River View Farm: From 58 Acres After Emancipation to a Civil Rights Landmark

Soon after the Civil War ended, Hugh Carr, a formerly enslaved man, bought 58 acres in Albemarle County, Virginia. By 1890 he and his wife, Texie Mae Hawkins, held more than 125 acres — making the Carrs the largest African American landowners in the county at the time. The land became River View Farm, and the family that held it became leaders of the county's Black community for the next half-century.

Land as a foundation

For African Americans after emancipation, acquiring property was one of the surest routes to independence, and River View Farm is a surviving example of that effort in the region. The farm kept growing in the next generation: the Carrs' daughter Mary Carr and her husband, Conly Greer, expanded it to about 200 acres.

Mary Carr: teacher, principal, organizer

Mary and several of her siblings became educators. Mary taught at Albemarle Training School — until 1951 the only school beyond the elementary grades for African Americans in the county — and was its principal for 20 years. As principal she worked with Luther P. Jackson, a scholar and civil rights leader, to mobilize African American voters in Albemarle County.

Conly Greer: the county's first Black extension agent

Conly became the first African American agricultural extension agent in Albemarle County and held the post for about thirty-five years. He taught Black farmers across the county the best farming practices and ran a leadership and skills program for African American young people.

A place in the Civil Rights Network

River View Farm joined the African American Civil Rights Network in 2023. Created by the African American Civil Rights Act of 2017 and coordinated by the National Park Service, the network tells the stories of the people, places and events of the civil rights movement — and the sacrifices of those who fought discrimination and segregation — through public and private properties, facilities and programs.

Sources

Based on "River View Farm (Albemarle County, Virginia)," National Park Service, African American Civil Rights Network; a work of the United States government in the public domain.