About Jackson Ward

Jackson Ward’s origins date back to the late 1700s, when the land comprising the larger Jackson Ward neighborhood was annexed by the City of Richmond from Henrico County. During Reconstruction after the Civil War, freed slaves began moving into Jackson Ward.   

In 1871, the area was named Jackson Ward when it became a new sixth voting ward. It included a majority of Richmond’s African American population.  

By the early 20th Century, Jackson Ward was one of the most active and well-known centers of African-American life in United States. Known as “The Harlem of the South,” it was Richmond’s epicenter of Black-owned businesses, banks, clubs, and commercial and social institutions that supported a neighborhood of churches, theaters, hotels, clubs and restaurants.  

Jackson Ward’s prosperity changed in the 1950s when construction of the Richmond-Petersburg Turnpike – today the Interstate 95-64 interchange – split the north and south portions of Jackson Ward. This divide continues to present challenges for growth, economics and culture in Jackson Ward.