Site Type: Plantation

Historical Significance:

Formerly a plantation owned by Philip St. George Cocke, son of General John Hartwell Cocke of Bremo, Belmead was purchased by Colonel and Mrs. Edward de Vaux Morrell of Philadelphia to establish a school for African American youth. Emphasizing practical skills, Colonel Morrell's approach to education was similar to that of Booker T. Washington. The St. Emma's Industrial and Agricultural School opened in 1895 and admitted only boys of African decent from the South. The first graduate, John Paul Scott, received his diploma in 1899. In its seventy-seven years, the school re-established itself as the St. Emma Military School and graduated 10,000 men. Due to school desegregation, interest in school lessened and the academy closed in 1972. The campus was demolished except the Belmead mansion. It is currently being used as a Catholic high school.

Physical Description:

Former plantation on the James River in Powhatan County. The Belmead mansion was designed in 1845 by New York architect Alexander Jackson Davis.