Virginia Department of Historic Resources
(dhr.virginia.gov)
For Immediate Release
April 2026

 

Contact:
Ivy Tan
Department of Historic Resources
Marketing & Communications Manager
ivy.tan@dhr.virginia.gov
804-482-6445

7 New State Historical Highway Markers Approved

—Markers cover topics in the counties of Giles, Scott, Dinwiddie, Frederick, and Cumberland, and in the cities of Danville and Newport News—

—Text of each marker reproduced below—

 PLEASE NOTE: DHR creates markers not to “honor” their subjects but rather to educate and inform the public about a person, place, or event of regional, state, or national importance. In this regard, erected markers are not memorials.

 RICHMOND – The Department of Historic Resources (DHR) has announced seven new historical markers coming to roadsides in Virginia. The markers will recall various topics in the Commonwealth’s history, including the spread of old-time music in Virginia’s Appalachian region; the stories of two Black Virginians whose achievements left a lasting impact on future generations; and places that were significant in 20th-century African American education and community life.

The Virginia Board of Historic Resources approved the markers on March 19, 2026, during its quarterly meeting in Richmond hosted by DHR.

The old-time music revival of the 1960s and 1970s was influenced by the tunes played for generations in the mountains of Giles and surrounding counties. James Henry Neel Reed (1884-1968), a resident of Glen Lyn, was known primarily as a longbow-style fiddler. He had learned hundreds of tunes starting from his childhood and was part of a community of musicians who played locally and with family. In the 1960s, Reed became a mentor and teacher to Alan Jabbour, who later served as the founding director of the American Folklife Center. Jabbour played the tunes he learned from Reed with his string band and contributed recordings of Reed to the Library of Congress, thereby extending the influence of Reed and traditional Appalachian music to new generations.

One newly approved marker spotlights the career of a politician in the United States’ Revolutionary and Early Republic eras:

 

• Born in the Colony of Virginia in 1731, Thomas Carter was a planter, military officer, and, alongside his brothers Joseph and Norris, an early settler of Rye Cove in present-day Scott County. Carter arrived in the area about 1773 and acquired approximately 1,600 acres of land. In 1786 Governor Patrick Henry appointed him a justice of the first Russell County court. In the same year, Carter also became a lieutenant in the county militia, and his farm served as a garrison known as Carter’s Fort. During a period of extended conflict between Native Americans and European settlers after the Revolutionary War, Carter—along with Daniel Boone and others—corresponded with the governor about frontier defense. Carter served as Russell County’s representative in the House of Delegates from 1787 to 1791 and in the Virginia Convention to ratify the U.S. Constitution in 1788. He died in 1803.

 

Two new markers highlight the accomplishments of notable Black men who inspired and empowered their respective communities during the 19th and 20th centuries:

 

• Born in circa 1801 to free Black parents in Dinwiddie County, Thomas Day was a prominent furniture maker and businessman. His brother, John Day, was a founder of Liberia, and his grandfather, Dr. Thomas Stewart, was a free Black physician and entrepreneur. Day started out as a cabinetmaker training under his father. In the 1820s, Day opened a furniture shop in Milton, North Carolina. The shop, which eventually became the largest of its kind in North Carolina, produced furnishings and interior woodwork of high artistic quality. By the 1850s, Day had adopted steam-powered tools. Free Black, enslaved, and White artisans worked in the shop. Day died in circa 1861. Thomas Day furnishings have been exhibited widely across the country in museums and private collections, and Day has since been nationally recognized as an innovator in the furniture industry.

 

• Clarence Edward Smith was born in 1928 and raised in the City of Danville in Southside Virginia. Following his service as an infantryman in the United States Army during the Korean War, Smith settled in New York and joined the Nation of Islam. He adopted the name Clarence 13X. He founded the Five Percent Nation and became known as Allah in the mid-1960s. Smith taught that each Black man is divine, and that a select five percent of people understand the truth of existence and must enlighten others. In 1967, he established the Allah School in Mecca in Harlem, New York. As Smith’s movement spread to cities across the U.S., his teachings left an indelible mark on hip-hop culture and music across multiple generations. Smith died in 1969.

 

The 19th-century lynching of an African American teenager is the focus of one marker:

 

• On the morning of June 13, 1893, African American teenager William Shorter was being escorted by law enforcement on a train traveling from Staunton to Winchester, where he was to stand trial for the alleged attempted rape of a White woman. Fifteen to 30 armed White men detained and boarded the train at the Kernstown depot in Frederick County. They broke the chains that held Shorter to his seat and dragged him outside from the train car. They suspended him from a tree branch and shot him to death. More than 4,000 lynchings took place in the U.S. between 1877 and 1950. In Virginia alone, more than 100 people, primarily African American men, were lynched during that time. No one was ever brought to justice for Shorter’s murder, as was typically the case in most other racially motivated lynchings.

 

The Board also approved two markers about places associated with Black history and progress in education and community life in Virginia in the 20th century:

 

• Nationally distinguished Black educator Robert R. Moton began his teaching career in 1888 at Cumberland County’s Cotton Town School, which was closely associated with nearby Cornerstone and Midway Baptist Churches. After Matilda M. Booker, the county’s Jeanes Fund supervisor of education for African Americans, campaigned for better-quality school facilities, the Cotton Town School was replaced around 1917 to 1920. The new school, renamed as the Robert R. Moton School, was built using funds from the local Black community, the county, and the Rosenwald Fund, a special program inspired by Booker T. Washington and founded by Julius Rosenwald to construct schools for Black students across the rural South. The Moton school was rebuilt after a fire in 1930. It closed in 1964 and was later demolished.

 

• The federal government established the neighborhood of Newsome Park in the City of Newport News to provide housing for Black defense employees and their families who had moved to the area during World War II. After the war, Newsome Park continued to thrive and attracted residents from a wide range of occupations and income levels. The close-knit neighborhood featured an elementary school, a community center, a semi-pro baseball team, and Black-owned businesses that generated economic growth. Notable residents included NASA mathematicians Katherine Johnson and Dorothy Vaughan, the first Black and first female mayor of Newport News Jessie Rattley, and renowned guitarist David Williams. The original houses in Newsome Park, which were designed to be temporary, were demolished in the 1960s.

 

Following the Board of Historic Resources’ approval of the markers, it can take upwards of eight months or more before a new marker is ready for installation. The marker’s sponsor covers the required $3,000 manufacturing expenses for a new sign.

Virginia’s historical highway marker program began in 1927 with installation of the first markers along U.S. Route 1. It is considered the oldest such program in the nation. Currently there are more than 2,600 state markers, mostly maintained by the Virginia Department of Transportation, except in those localities outside of VDOT’s authority.

 

Full Text of Markers:

(VDOT must approve the proposed location for each marker in its right-of-way; local public works departments must do so in jurisdictions outside VDOT’s authority.)

Henry Reed and Old-Time Music
The tunes played for generations in the mountains of Giles and nearby counties were foundational to the old-time music revival of the 1960s and 1970s. Glen Lyn resident James Henry Neel Reed (1884-1968), known primarily as a longbow-style fiddler, had learned hundreds of tunes beginning in his childhood and was part of a community of musicians who played locally and with family. Alan Jabbour, later the founding director of the American Folklife Center, learned tunes from Reed in the 1960s, played them widely with his string band, and deposited recordings of Reed in the Library of Congress, disseminating traditional Appalachian music and extending Reed’s influence to new generations.
Sponsor: Giles County
Locality: Giles County
Proposed Location: Lurich Road at intersection with East River Mountain Road

Thomas Carter (1731-1803)
Thomas Carter, planter and patriot, was an early settler of Rye Cove, as were his brothers Joseph and Norris. He arrived here ca. 1773 and acquired about 1,600 acres. Gov. Patrick Henry appointed him a justice of the first Russell Co. court in 1786. Carter also became a lieutenant in the county militia that year, and his farm functioned as a garrison known as Carter’s Fort. Alongside Daniel Boone and others, he corresponded with the governor about frontier defense during a period of extended conflict with Native Americans after the Revolutionary War. He represented Russell in the House of Delegates from 1787 until 1791 and in the Virginia Convention to ratify the U.S. Constitution in 1788.
Sponsor: The Carter Society of Virginia
Locality: Scott County
Proposed Location: Route 649 in Rye Cove

Thomas Day (ca. 1801-ca. 1861)
Thomas Day, a prominent furniture maker and businessman, was born to free Black parents in Dinwiddie County. His brother, John Day, was a founder of Liberia, and his grandfather, Dr. Thomas Stewart, was a free Black physician and entrepreneur. Day trained as a cabinetmaker under his father. In the 1820s, he opened a furniture shop in Milton, NC, that became the largest in the state, producing furnishings and interior woodwork of high artistic quality. Free Black, enslaved, and White artisans worked in the shop, where Day had adopted steam-powered tools by the 1850s. Day’s work has been exhibited widely, and he has won national recognition as an innovator in the furniture industry.
Sponsor: Rosa Allen
Locality: Dinwiddie County
Proposed Location: 21015 Boydton Plank Road, McKenney

Clarence Smith (Allah) (1928-1969)
Clarence Edward Smith was born and raised in Danville. After serving as an infantryman in the U.S. Army during the Korean War, he settled in New York and joined the Nation of Islam, adopting the name Clarence 13X. In the mid-1960s, he founded the Five Percent Nation and became known as Allah. He taught that each Black man is divine, and that a select five percent of people understand the truth of existence and must enlighten others. In Harlem, New York, in 1967, he established the Allah School in Mecca. His movement spread to cities across the United States, and his teachings had a significant influence on hip-hop culture and music across generations.
Sponsor: Dominant Village Outreach Program
Locality: City of Danville
Proposed Location: 834 Valley Street

The Lynching of William Shorter
On the morning of 13 June 1893, African American teenager William Shorter was being transported under guard by train from Staunton to Winchester to stand trial for the alleged attempted rape of a White woman. At the Kernstown depot near here, 15-30 armed White men detained and boarded the train. They broke the chains that held Shorter to his seat, dragged him from the car, suspended him from a tree branch, and shot him to death. More than 4,000 lynchings took place in the U.S. between 1877 and 1950; more than 100 people, primarily African American men, were lynched in Virginia. As in most other racially motivated lynchings, no one was ever brought to justice for Shorter’s murder.
Sponsor: Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation/Long Road to Freedom Project
Locality: Frederick County
Proposed Location: Route 11, south of intersection with Apple Valley Road

Robert R. Moton (Rosenwald) School
Robert R. Moton, a nationally significant Black educator, began his teaching career in 1888 at Cotton Town School, which had close ties to nearby Cornerstone and Midway Baptist Churches. The school was replaced ca. 1917-1920 after Matilda M. Booker, Cumberland County’s Jeanes Fund supervisor of education for African Americans, campaigned for better facilities. Financial support came from the Black community, the county, and the Rosenwald Fund, established in 1917 after Booker T. Washington partnered with Julius Rosenwald to build schools for Black students. The school, renamed for Moton, stood 2,000 feet west of here. Rebuilt after a fire in 1930, it closed in 1964 and was later demolished.
Sponsor: Cumberland Middle School
Locality: Cumberland County
Proposed Location: 837 Guinea Road

Community Life in Newsome Park
The federal government built Newsome Park during World War II to provide housing for newly arrived African American defense employees and their families. Continuing to thrive after the war, the close-knit neighborhood attracted residents from a wide range of occupations and income levels. It featured an elementary school, a community center, a semi-pro baseball team, and Black-owned businesses that generated economic growth. Notable residents included NASA mathematicians Katherine Johnson and Dorothy Vaughan, first Black and first female mayor of Newport News Jessie Rattley, and renowned guitarist David Williams. The original houses, designed to be temporary, were demolished in the 1960s.
Sponsor: Marvin Q. Jones Jr.
Locality: City of Newport News
Proposed Location: 4200 Marshall Avenue

###