Site Type: Invisible History

Historical Significance:

Black Rosemont or “Colored Rosemont” was one of several African-American neighborhoods settled on the periphery of Alexandria in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The area consisted of about four square blocks in the northwest corner of town. The name of the neighborhood may have referred to the white streetcar suburb of Rosemont located, literally, on the other side of the tracks.

The houses in Black Rosemont were for the most part individually owned, one or two stories high, and constructed in a cottage or bungalow style. Some older cottages are still visible on the 600 and 700 blocks of North West Street. Several black-owned businesses, including grocery stores, were also established in the neighborhood. Because of Jim Crow laws and pervasive racial discrimination, blacks shopped at stores owned by African-American entrepreneurs. Many neighborhoods developed thriving retail strips.

In 1950, the Parker-Gray High School, a segregated school for black students, was built in Black Rosemont at 1207 Madison St. After 1965, the building became the Parker-Gray Middle School until 1979. In the early 1980s the building was demolished, but a plaque marks its location.

During the 1950s and 1960s, the government seized the houses of many Rosemont residents to construct public housing in the area.

Physical Description:

The houses in the neighborhood were for the most part individually owned, one or two stories high, and constructed in a cottage or bungalow style. The neighborhood is bounded on its west side by no t Street, on the north side by Madison Street, on the south side by Pendleton Street, and on the east side by North Fayette Street. Some cottages are still visible on the 600 and 700 blocks of North West Street.