Aberdeen Gardens

Aberdeen Gardens, built between 1934 and 1938 under the New Deal, was an innovative homestead community conceived to improve housing quality for African American families. The only such community in the U.S. designed by a Black architect (Hilyard R. Robinson) and built by Black contractors and laborers, it consisted of a school, a store, and 158 brick houses on lots large enough for gardening and raising livestock, all within a greenbelt. The streets, excepting Aberdeen Road, were named for prominent African Americans. Aberdeen Gardens, which offered home ownership and an improved quality of life, is listed on the Virginia Landmarks Register and the National Register of Historic Places.