I can see my house from here! Woodville is at the top of that picture. Look Cool Lane went all the way through before the highway was built! I have always wanted to see what those now demolished houses looked like before Fairfield was built in 1957.
I wish they would resume talking about tearing down all of the “courts” in Richmond and trying a different method. All of this concentration of poverty creates a negative culture that leads to little motivation to get out. Trust me, I have been working in this community with clients from these areas for a long time now, and I see it everyday.
I know back in the 1950s (and probably earlier) these “courts” were all over and I lived in one growing up at one point in time. It was mainly for lower income and not necessarily to encourage segregation but they eventually ended up that way. I am not sure if Mosby, Creighton, etc… were specifically built for the black community since I am not a Richmond native so what were their background?
My uncle was one of the construction workers who built Creighton Court. My family moved there when it was finished. I was born and raised at 2056 Creighton Road. To answer your question Steven, yes, Mosby, Creighton, Fairfield, and Whitcomb Court were exclusively built for the black community. Back then, families looked out for each other. You sleep on the porch overnight. Crime as very little and living was good. There were little league football and basketball that players to high schools who became legends. Creighton Court produced many star athletes at Armstrong and Kennedy High Schools. The Creighton Court Eagles Football team were repeated city champions back in the day, sending star quarterbcks to Armstrong in the ’60′s & ’70′s. It wasn’t until the Vietnam War when drugs infiltrated the community in the late ’60′s, and became worst in the ’80′s when crack cocaine became and epidemic. Thats when the crime rate excalated to catastrophic proportions. The community has never been the same since. If you want more history of Creighton Court, fell free to contact me. I got a lot of story to tell.
I can see my house from here! Woodville is at the top of that picture. Look Cool Lane went all the way through before the highway was built! I have always wanted to see what those now demolished houses looked like before Fairfield was built in 1957.
There are much larger & sharper versions of some of these photos at the Library of Virginia right now, though I don’t know if this one in included.
I checked out the whole set. There is a larger verson. I wish someone had taken a picure of Woodville specifically back then.
I wish they would resume talking about tearing down all of the “courts” in Richmond and trying a different method. All of this concentration of poverty creates a negative culture that leads to little motivation to get out. Trust me, I have been working in this community with clients from these areas for a long time now, and I see it everyday.
I know back in the 1950s (and probably earlier) these “courts” were all over and I lived in one growing up at one point in time. It was mainly for lower income and not necessarily to encourage segregation but they eventually ended up that way. I am not sure if Mosby, Creighton, etc… were specifically built for the black community since I am not a Richmond native so what were their background?
My uncle was one of the construction workers who built Creighton Court. My family moved there when it was finished. I was born and raised at 2056 Creighton Road. To answer your question Steven, yes, Mosby, Creighton, Fairfield, and Whitcomb Court were exclusively built for the black community. Back then, families looked out for each other. You sleep on the porch overnight. Crime as very little and living was good. There were little league football and basketball that players to high schools who became legends. Creighton Court produced many star athletes at Armstrong and Kennedy High Schools. The Creighton Court Eagles Football team were repeated city champions back in the day, sending star quarterbcks to Armstrong in the ’60′s & ’70′s. It wasn’t until the Vietnam War when drugs infiltrated the community in the late ’60′s, and became worst in the ’80′s when crack cocaine became and epidemic. Thats when the crime rate excalated to catastrophic proportions. The community has never been the same since. If you want more history of Creighton Court, fell free to contact me. I got a lot of story to tell.