Planned Destruction

A brief history on land ownership, valuation and development in the City of Richmond and the maps used to destroy black communities

LaToya Gray-Sparks

Drawing on primarily government sources and maps created by Harland Bartholomew, this story map tells the story of the devaluation and destruction of neighborhoods in Downtown Richmond, Virginia through comprehensive plan. This is just the beginning of a larger project which will explore urban renewal's destructive impact on the African American community as well as document the many victims of displacement in the former capital of the Confederacy.

It is the author's goal to use GIS software to digitally reconstruct and repopulate Richmond's lost communities in an effort to document and preserve a part of African American history in Richmond that has been forgotten. Thank you for your interest and stay tuned!

It All Started with a Plan...

Harland Bartholomew, an urban planner, was hired by the City of Richmond, Virginia during the period of the 1930s-1940s to create the first comprehensive plan for the city.

Bartholomew had completed comprehensive plans for the cities of St. Louis, Missouri; Memphis, Tennessee; and Louisville, Kentucky as well as many other locations across the United States.

According to The Racist History of Zoning Laws by Michael H. Wilson, Bartholomew denigrated African Americans and suggested that the races be separated to protect “… neighborhood property values .”

Bartholomew's planning projects laid the foundation for “urban renewal” in the United States. This process was also known as "Negro Removal" by those who were displaced from their communities during the period.

Bartholomew's Maps

01 / 06

To carry out its work, Bartholomew's consulting firm, Harland Bartholomew & Associates, created a series of maps of the City of Richmond to reflect the city's population as well as other patterns. This map displays population density in Richmond during the 1940s.

This is a map from 1934 which focuses precisely on the locations where African Americans resided within the City of Richmond.

This is a map displaying existing development in the Downtown Richmond area. The buildings in the blue square represent residential buildings.

This maps represents the types of property ownership in Downtown Richmond during the 1940s. Note the number of properties that were privately owned in the Downtown area.

This is a map of the Assessed Valuation of properties in Downtown Richmond in the 1940s. The properties north of Broad street (where predominantly African Americans lived) were assessed at lower rates.

Bartholomew's planning Maps in conjunction with the Home Owners Loan Corporation ( HOLC) Redlining Maps would establish the foundation for the properties and spaces that African Americans owned and occupied being devalued and determined to be eligible for "slum clearance."

The Communities Destroyed by Bartholomew

While Harland Bartholomew labeled the places that African Americans lived to be blighted and obsolete, those living in those spaces would argue otherwise. Despite the constraints of Jim Crow laws and discriminatory housing and lending practices, African Americans built and created a thriving community in the Downtown Richmond area.

01 / 04

In an area that is now designated as a "food desert", a plethora of grocery markets existed.

Areas declared to be blighted and therefore slated for demolition were actually vibrant communities.

Places which were "lacking in character and blighted" per Bartholomew were nevertheless homes to hundreds of people.

This community even had its own citizens engaged in public safety.

Bartholomew's Legacy

The City of Richmond today operates as Two Richmonds in accordance to the boundaries created by Bartholomew decades ago, which is Bartholomew's legacy.This is a map of the black population in the City of Richmond.

Conversely, this is a map of the white population in Richmond.

This map displays the current poverty rates in the City of Richmond.

This is a map of the assessed valuation of properties in Richmond, Virginia. Notice how the values today are nearly identical to the red lined boundaries established years ago.

This is the median household income in the City of Richmond.

I just remember it as a really warm community, where everybody wanted to know your accomplishments...[a] very nurturing community.” - Faithe Norrell, Former resident of Navy Hill

A Map of the Displaced

This map is representative of the people, places, businesses and organization that existed in the Downtown Richmond areas declared to be “obsolete" and "blighted". The victims were unjustly deprived of so much and the damage has impacted generations of African Americans. Sadly, much of the property that the city took from African Americans during the urban renewal period has been under-utilized with an ever decreasing valuation. The City is currently working on a redevelopment plan for the Downtown area which presently does not include any restorative actions for the communities displaced from the area.

The people and places displaced from Downtown Richmond

Thank you for taking the time to view this story map. Comprehensive plans matter. The comprehensive plan created and implemented during the 1930s-40s has had a catastrophic impact on the African American community in the former capital of the Confederacy. African Americans were impacted financially as well as politically, since Downtown Richmond was a strong voting bloc for African Americans. The devastation was premeditated and deliberate and has resulted in concentrated poverty (and concentrated wealth), inaccessibility to housing, educational and wealth generating opportunities and the lives of African Americans being cut drastically compared to their neighbors in other areas of the city (sometimes only blocks away from each other).

Mr. Bartholomew had the platform to create and destroy spaces. Urban planners today should learn from Bartholomew's mistakes and work to create more equitable and restorative urban designs.

For those of you living, working or who just love the City of Richmond, if you are not yet involved or reviewed the City of Richmond's Draft Master Plan , then please do so. City plans are only as good as the people who shape and create them. Thank you for your time and consideration.