and explore archaeological significance. Hearings on the amendment will continue throughout Spring 2024 before a final vote in May 2024.
Book containing Black Laws passed in the state of Virginia that restricted and endangered Black lives, from the times of early enslavement to the publication of the first edition of the book in 1936. The photographed pages show the law, "Chapter 157", passed in 1912 by the Virginia State Assembly that allowed for localities to pass segregation ordinances. The Town Council of Falls Church was empowered by this law to pass a segregation ordinance, and in 1915 the acted to do so. They note on the 12/14/1914 Town Council meeting minutes that they have the power to pass a segregation ordinance because of this law passed two years prior. This law passed by the state assembly greatly constrained Black communities and Black residents of Virginia greatly until 1917 when segregation zoning was found as unconstitutional by the Supreme Court with Buchanan vs. Warley - though even after, segregation marks geographies to this day due to its enforcement early in the 20th century.
Article written in the Alexandria Gazette covering the process by the CCPL and Falls Church Black community to have the segregation ordinance rejected through the courts, after its passage by the Town Council of Falls Church in early 1915. The Judge decided to hold off on a final decision until they were able to observe the boundary lines which would have segregated white and Black residents of Falls Church. The eight Black plaintiffs who brought the case forward had claimed that the Town of Falls Church's segregation ordinance had "not been prepared in accordance" with the 1912 law passed by the Virginia assembly that allowed for local segregation ordinances. Later that year the Judge would rule in favor of the defendants that the ordinance was in accordance to laws and enforceable.
1969 interview with E.B. Henderson and his wife "Miss Nellie" Henderson. Topics include the creation of the James Lee Elementary school, the work of the NAACP in education in Falls Church and Fairfax County, and general work to improve Black education in Fairfax County by the Henderson's. The table of contents provides a detailed record of when and where the discussions takes place with page numbers.
