A state historical marker approved by the Virginia Department of Historic Resources will be unveiled at noon Saturday for The Old Folks Home, a facility in Essex County that offered care and boarding for poor, elderly African Americans in the early 1900s.
The dedication ceremony for the marker will be held at the marker’s location across Route 17 from 28882 Tidewater Trail, Limited roadside parking will be available at the dedication site. Guests may also find parking at Angel Visit Baptist Church at 29566 Tidewater Trail, which is less than a mile away from the dedication site. Free shuttle service is available from the church to the site beginning at 11 a.m. This event is free and open to the public.
The Woman’s Baptist District Missionary Convention opened The Old Folks Home in Essex County circa 1909 to provide care for impoverished elderly black people, some of whom had been enslaved and did not know their families, a release said. The home was supervised by a live-in matron and a...