On August 24th, the Prince William Conservation Alliance hosted a virtual event called ‘Hidden in Plain Sight.’ It was hosted by Joyce Hudson a member of the Alliance to Save Carver Road.

The Facebook description for the event stated “There is a unique community tucked into a corner of Gainesville along Route 29 that you probably aren’t aware of. Formerly one of Northern Virginia’s most significant, most stable Black communities, the “Settlement” is where freed slaves “settled” after Emancipation and where their descendants continue to live today, in an area surrounding Carver Road.”

Hudson began the event by saying “we are committed to preserving our community and its history.” This set the tone for the context of the work they are doing.

Describing the history of the area, Hudson explained “It’s one of the few areas where freed slaves were allowed to buy land and settle immediately after the emancipation in 1865 and what makes it really unique is that the descendants still live there today.”

Deacon Henry Peterson, Chair of Mount Pleasant Church Board of Trustees spoke about the Mount Pleasant Baptist Church and how “in the Black community, the church has always been the center of the community.” Unfortunately “In August of 2012 Mount Pleasant was the victim of an arson fire.” Thankfully “The county has allowed us to rebuild Mount Pleasant. . .we’re still in the process of raising funds to rebuild our church.”

Another hardship hit the area when “in 2017 Carver road was selected for Dominion’s high voltage power lines to serve Amazon.” Once residents and community members found out “we sprang to life, we organized, we formed the ‘Alliance to Save Carve Road’ to oppose the power lines in our wonderful community. We didn’t have a lot of resources. We tried everything to raise awareness. And we got support. We got a lot of support from just about everyone. So we didn’t have resources but we did have a voice and we used our voice so we used our voice.”

Ultimately they “successfully fought off Dominion Energy.” Only to face a new challenge, “the county is proposing to destroy our community, our settlement,” the Route 29 small area plan.

Prince William County government states that “This small area plan is an update to a portion of the existing I-66/Route 29 Sector Plan, which is a plan to address the specific land use needs and opportunities near the I-66 and U.S. Route 29 interchange. A small area plan offers an opportunity to revisit the existing plan for this area and establish a small area plan with a single vision and implementation plan with actionable steps toward coordinating existing and planned development to this gateway to the County.”

There are several development options, detailed in the slide below. Of most concern is Option B, which “would destroy the community” by removing “many houses” in order to widen the road, according to Hudson.

As a result of the attention the settlement has received from countering Dominion Energy, “the county wanted to look more into the history of the settlement and document it” leading to designation of “historic sites and historic districts based on research that was being done” says Hudson. Decisions about the area plan have been put on hold until the completion of the study.

Hudson summarizes the goal of the organization as “We want to protect and preserve the Settlement.” She also says “We feel that the residents should have a significant voice in what’s done here.”

When speaking with the Alliance to Save Carver Road after the even they said “We are thankful for the outpouring of support for our efforts to preserve the history of our community and highlight this unique asset within Prince William County.”