List of African-American historic places

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The following are a list of African-American historic places.

Background[]

The stories of the contributions, hardships, and aspirations of all American people can be seen in the experiences of African Americans.[1] The places listed below represent the achievements and struggles of African Americans. Visitors to these sites can gain a better understanding of the events and the people of that time. These places connected across time to create an understanding of what happened and why.[2] As historian David McCullough explains in Brave Companions, experiencing places "helps in making contact with those who were there before in other days. It's a way to find them as fellow human beings, as necessary as the digging you do in libraries."[3]

Outline of African-American History[]

This outline has been adapted from other related Wikipedia articles and The Negro Pilgrimage in America by C. Eric Lincoln and Before the Mayflower; A History of the Negro in America; 1619-1964 by Lerone Bennett Jr.

Origins [4]

Main article: African-American history
Old Slave Mart, Charleston, SC

The Negro Pilgrimage in America[4] or the African Past[5] The story of the African Americans begins in Africa. Early histories of Africa considered it the ‘Dark Continent’, both in the sense of the color of its people, but also for its lack of known civilizations. Studies beginning in the 1960s have found a rich history of civilization, including arts, architecture, public thought and major civilizations.[5] The story of African Americans builds from these roots and can be traced through historic sites associated with the slave trade in America:[1]

  • Charlotte Amalie Historic District – Virgin Islands
  • Fairvue - Kentucky
  • The Grange
  • Kingsley Plantation
  • Old Slave Mart – South Carolina


American Revolution [5]

Main article: African Americans in the Revolutionary War

While the term ‘American Revolution’ connotes only the war period (1776–1783), the entire colonial experience is included. Free Negros were present during early campaigns of the war and throughout the war. In March 1770, Crispus Attucks died during the protest that has become known as the Boston Massacre.[5] At the Battle of Bunker Hill, Peter Salem and Salem Poor, two free Negros valiantly served. Salem Poor was commended for his actions that day.[5]


Slavery[4][5]

Main article: Slavery in the United States

For over 200 years, the American system of slavery held four million people of color in bondage.[5] The effect was felt by all the people of the nation, including black, white, yellow, and red. It was premised on a system of racial supremacy that affected the development of the American Negro and the relationships of all American’s with persons of other races.[5]
The first blacks in the new world did not arrive on the slave ship to Jamestown in 1619. Rather, it was Pedro Alonzo Niño, navigator on the Niña the smallest of Christopher Columbus's vessels.[4] From that day, Negros participated in nearly every major Spanish exploration in the new world. and thirty other Negros were with Balboa when they discovered the Pacific Ocean.[4]

Antioch Missionary Baptist Church, Houston TX
  • Antioch Missionary Baptist Church – Richard Allen (organized the AME church)
  • Jean Baptiste Point Du Sable Homesite – Jean Baptiste Point du Sable (1st settler of Chicago)
  • Hacienda Azucarera La Esperanza – Puerto Rico
  • Hawikuh – Estevanico
  • Prince Hall Masonic Temple – Prince Hall (organized 1st Negro Masonic Lodge)

Slave Revolts and Insurrections [5]
In the summer of 1791, Haiti witnessed the first successful slave revolt. This was not the first; it was one in a long series of revolts.[5] Between 1663 and 1864, there were 109 revolts on land and another 55 at sea.[4] Notable early insurrections include the 1712 uprising in New York City and the 1800 attack on Richmond, Virginia. That same year, Denmark Vesey, a free black, planned to seize Charleston, South Carolina, but was foiled when betrayed.[4]

House at John Brown's Farm, North Elba, NY
  • Belmont – Virginia
  • John Brown Farm – John Brown’s birthplace. - New York
  • John Brown House - New York
  • John Brown Headquarters – Headquarters for the Harper’s Ferry Raid
  • Estate Carolina Sugar Plantation
  • Stono River Slave Rebellion – Site of the 1739 Stono Rebellion - South Carolina.


Abolition[4] crisis.
 With the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, the United States gained a huge western dominion. With it, two aspects of American life came into stark comparison. The first was the expansion of slavery across the southern half of the nation, creating a vast agricultural empire based on a large rural workforce. The second was Manifest Destiny, the expansion of a free society westward across the continent.[4] The economic realities in the south precluded the development of a strong abolitionist base, while the lack of slavery among the industrialized north, neither supported nor abhorred the abolitionist cause.[4] By 1835, William Lloyd Garrison had established The Liberator as the nation’s most militant abolitionist newspaper. Over the next 30 years, the north and the south would try to find ways to coexist with two different economic systems and a growing abolitionist movement.[5]

  • Frederick Douglass National Historic Site, Washington, D.C.
    Allen Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church – Terre Haute, Indiana
  • Levi Coffin House – Fountain City, Indiana
  • Frederick Douglass National Historic Site – Washington D.C.
  • Eleutherian College – Lancaster, Indiana
  • Harpers Ferry National Historical Park – West Virginia
  • Little Jerusalem AME Church – Cornwells Heights-Eddington, Pennsylvania
  • William C. Nell House – Boston, Massachusetts
  • Harriet Beecher Stowe House – Brunswick, Maine
  • Liberty Farm – Worcester, Massachusetts
  • Mount Zion United Methodist Church-Washington, D.C.
  • White Horse Farm-Phoenixville, Pennsylvania


Civil War and emancipation[4][5]

Main article: Military history of African Americans in the American Civil War

The American Civil War is often seen as a war between white men over the fate of the black man. From the beginning, the African-American peoples played a significant role in the war.[5] As early as July 1861, three months after Fort Sumter, the United States Congress passed the first Confiscation Act, granting freedom to any slave who had been used to support the Confederate war efforts, once they were behind Union Lines.[4] Quickly General Sherman employed this new manpower in the construction of Union facilities from which to prosecute the war.[4] With the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation on September 22, 1862, the First Regiment Louisiana Heavy Artillery and All Negro unit was founded by General B.F. Butler. The War Department quickly authorized the enlistment of Negro soldier with the founding of the Massachusetts Fifty-Fourth and Fifty-Fifth Infantry Regiments. By the end of the war, there were over 150 all-Negro regiments.[4] On September 29, 1864, the Third Division of the Eighteenth Corp of the Army of the James, moved forward to take the New Market Heights outside Richmond, Virginia. The key role in this advance was given to the ‘all-Negro’ division. By the end of the day, the Union Army would stand on the heights overlooking the city of Richmond with a loss of 584 men and 10 Congressional Medal honorees now in their ranks. This action marked the beginning of the dissolution of the Confederate Government and the end of the war the following April.

  • Robert Gould Shaw Memorial, Boston African American National Historic Site, Boston, MA
    Boston African American National Historic Site – Boston, Massachusetts
  • – Mayfield, Georgia
  • Fort Pillow – Tennessee
  • Goodwill Plantation – Eastover, South Carolina
  • John Mercer Langston House – Oberlin, Ohio
  • – Versailles, Kentucky
  • – Holly Springs, Mississippi
  • Olustee Battlefield – Olustee, Florida
  • Port Hudson – Port Hudson, Louisiana
  • Seaside Plantation-Beaufort, South Carolina
  • Slate Hill Cemetery-Morrisville, Pennsylvania
  • Sulphur Trestle Fort Site – Elkmont, Alabama


Reconstruction [4] and Black Power in Dixie[5]

  • Alcorn State University Historic District – Lorman, Mississippi
  • Barber House – Hopkins, South Carolina
  • Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church – Batesville, Arkansas
  • – Lancaster, Indiana
  • Daufuskie Island Historic District – South Carolina
  • Fair-Rutherford and Rutherford Houses – Columbia, South Carolina
  • Freeman Chapel C.M.E. Church – Hopkinsville, Kentucky
  • Laurel Grove-South Cemetery – Savannah, Georgia
  • – Jefferson City, Missouri
  • -Bastrop, Texas
  • Springfield Baptist Church-Greensboro, Georgia
  • Stone Hall, Atlanta University – Atlanta, Georgia
  • Charles Sumner High School – St. Louis, Missouri
  • Lyman Trumbull House – Alton, Illinois
  • Working Benevolent Temple and Professional Building – Greenville, South Carolina


Segregation [4] and the rise of Jim Crow[5]

See also: Disfranchisement after Reconstruction era


Northern Migration [4]

Main article: Great Migration (African American)
Langston Terrace Dwellings, Washington, D.C.


Expanding Opportunities [4]

  • Alcorn State University Historic District – Lorman, Mississippi
  • Barber House – Hopkins, South Carolina
  • Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church – Batesville, Arkansas
  • Clarksville Historic District – Lancaster, Indiana
  • Daufuskie Island Historic District – South Carolina
  • Fair-Rutherford and Rutherford Houses – Columbia, South Carolina
  • Freeman Chapel C.M.E. Church – Hopkinsville, Kentucky
  • Laurel Grove-South Cemetery – Savannah, Georgia
  • – Jefferson City, Missouri
  • ,-Bastrop, Texas
  • Springfield Baptist Church-Greensboro, Georgia
  • Stone Hall, Atlanta University – Atlanta, Georgia
  • Charles Sumner High School – St. Louis, Missouri
  • Lyman Trumbull House – Alton, Illinois
  • Working Benevolent Temple and Professional Building – Greenville, South Carolina


Civil Rights Movement [4][5]

Martin Luther King Jr.'s Boyhood home, Martin Luther King, Jr., Historic District, Atlanta, GA
Main article: Civil Rights Movement
  • 16th Street Baptist Church - Birmingham, Alabama
  • Agricultural and Technical College of North Carolina Historic District – Greensboro, North Carolina
  • Brown Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church – Selma, Alabama
  • – Montgomery, Alabama
  • Dexter Avenue Baptist Church – Montgomery, Alabama
  • First African Baptist Church – Tuscaloosa, Alabama
  • Martin Luther King, Jr., Historic District – Atlanta, Georgia
  • Lincolnville Historic District – St. Augustine, Florida
  • Little Rock Central High School – Little Rock, Arkansas
  • Malcolm X House Site – Omaha, Nebraska
  • Howard Thurman House-Daytona Beach, Florida
  • Dr. Cyril O. Spann Medical Office- Columbia, South Carolina

Alabama[]

Further information: Category:African-American history of Alabama
16th Street Baptist Church, Birmingham, AL

Arizona[]

  • Phoenix Union Colored High School, Phoenix

Arkansas[]

Little Rock Central High School, Little Rock, AK
Further information: Category:African-American history of Arkansas

California[]

Further information: Category:African-American history of California
  • Allensworth Historic District, Allensworth, CA
    Allensworth Historic District, Allensworth
  • Liberty Hall, Oakland
  • Moses Rodgers House, Stockton
  • Somerville Hotel, Los Angeles
  • , Sonora

Colorado[]

  • Barney L. Ford Building, Denver
  • Justina Ford House, Denver
  • Winks Panorama, Pinecliffe
  • Earl School, a rare example of a building associated with rural African-Americans in Colorado, of a farming homestead colony.

Connecticut[]

Africans who had participated in the slave revolt on La Amistad attended the First Church of Christ, Congregational in Farmington, CT
  • First Church of Christ, Farmington
  • Goffe Street Special School for Colored Children, New Haven
  • Lighthouse Archeological Sites, Barkhamstead
  • Mary and Eliza Freeman Houses, Bridgeport
  • Mather Homestead, Hartford
  • Prudence Crandall House, Canterbury

Delaware[]

Further information: Category:African-American history of Delaware

District of Columbia[]

Main article: List of African-American historic places in the District of Columbia
See also: Category:African-American history in Washington, D.C.

Florida[]

Main article: List of African American historic places in Florida
Further information: Category:African-American history of Florida

Georgia[]

Main article: List of African American historic places in Georgia
Further information: Category:African-American history of Georgia (U.S. state)

Idaho[]

Illinois[]

Ida B. Wells-Barnett House, Chicago, IL
Further information: Category:African-American history of Illinois

Indiana[]

Levi Coffin House in Fountain City, IN was used to hide slaves in the Underground Railroad
Further information: Category:African-American history of Indiana

Iowa[]

Further information: Category:African-American history of Iowa

Kansas[]

Further information: Category:African-American history of Kansas
  • Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site, Topeka, KS
    Nicodemus Historic District, Nicodemus
  • John Brown Cabin. Osawatomie
  • George Washington Carver Homestead Site, Beeler
  • Arkansas Valley lodge No. 21, Prince Hall Masons, Wichita
  • Calvary Baptist, Wichita
  • Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site, Topeka

Kentucky[]

Further information: Category:African-American history of Kentucky

Louisiana[]

Further information: Category:African-American history of Louisiana
  • Congo Square, New Orleans, LA
    Arna Wendell Bontemps House, Alexandria
  • Badin-Roque House, Natchez
  • Canebrake, Ferriday
  • Carter Plantation, Springfield
  • , Shreveport
  • Congo Square, New Orleans
  • Evergreen Plantation, Wallace
  • , New Orleans
  • Holy Rosary Institute, Lafayette
  • James H. Dillard House, New Orleans
  • , Norco
  • Leland College, Baker
  • Magnolia Plantation, Derry
  • , Bermuda
  • McKinley High School, Baton Rouge
  • Melrose Plantation, Melrose
  • Port Hudson, Port Hudson
  • , Scotlandville
  • St. James AME Church, New Orleans
  • St. Joseph Historic District, St. Joseph
  • St. Paul Lutheran Church, Mansura
  • , New Orleans
  • , Kentwood

Maine[]

Maryland[]

Further information: Category:African-American history of Maryland

Massachusetts[]

  • African Meeting House, Boston, MA
    Abiel Smith School, Boston
  • African Meeting House, Boston
  • Black Heritage Trail, Boston
  • Boston African American National Historic Site, Boston
  • Charles Street African Methodist Episcopal Church, Boston
  • John Coburn House, Boston
  • William C. Nell House, Boston
  • John J. Smith House, Boston
  • Maria Baldwin House, Cambridge
  • Howe House, Cambridge
  • William Monroe Trotter House, Dorchester
  • William E.B. Du Bois Boyhood Homesite, Great Barrington
  • Camp Atwater, North Brookfield
  • Paul Cuffe Farm, Westport
  • Liberty Farm, Worcester

Michigan[]

  • Detroit Wall, Detroit, MI
    Idlewild Historic District, Idlewild
  • Breitmeyer-Tobin Building, Detroit
  • Dunbar Hospital, Detroit
  • Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church, Covent, and Rectory, Detroit
  • Second Baptist Church of Detroit, Detroit
  • Ossian H. Sweet House, Detroit
  • The Rainbow Inn, Petoskey
  • Brewster-Wheeler Recreation Center, Detroit
  • Sidney D. Miller Middle School, Detroit
  • Detroit Wall, Detroit
  • Nacirema Club, Detroit
  • New Bethel Baptist Church, Detroit
  • Underground Railroad Living Museum, Detroit
  • Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, Detroit
  • Black Bottom, Detroit

Minnesota[]

  • Harriet Island Pavilion, St. Paul, MN
    Avalon Hotel, Rochester
  • Casiville Bullard House, St. Paul
  • Edward S. Hall House, St. Paul
  • Harriet Island Pavilion, St. Paul
  • Highland Park Tower, St. Paul
  • Holman Field Administration Building, St. Paul
  • Lena O. Smith House, Minneapolis
  • Pilgrim Baptist Church, St. Paul
  • St. Mark’s African Methodist Episcopal Church, Duluth

Mississippi[]

Main article: List of African American historic places in Mississippi

Missouri[]

Main article: List of African American historic places in Missouri

Montana[]

  • Fort Missoula Historic District, Missoula

Nebraska[]

Further information: List of African American historic places in Omaha, Nebraska
Further information: Category:African-American history of Nebraska

Nevada[]

  • Moulin Rouge Hotel, Las Vegas

New Jersey[]

New Mexico[]

  • Hawikuh, Zuni

New York[]

Further information: Category:African-American history of New York (state)
African Burial Ground National Monument, Manhattan, NY
  • 369th Regiment Armory, Manhattan
  • African Burial Ground National Monument, Manhattan
  • Apollo Theater, Manhattan
  • Bethel AME Church and Manse, Huntington
  • Claude McKay Residence, Manhattan
  • Dunbar Apartments, Manhattan
  • Durham Memorial A.M.E. Zion Church, Buffalo
  • Edward Kennedy “Duke” Ellington House, Manhattan
  • Elmendorf Reformed Church, Manhattan, and its newly discovered burial ground at 126th St and Second Avenue
  • Florence Mills House, Manhattan
  • Foster Memorial AME Zion Church, Tarrytown
  • Harlem River Houses, Manhattan
  • Harriet Tubman Home for the Aged, Auburn
  • Houses on Hunterfly Road District, Brooklyn
  • James Weldon Johnson House, Manhattan

North Carolina[]

Main article: List of African American historic places in North Carolina

Ohio[]

, Athens, OH

Oklahoma[]

Further information: Category:African-American history of Oklahoma

Pennsylvania[]

People's Hall in Ercildoun, an abolitionist center
John Brown house in Chambersburg

Puerto Rico[]

  • Hacienda Azucarera La Esperanza, Manati

Rhode Island[]

  • Hard Scrabble, Providence, RI
    Battle of Rhode Island Site, Portsmouth
  • Cato Hill Historic District, Woonsocket
  • Hard Scrabble, Providence
  • Shiloh Baptist Church, Newport
  • Smithville Seminary, Scituate

South Carolina[]

Main article: List of African American historic places in South Carolina
  • Hampton-Pinckney Historic District, Greenville
  • , Edgefield
  • Dr. Cyril O. Spann Medical Office, Columbia

Tennessee[]

Main article:

Texas[]

Main article: List of African American historic places in Texas

Utah[]

  • Trinity AME Church, Salt Lake City

Vermont[]

Virginia[]

Main article:
  • Belmont – Virginia
  • Woodland Cemetery (Richmond, Virginia)
  • Shockoe Hill African Burying Ground (Richmond, Virginia)
  • First African Baptist Church (Richmond, Virginia)
  • Lumpkin's Jail (Richmond, Virginia)
  • Maggie L. Walker National Historic Site (Richmond, Virginia)
  • Jackson Ward (Richmond, Virginia)
  • Sixth Mount Zion Baptist Church (Richmond, Virginia)
  • St. Luke Building (Richmond, Virginia)
  • Hippodrome Theater (Richmond, Virginia)
  • Virginia Union University (Richmond, Virginia)
  • Fourth Baptist Church Richmond, Virginia)
  • Ebenezer Baptist Church (Richmond, Virginia)
  • African Burying Ground (Shockoe Bottom, Richmond, Virginia)

Virgin Islands[]

  • Christiansted Historic District, Christiansted
  • Christiansted National Historic Site, Christiansted
  • Emmaus Moravian Church and Manse, Coral Bay
  • Estate Carolina Sugar Plantation, Coral Bay
  • Estate Neltjeberg, Charlotte Amalie
  • Estate Niesky, Charlotte Amalie
  • Fort Christian, Charlotte Amalie
  • Friedensthal Mission, Christiansted
  • New Herrnhut Moravian Church, Charlotte Amalie

Washington[]

  • Washington Hall (Seattle, Washington)

West Virginia[]

Main article: List of African American historic places in West Virginia
Further information: Category:African-American history of West Virginia
Harpers Ferry, WV

Wisconsin[]

See also[]

  • African-American Heritage Sites
  • List of museums focused on African Americans
  • List of streets named after Martin Luther King, Jr.

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b National Register of Historic Places: African American Historic Places; National Park Service & National Trust for Historic Preservation; The Preservation Press; Washington D.C.; 1994
  2. ^ Teaching with Historic Places Archived May 27, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ McCullogh, David (1992). Brave Companions. New York: Simon & Schuster. p. x. ISBN 978-0-671-79276-3.
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s The Negro Pilgrimage in America: C. Eric Lincoln; Bantam Books, New York; 1967
  5. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Before the Mayflower: A History of the Negro in American 1619-1964; Lerone Bennett, Jr.; Pelican Books; Baltimore, Maryland; 1964

Further reading[]

  • Ballard, Allan; One More Day’s Journey: The Story of a Family and a People; New York; McGraw-Hill, 1984
  • Durham, Philip, and Everettt L. Jones; The Adventures of the Negro Cowboys; New York: Bantam Books, 1969
  • Ferguson, Leland G.; Uncommon Ground: Archeology and Colonial African America; Washington, D.C.; Smithsonian Institution Press, 1992
  • Harley, Sharon, and Rosalyn Terborg-Penn; The Afro-American Woman: Struggles and Images; Port Washington; Kennikat Press; 1978
  • Higgans, Nathan I.; Harlem Renaissance; New York; Oxford University Press; 1971
  • Lyon, Elizabeth A.; Cultural and Ethnic Diversity in Historic Preservation. Information Series, no. 65; Washington D.C.; National Trust for Historic Preservation, 1992.
  • McFeely, William S.; Frederick Douglass; New York; Norton, 1990.
  • National Register of Historic Places: African American Historic Places; National Park Service & National Trust for Historic Preservation; The Preservation Press; Washington D.C.; 1994
  • Painter, Nell Irvin; Exodusters: Black Migration to Kansas after Reconstruction; New York; Norton; 1976
  • Reynolds, Gary A. and beryl Wright; Against the Odds: African American Artists and the Harmon Foundation. Newark, New Jersey; The Newark Museum, 1989
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