Emancipated Community at Chimborazo Hill

Formerly enslaved African Americans found community at this site following the Civil War. Under the direction of the Freedmen’s Bureau, the Chimborazo Hospital buildings abandoned by the Confederates became a refugee camp in mid-1865, providing limited food, shelter, clothing, and support. Schools within the community were well attended, and by July 1865, the camp was home to more than 2,500 people. Throughout the year, freedpeople faced violent harassment from white Richmonders. After confrontations in March 1866, the Freedmen’s Bureau ordered able-bodied men to vacate the camp by 1 April 1866. Some residents remained at the camp until the City of Richmond cleared the site for a park in 1877.

Department of Historic Resources, 2022