Jackson Ward

1807-Present

Jackson Ward, The Harlem of the South

As a center for both black commerce and entertainment, Jackson Ward was also called the “Harlem of the South”. Venues along “The Deuce” (2nd Street) such as the Hippodrome Theater were frequented by the likes of Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Bill “Bojangles” Robinson, Lena Horne, Cab Calloway, Billie Holiday, Nat King Cole, James Brown and other “Chitlin” circuit performers, as they were known then. The area quickly became the largest African American community in Richmond.The people of Jackson Ward in the early 20th century created a self-sustaining economy that made the area famous as the “Black Wall Street” of Virginia, alive with restaurants, theaters, and clubs. The area was a center for black enterprise and entertainment from the early 1920’s to the late 1940’s.

Sources (https://www.nps.gov, www.hjwa.org, wikipedia.com)