Plans are underway to honor Abraham Peyton Skipwith, Jackson Ward’s first known Black homeowner, by rebuilding his cottage into a museum that tells the history of the former “Harlem of the South.”
The big picture: The JXN Project, a nonprofit dedicated to preserving Jackson Ward’s history, is behind the yearslong push to turn the cottage into a historic site on Bates Street — with the help of local architecture firm Baskervill .
- Skipwith’s cottage, which he built in the 1790s after buying his freedom, was moved to Goochland in the 1950s when state leaders built a highway through the Ward.
- Now a version of it will be headed back to its roots.
Driving the news: Richmond City Council last week OK’d a special use permit allowing the space to be used as a museum and community center with a research lab, library and coworking space, per city documents.
- It also awarded the JXN Project $950,000 to go toward reconstruction.
- Sesha Joi Moon, the nonprofit’s co-founder, told council members they had already raised about $5 million.
What’s next: The groundbreaking for what’ll be called “JXN Haus” is scheduled for January, Moon said, and the facility is slated to open April 2026…