Dec 16, 2024 - News

Abraham Peyton Skipwith's cottage returning to Jackson Ward as historic site

Sabrina Moreno

A rendering showing trees, a garden, and a gray house with a brick foundation — The renderings of the cottage and the community center next to it. Photo: Courtesy of Baskervill

Plans are underway to honor Abraham Peyton Skipwith, Jackson Ward's first known Black homeowner, by rebuilding his cottage into a museum that tells the history of the former "Harlem of the South."

The big picture: The JXN Project, a nonprofit dedicated to preserving Jackson Ward's history, is behind the yearslong push to turn the cottage into a historic site on Bates Street — with the help of local architecture firm Baskervill.

Skipwith's cottage, which he built in the 1790s after buying his freedom, was moved to Goochland in the 1950s when state leaders built a highway through the Ward.
Now a version of it will be headed back to its roots.

Driving the news: Richmond City Council last week OK'd a special use permit allowing the space to be used as a museum and community center with a research lab, library and coworking space, per city documents.

It also awarded the JXN Project $950,000 to go toward reconstruction.
Sesha Joi Moon, the nonprofit's co-founder, told council members they had already raised about $5 million.

What's next: The groundbreaking for what'll be called "JXN Haus" is scheduled for January, Moon said, and the facility is slated to open April 2026.

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Abraham Peyton Skipwith's cottage returning to Jackson Ward as historic site

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